Weird for me to start to write this, seeing the review I wrote for Control Denied directly above.
Obviously I must not hate all traditional power metal vocals, for Hansi Kursch's voice is one
of my favorite's in the biz, so it must be something else... In any regard, exactly what I dislike
about The Fragile Art of Existence becomes the highlight of my Demons and Wizards listening
experience. Drawing the name from the Uriah Heep album from the early 70s, DW runs the gamut
of emotion and sound, bursting out with opening scorcher Heaven's Denied, slowing things down to
ballad territory mid-album. Yeah, it sounds like a formula, but as with any good paradigm, go with what
you know and not only will it come out perfect, your confidence and performance will just get better.
In all honesty, all I really have to do is drop the fact that Jon Schaffer wrote music
here that rivals and may surpass his Iced Earth masterpieces, and I think you get a clear picture as to
the power this disc holds. Obviously, I like the record quite a bit, and if the idea of Blind Guardian
crossed with IE sounds interesting to you, then do you yourself a favor and give a listen.
7 1/2 out of 10
|