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Demons & Wizards is a side-project of Blind Guardian vocalist Hansi Kürsch and Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer, so I expected a blend of the Blind Guardian and Iced Earth sounds - and this is it.  I'm actually impressed with the result.  If you like either band, you'll like this album.  I'd say 2000 is starting on the right foot metal-wise.

The Iced Earth sound is predominant as far as the music is concerned, and this can be seen immediately with the the short intro track, Rites Of Passage.  It does have the Iced Earth aggressiveness to some extent, with the Blind Guardian magic-type feeling hanging around... all that in 52 seconds!

The second track, Heaven's Denied, definitely has the speedy, heavy Iced Earth sound, and of course with Hansi's voice you could ask yourself whether this is a Blind Guardian sound.  The song slows down in the last couple of minutes with a very melodic sound.  Don't worry, the next song will wake you up if that was too melodic :).

What I really like about this album is the excellent job they did at marrying the sound of both bands, and actually producing a somewhat unique sound, which, while it reminds me of both bands, has that little something that makes Demons & Wizards different.  I love the speedy songs that slow down to a ballad-like sound all of a sudden, then return to a speedier beat.

I have to admit I had to listen to it a couple of times before actually liking this album.  But the more I listen to it, the more I find something more to like about it.  This is worth attentively listening to.

The album ends on a very melodic 47-seconds "outro", Chant, which might just as well been called Sweet Dreams.... with Demons & Wizards.