Touched by the Crimson King

Touched by the Crimson King
Label: SPV
Rated: NONE
WorkNameSort: Touched by the Crimson King

Jon Schaffer (Iced Earth) and Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian) are two guys who take their shit way seriously, so it’s not surprising that this collaboration (their second such joint venture) is far from your typical haphazard supergroup trainwreck. That’s not to say that it’s not occasionally ridiculous; Iced Earth and Blind Guardian are probably the two most Metal With a Capital M bands around, which means that lots of familiar territory (cough, clichés, cough) is crossed. But they cross it with leather-clad élan. Kürsch isn’t afraid to wail operatically; Schaffer isn’t afraid to dish out some surprisingly simplistic riffs. The result is an album that evokes the classic power metal kept alive by both bands, but still stands on its own. Crimson King (cough, original title please, cough) is a solid gut-shot of a record, highlighting both guys’ reach-for-Valhalla approach to metal, while not getting bogged down in the complex changes or metaphorical lyricism they’re known for.

This article appears in Jun 29 – Jul 5, 2005.