Sometimes, even if you think/hope you'll come up with a nice review of a band's/artist's latest effort - based on the fact that the general idea appeals to your specific taste - the result is (somehow) disappointing. Analyzing: I like German Metal, I like bands/songs talkin' 'bout swords, axes and steel, I love sharp straightforward guitar riffs, I adore banging productions; I just cannot keep my mind out of monotony (unless - of course - if we're talking about Rock 'n' Rolf's mighty pirate ship of Running Wild...)
My first meeting with this German quartet was through its 1997 Battle Of Metal full length album. The mid-to-late 90's was a rather difficult period for pure European Heavy Metal, for anyone that can memorize these years. Not many unpolluted sharp rhythms, a tendency for prog/modern songwriting from many bands and a sort of caution from classic Metal fans that created a foggy landscape in which 80's-influenced Metal would grow up to. Mercifully, Gamma Ray's Land Of The Free album along with Hammerfall's Glory To The Brave debut and the roundabout success of Rhapsody and Stratovarius set some standards for what we sometimes like to refer to as Euro-Power Metal.
To get back to Wizard, Battle Of Metal - released through their own (?) Bow Records - presented a band with a more raw sound and an inclination to walk on the Grave Digger-meets-Manowar path. An additional bonus came from their European tour along Edguy, Di'Anno and Sacred Steel. 1999's Bound By Metal was not - in my opinion - better than B.O.M., still it contributed to Wizard's record deal with Limp Music Productions (L.M.P.). Lately, I had the opportunity of adding the vinyl edition of the band's 2003 Odin release. I listened to the album various times and my overall conclusion would easily be maybe I'll end up not standing Wizard anymore, if they keep it this way, since the band was starting to get more predictable than I would imagine. And it wasn't even the mid-to-late 90's period I was talking about above...
Magic Circle has a descent production, well skilled musicians that show their intense devotion to true Metal, a nice cover artwork (front and back) and all the ingredients their core fans would expect. Still, there's partial absence of spirit and novelty. I wouldn't - of course - expect from such a band to alter its musical style, however I have the impression that Wizard are based more on their trademark and peripherals this time than on their hard work for pure Metal tunes. Traditional can easily malfunction sometimes as cliché and you got to be Hammerfall to spread this cliché-ness for your own benefit.
Magic Circle lasts for about one hour. I didn't find myself to be any wiser after the 4th-5th audition. I hate writing these kind of words for a really 'Metal' album but 'mediocrity' is what comes in mind, in the end. Sorry guys... Manowar was also great 20 years ago but look what's happenin' now...
(Sorry again: The Don't Say Goodbye ballad sucks; and I thought I'd hear a cover version of the Virgin Steele classic...)