When things went quiet for a decade and a half after the release of their second album ‘Touched By The Crimson King’, I just assumed Demons & Wizards was finished. That would have been understandable, given that Jon Schaffer and Hansi Kürsch are incredibly busy with Iced Earth and Blind Guardian respectively, but then they assembled a tour line-up and announced their third album, simply titled ‘III’. It’s also simply very good. Better than the latest releases by both men’s main bands, while it lacks the consistency issues that plagued its predecessor. Anyone who enjoyed the band before will also enjoy ‘III’.

Stylistically, there is nothing too different from the other two Demons & Wizards albums. It’s still epic heavy metal that combines the hyperspeed palm muting of Iced Earth with the theatricality one might sooner find on a Blind Guardian record. It does seem like Schaffer and Kürsch allowed the songs to unfold a little more slowly and naturally this time around. Not that the songs are much longer than before – despite the presence of three eight plus minute songs – but it feels like Schaffer is less scared of sticking to the same riff for longer than eight bars. Kürsch’s vocal arrangements add plenty of variation anyway.

One could accuse Schaffer and Kürsch of playing things safe here. ‘Diabolic’ does sound like a darker reprise of ‘Heaven Denies’ in structure, the title is even repeated in its chorus, and ‘New Dawn’ has a notable, but passing resemblance to ‘Tear Down The Walls’. Overall, ‘III’ plays around with limited parameters, but manages to squeeze out as much as possible out of them. The album has an overall dark vibe, at least in part due to the relatively subdued tempo of the material – most of the songs are actually mid-paced. Not unlike Iced Earth’s 1995 release ‘Burnt Offerings’, but with much more consistent results.

Remarkably enough, ‘III’ can remain within the mid-tempo realm without boring the listener to death. Schaffer and Kürsch really wanted to give every song its own identity, mostly by creating different atmospheres for the songs. ‘Universal Truth’, for instance, has the feel of a dark ballad, but is too heavy to be classified as such. ‘Timeless Spirit’ and the somewhat overlong ‘Children Of Cain’ would qualify, though both build up to something bigger. The former actually feels like a southern rock epic with crunchier rhythm guitars. ‘Split’ and ‘Wolves In Winter’, on the other hand, represent the more aggressive side of the spectrum. Bombast is not as prominent as on the debut, but ‘Dark Side Of Her Majesty’ and ‘New Dawn’ would certainly appeal to those who loved the debut.

Though ‘III’ is not perfect, it is much better than anyone could have expected for a project that has been dormant for fifteen years. Sure, one could wonder why ‘Final Warning’ – highly enjoyable, but a blatant ‘Dark City’ rewrite – and the particularly Blind Guardian-esque ‘Invincible’ were not saved for Schaffer’s and Kürsch’s main bands respectively, but ‘III’ is strangely one of the least pretentious albums either musician has been involved with in recent years. For dark heavy metal that doesn’t drift too far into evil territory, remaining more traditional instead, ‘III’ should be a no-brainer.

Recommended tracks: ‘Dark Side Of Her Majesty’, ‘Diabolic’, ‘Universal Truth’