CD Review: Wizard - Goochan

Wizard is a power/heavy metal band from Germany that has been patrolling the stages since 1989, however, this is my first experience with them. This is something that has been happening more and more frequently in recent weeks. Not that I am complaining, it has been great discovering some of these bands, especially when the albums are as good as Goochan. This is Wizard's seventh album and their first with the Massacre Records label (distributed in the US by Locomotive Records). It is a concept album that centers on the witch Goochan who is needed to help defend the remainder of humanity as the planet is being destroyed by an invading alien force. It is standard fantasy lore given a strong musical playground.


I am very impressed with this album, it is powerful in execution, featuring great vocals, fast drums, epic solos, great riffs, and is just an excellent metal album. As I listened to it, bands such as Iron Maiden, Manowar, Iced Earth, and Blind Guardian come to mind. There is some great technical work here as the songs go through the story, offering variety in tempo, tone, and structure. There is nothing boring about Goochan.

The narrative structure of the concept builds to a doom ridden peak as Goochan faces off with the Pale Rider's minions, with the aid of the last living dragon they are the last line of defense. I do not want to give away the tale, as it is actually pretty good, though it does build to a moment of dire need for lose last survivors, before the evil one gets his comeuppance. I know, I gave away the end, but is there any other way for this to end? Wizard does not strike me as a band that wants to leave on a sour note. However, the story has a nice progression that is punctuated by some intense music of epic scale.

Goochan starts strong with the epic introduction of our title character with "Witch of the Enchanted Forest." It is followed immediately by an even stronger track introducing the opposition, "Pale Rider," and no, the witch is not facing off with Clint Eastwood. Each song goes through the motions offering great variety in its generous length, the album runs nearly 55 minutes spanning 10 songs.

Vocal duties fall on the shoulders of Sven D'Anna, who has a powerful voice with good range, hitting and holding high notes whiole delivering some good growls along the way. Guitars are handled by Dano Boland, who had replaced Michael Maass a while back (on a side note, Maass recently rejoined the band following a three year hiatus, and the band will move forward with two guitar players). Boland's work here is strong, inventive riffs solos punctuate the fantasy atmosphere with a modern heavy metal sound. Drummer Soren von Heek does some good work in his own right with lightning fast drums and varied structures that always keep time and are never dull. Finally, bassist Volker Leson is solid, and is the writer of the story on which the album is based (a story which is also being adapted into a novel, so I have read).

Bottomline. What can I say? This is an impressive album, one that is inspiring me to seek out their other work. This album features a cohesive tale that solidly covers the album from start to finish, but still works as single songs that can be plucked from within and enjoyed on their own. This is what a metal album should be, we could use some more metal like this.

Highly Recommended.