After taking a quick look at the cover and a few song titles like “Uruk-hai” and “Fire And Blood” I knew I was going to be in for a disappointment. “Magic Circle” is so damn predictable it hurts. Nothing on this release stands out. The melodies are boring, the riffs are repetitive and I’ve heard them a billion times before, the vocals are average at best, the same goes for the production and the whole fantasy concept is as cliché as the album in general.

Wizard seem to be stuck in the eighties and deliver an album that might have interested me 15 years ago but now it’s nothing but a cliché filled ride with mostly horrific lyrics.

“Magic Circle” is a rather redundant release especially considering that there’s so much quality heavy metal out there. Some of the songs aren’t even bad, it’s just that they lack appeal and identity and in a completely saturated scene there’s simply no room for Wizard. In fact I’d rather listen to the bands these Germans are heavily borrowing from: Helloween and Manowar.