The last Wizard album was more than decent. In reviewing that album, I got the idea that the band consisted of a solid line-up which would likely result into more records in the future. Today, that shows, with the follow-up of Magic Circle I present you Goochan, another piece of power metal music.

Although I considered the work of Wizard as more than decent so far, I believe that Goochan could well be considered as the best album of the band so far, metal-wise speaking. The sound is way heavier than on the last album which can also be seen in the artwork, which is darker than before. The first song is still typical Wizard whereas ‘Pale Rider’ immediately introduces the heavier sound the band has apparently searched for.

Probably the best example of this ‘new’ sound is the song ‘Children of the Night’ (which should ring a bell to those who have followed the band a little bit) where the guitar riffs are, again, heavier than before while the chorus shows a familiar sound.
 

Of course, the discussion can be started about which style Wizard has chosen. In my opinion, this is useless, because it depends on which parts of the record you’d like to mention. Those who are in favor of heavy metal will mention the main guitar riff of ‘Lonely in Desert Land’ and ‘Dragon’s Death’ whereas the choruses are most likely to affect melodic metal fans.

Yet, despite all the possibilities of labeling Wizard now, one cannot deny that the band is still growing in quality; the songs on itself but especially the sound is much thicker than before which leads to easier listening and better sense for detail. Once you’ve heard dueling guitars of this band, you almost start to forget bands like Dragonforce and Dream Evil who seem to take the music over the top, while Wizard remains with two feet on the ground, standing tall, facing the world like a man.