R E V I E W S


Magica
Wolves And Witches

Company: AFM Records
Release: 2008
Genre: Power, Symphonic
Reviewer: Raising Iron

  • Trods the trails already covered by a myriad of adventurers



    • Romania's Magica rushed onto the scene with 2002's The Scroll of Stone while already well-established bands such as Nightwish had taken this style of metal into the mainstream. Six years later and already their fourth studio effort, Magica's Wolves and Witches continues to bear the banner of female-fronted melodic pop-metal for their home country; and rightly so, as they are far and away the best band Romania currently exports regarding the genre.

    Now, that being said, the magical fairyland inhabited by such bands has all but lost its, er, uh, magic. The band continues to deliver more-or-less straight forward metal revolving around wizards, witches, sorcery, and magical beasts; less insistent on symphonic elements than many of their co-patriarchs, and vocalist Ana Mladinovici soars as operatically and smoothly as any of the dozens of bands lodged in this corner of make-believe. Yet, upon arrival at the end of this forty-five minute quest, you've merely trod the trails already covered by a myriad of adventurers who've traveled before. Is there any treasure still to be found on such expeditions? A little, I suppose, as the opener "Don't Wanna Kill" will have your head bobbing along, as well as "Hurry Up Ravens" and the best track, "Just For 2 Coins", which, despite its semi-sophomoric lyrics, has a melody that twists and turns in undulating joy. "Dark Secret" launches with the riffiest of riffs to be found on the disc, relenting come the somewhat boisterous chorus. The album is rounded out by a quiet, two-minute interlude and five other tracks that ultimately are filler.

    Die-hard fans of the genre are sure to revel in the merriment here, despite its paint-by-numbers conjurations; and that's not all bad, as the band plays the formula well, but at this point in the game, what's the point, really?



    Maximum Metal Rating Legend - Full Details
    5 Excellent - Buy it and say a prayer to the metal gods that you were tuned on to this masterpiece. A classic.
    4-4.5 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a clunker or a lacking somewhere to keep it from perfection. You won't feel bad about dropping some bones on these.
    3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler. This is the OK range where you'd search for the record on sale or used.
    3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio. Could show skills but be dull overall. Redeeming qualities for indy bands are effort and passion. Majors that don't try or suck outright end up here.
    2-2.5 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors. There is much better metal out there.
    1-1.5 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
    0 Terrible or an otherwise waste of your life and time.

    Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

    The best way to determine how much you may like certain music is to listen to it yourself.

    Demos and independent releases get some slack since the bands are often spent broke supporting themselves and trying to improve. Major releases usually have big financial backing, so they may be judged by a heavier hand. All scores can be eventually adjusted up or down by comparison of subsequent releases by the same band. We attempt to keep biases out of reviews and be advocates of the consumer without the undo influence of any band, label, management, promoter, etc.


    All reviews for this band:
    CD
    		 TITLE BAND
    DOR
    		 REVIEWER DATE
    		HereafterMagica
    2007
    		Sinnercorp7/25/2008
    		LightseekerMagica
    2004
    		Veritas5/16/2005
    		Wolves And WitchesMagica
    2008
    		Raising Iron5/30/2009


    Interviews found from this band:
    INTERVIEW BAND INTERVIEWER DATE


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