Band:	White Magician
Album:	Dealers Of Divinity
Style:	Hard rock, Heavy metal
Release date:	November 20, 2020
A review by:	tominator

01. Dealers Of Divinity
02. Mad Magic II: In the Absence Of Gods (Bad Magic)
03. Fading Into The Obscurity Of Ages
04. In Memoriam; Love And Magic
05. Magia Nostra
06. Power Of The Stone
07. Spectre Of A Dying Flame

They had us in the first half, I'm not going to lie.

All memes aside that's actually how I feel about this record. Let's dive in, shall we?

Old school: that's the impression you will get as soon as you've heard the first note of this record. Now I already hear you think "What's so special about that? There are a ton of heavy metal bands that try to recreate a sound like that". And you're totally right. However, whereas a lot of the bands that try to do this often feel stale and a bit uninspired, White Magician isn't like that. For the most part?

I didn't get the feeling that this was a "you've heard one track, you've heard it all" kind of situation. The first half of this record in particular manages to offer some really enjoyable songs. The style of the first and fourth track reminded me (at times) a bit of Night's work on Raft Of The World, and in between those two songs, there's a nice straightforward heavy metal song and a Mediterranean-sounding acoustic song. So, it does offer variety. However, I feel like the second part loses a bit of traction. Songs get a little less distinguishable. Those extra touches that appear on the first and fourth track are not really present, and the choruses aren't as memorable as on the second track of the album. All in all, it's nothing too bad, but it drags the experience down a bit.

There aren't any real surprises in the lyrics. It's solid for the most part and they serve their purpose. Production-wise this album is overall okay as well. It clearly goes for the aforementioned old school vibe. However, something that I often find lacking in these kinds of productions, is the sound of the bass drum(s). Unfortunately, that's also the case with Dealers Of Divinity. It sounds relatively weak and extremely loose. To make a comparison, you should give a listen to a record from one of Joe Liszt's projects (Ancient Empire or Shadowkiller): The Tower and Guardians Of The Temple are good examples. Those have an old school-sounding production that is pretty much perfect in my opinion.

Now, I might sound like a nit-picking nitwit (and to be honest, I probably am), but still it's something that kind of bothered me. It's not all bad of course. Something I did find extremely positive is the bass. Thank you so much White Magician for making it clearly audible in the mix! It sounds excellent and adds a lot to the experience. Also, the acoustic parts sound very nice as well; "Fading Into The Obscurity of Ages" shows that, with a bit of echo added to the mix to increase the atmosphere of the song: nicely done. The band itself does a good job as well. We get some rolling riffs, dynamic drumming, banging bass and vivid vocals, all of which clicks between the band members, and that's something you will hear throughout the album.

So yeah, White Magician deals out some solid music with Dealers Of Divinity. The first four tracks I did enjoy quite a bit. But, that's of course only half the album. The second half feels more forgettable. Not bad, but a slight letdown compared to what came before it. Hopefully they manage to improve on that with a possible next album.