Hailing from Belgium, the power metal outfit Magic Kingdom has delivered intricate fretwork and sweeping orchestral passages since its formation in 1998. Their catalog stretches from the debut album The Arrival in 1999 to the sixth full-length Blaze of Rage in 2024, featuring anthemic tracks such as “I’m a Lionheart,” “Symphony of War,” and “Guardian Angels.”
Guitarist and principal songwriter Dushan Petrossi assembled the band as a five-piece in 1998, enlisting bassist Vassili Moltchanov, drummer Christoph Hofbauer, keyboardist Frederik Donche, and vocalist Max Leclercq. Issued one year later, The Arrival captured their signature approach through rapid-fire guitar lines and soaring, expressive vocals that conjured mythic imagery on numbers including “Land of the Fire,” “Heart of Stone,” and “Immortal Lord.” Retaining most of the original roster but substituting Anton Arkhipov on drums and omitting Donche, the group issued Metallic Tragedy in 2004; the record accelerated tempos further and expanded symphonic layers supplied by Petrossi and additional session players. Several compositions mirrored the sonic architecture of Petrossi’s sister project Iron Mask, which also featured Moltchanov and Arkhipov.
A revised configuration surfaced on 2010’s Symphony of War, retaining Petrossi and Moltchanov while adding drummer Freddy Ortscheid, keyboardist Philippe Giordana, and a dual-vocal front line that paired Dionysus singer Olaf Hayer with Iron Mask’s Roma Siadleski handling unclean counterpoint vocals. Among the album’s widely streamed selections were the title track and “I’m a Lionheart,” alongside the five-part conceptual suite presented as “Metallic Tragedy – Chapter 2.” By Savage Requiem in 2015 the band had pared down to a quartet comprising Petrossi, Moltchanov, drummer Michael Brush, and vocalist Christian Palin. The late 2010s and early 2020s brought greater stability when Palin stepped aside for Michael Vescera, yielding the albums MetAlmighty in 2019 and Blaze of Rage in 2024.
