Hands up those who spend their weekends playing tabletop RPGs? Just one or two. Need a new soundtrack to punctuate your dungeon crawling on World Of Warcraft? Don't you worry, my dwarven friends .Your search is over.

It doesn't take an awful lot of intelligence to figure Brazilian metallers Magician are one of the fantasy-obsessed Power Metal bands from the old days. Their album follows a concept about a demon emerging from its sleep inside an ancient stone, and the tracks on it are broken up into "tales". There's no confusion here; this is Power Metal of the highest order, though musically there is a lot of progressive changes and some surprisingly dark moments to be heard. Essentially, the sound Magician conjures is reminiscent of the first two Avantasia records, coupled with the heavier and more adventurous side of Freedom Call and Angra (didn't you hear? They're from Brazil!). In Dan Rubin they have a soaring vocalist who takes the songs to new heights, though none of them are particularly catchy. The album is more about showing off technical abilities, though songs such as "Prime Evil" with its opening choirs or "Dark Ritual (Hear Your Master's Call)" are pleasant tracks which stand out due to strong performances.

I've had this on a lot while pottering around (wondering why no one does this kind of stuff anymore, probably), and in truth, Tales Of The Magician is a safe listen, rather enjoyable in essence, and certainly one for the Power Metallers. It's mixed by Gamma Ray's Dirk Schlachter, so it has a sound similar to the Germans, but don't expect too many surprises. As far as concept albums go, you could do worse - anyone heard The Royal Ghost? Bah!