I have read many reviews about how this album is a disappointment, but its so far from it, that I have to try to explain. I bought it the day it came out, listened to it, and thought it was decent but then I read along with the lyrics and looked at the booklet pictures as I did with "Horror Show", "The Glorious Burden", and "Framing Armageddon" and the full picture of "The Wicked One" is insane. Jon Shaffer songwriting is amazing and Barlow's signature delivery is just as powerful.
It takes about 2-3 listens to get the full impact of this amazing album, because its not your "AVERAGE" Iced Earth album. The songs are more mid-tempo for intricate storyline purposes with more vocally aggressive choruses. The only thing that was upsetting about the album was that the best songs are all too short except and could have been explored more musically other than Come What May. Shaffer wants us to listen and take in the story, which is not an easy story to understand at first, but once you do, the artistry will overwhelm you as it did me.
I read reviews that the album "wasn't as aggressive" and "generic", but then I listen to songs like, "The Revealing", "The Dimension Gauntlet", "Sacrificial Kingdoms", and "Divide and Devour" and wonder if these guys are really listening to the album! The mid-tempo songs are vocally so heavy and powerfully delivered that the music does not need to be. Songs like "I Walk Alone" and "Harbinger of Fate" get my adrenaline pumping like classic Iced Earth! "Come What May" is epic Iced Earth, with perfection throughout the entire song! It holds the magic of classic Iced Earth songs like "Blessed Are You", and "A Question of Heaven".
The only down point of the album to me is songs like “Minions of Wrath”, “The Revealing”, “Dimension Gauntlet” and “Crown of the fallen” that are all way too short and SCREAM to keep going with music. These songs are some of the best tracks on the album and Shaffer did not capitalize as much as he could have. The longest out of these short and stocky tracks is “Dimension Gauntlet”, clocking in at around 3:12.
I even feel like their whole sound changed since "A Glorious Burden" and they have been morphing to this band of epic proportions. Definitely buy this album, but make sure u get an understanding of the story from "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and "Framing Armageddon." I don’t feel like this was Iced Earth strongest material, but its far from being its weakest. “Framing Armageddon” was a more powerful album but “The Crucible of Man” can definitely hold its own ground.
Best Songs:
- Minions of Wrath – Matt Barlow’s delivery just pulls you into this one. Although it is depressively short, the music is laid out well and Chorus is very catchy.
- A Gift or A Curse – Jon Shaffer can sing, and can sing really well. Sharing lines in harmony, gives a little more depth to the songs and should be experimented with more as they did in early Iced Earth.
- Crown of the Fallen –This is my personal favorite track on the album.. Guitars are simple but just have so much muscle, with some great vocal melodies from Matt Barlow.
- Sacrificial Kingdoms – The main riff of this song is classic I.E. meets new I.E., and the breakdown riff is so aggressive it sounds more like epic I.E.. Its power is reminiscent of songs like “Stand Alone.”
- Come What May – The final song of the album is an epic style song, with great lyrics and some cool instrumental features that Shaffer has been experimenting with as seen on the more newer I.E. albums.
