After a certain amount of years, bands usually decide to expand their sound by exploring new territories. Iron Maiden began to explore with longer and more progressive songs with Fear of the Dark, reaching its peak with their two most recent albums. Judas Priest tested new ideas, such as commercial metal by creating British Steel, Speed Metal of Ram it Down and Painkiller, and even Symphonic Metal by debuting Nostradamus. Metallica and Megadeth, after And Justice for All and Rust in Peace, slowed down and streamlined their music with more commercialized origins.
After 1995’s Burnt Offerings, Iced Earth started going down the same path as the two most influential Thrash Metal bands in America, with significantly more success. With more concise songwriting, Iced Earth created the immediate follow-up to their opus by conceiving a concept album about the comic book character Spawn. This “Dark Saga,” though significantly simpler than their previous three albums, is one of the best Iced Earth albums composed. Focusing more on varying ideas and the wild emotions the anti-hero feels, the album gracefully follows their opus, Burnt Offerings, as a magnificent follow-up.
The Dark Saga notably experiments with the first, and certainly not last, ballads of Iced Earth’s career. “I Died For You” is the quintessential Iced Earth ballad; containing beautiful, moody verses and heavier, yet heartbreaking choruses that are carried by Matt Barlow’s diverse range and emotion. Though many Power Metal bands have great singers, none will match Mr. Barlow’s inconceivable range and emotions presented in his voice. The album’s finale, titled “A Question of Heaven,” is the second and final ballad presented; and mixes sorrowful emotions with the unmerciful moments together to elaborate on Spawn’s emotions musically.
Iced Earth did not completely change their sound on this album, however. “Violate” could easily fit on Burnt Offerings with its extremely fast tempo and extraordinary technicality by every musician in the band. In fact, the only reason it would not fit on Burnt Offerings is because of the meager song length and rather simple song structure (unlike 3/4s of Burnt Offering’s library). “Vengeance is Mine,” “Slave to the Dark,” and “The Hunter” are other examples of great thrashers; yet one key difference is the higher presence and focus on choruses. The latter two songs have terrifically energetic choruses by the band, and can easily be considered the transition to Power Metal for Jon Schaffer and the others. Gallops and high tempos are still in the majority, yet are mixed with guitar leads and the sing-along choruses Power Metal is famous for.
Much like most of Iced Earth’s repertoire, The Dark Saga contains two minor flaws. “The Suffering Scarred” is a diverse and surprisingly different song by Iced Earth, yet something is wrong. Combined with a slow tempo and near-6 minute duration, the song just goes nowhere. The restrained singing by Barlow, the slow and monotonous riffs, and the boring drum-work do little to establish an entertaining atmosphere by only undermining the quality of the song. For these very reasons, it is the only flaw of the album, and is thankfully surrounded by two of the best songs on the album: “Vengeance is Mine,” and “Slave to the Dark.” In fact, you can just skip the song altogether to have a more enjoyable listening experience…though it would ruin the concept of the album if you are into that sort of thing. “Depths of Hell” suffers for the very same reasons, but suffers less for being half of the length of “Scarred” and a slightly faster tempo.
That said; Iced Earth’s fourth album could be compared to Iron Maiden’s fourth album, Piece of Mind. The preceding and more popular albums overshadow both Piece of Mind and The Dark Saga as both bands streamline their sound to something great. It is unfortunate that, though both Piece of Mind and The Dark Saga do contain at least one forgettable song, they are both overall consistent and powerful works that define both bands’ sound; whether it is the energetic Heavy Metal of the former or the blend of the Power and Thrash Metals for the latter. For that reason, I highly suggest any head-bangers that enjoy, or wish to get a taste of, Thrash or Power Metals to listen to this, as it is a perfect blend of two wildly different metal genres and is a remarkable mix with very good playing by everyone in Iced Earth.
