To be honest, I hadn’t heard of this band until a week ago. On my Last.fm profile, I had a recommendation from someone and they told me to check out the album I’m reviewing right now. I did just that and I really digged it from the moment I had listened to it. The double-bass was strong, the ker-razy riffs, the occasional growl and the soothing melodic vocals. It was everything you could want from metal.
Iced Earth are a band that fuse power metal, thrash metal, progressive but with gothic layering. They are heavier than most things I listen but wow is all I can say. Some say they are a modern day Iron Maiden with thrash thrown into this mix. Jon Schaffer (rhythm guitarist) takes a leaf out of Iron Maiden’s bassist Steve Harris’s book with his distinct riffs constantly made up of an eighth-note, two sixteenth-notes gallop method. Though there is a major similarity to Maiden, it is sped up a lot. They are sometimes harmonies in the guitar parts. The vocals consist of a high, melodic power metal voice and sound like Fear Factory’s melodic vocals (“Linchpin” is a good example of what I’m talking about, if you like those vocals then you’ll dig these guys) Though the music is nothing like Fear Factory. Sometimes the music just uses basic power metal and thrash techniques. Lots of double-bass occupies most of the drumming though he frequently uses drags and flams on his bass drum.
The lyrics are the same old power metal lyrics about sin, the antichrist and the apocalypse. Sometimes it is just based on bible characters (think Cradle of Filth). The lyrics suit the music perfectly but you’ll be listening to the music too much to even listen to the lyrics. Though it is only eight tracks, the songs are about 6 minute’s average giving it a progressive element. Though it sometimes feels like it suffers from “average middle section” The middle section is not bad in the slightness but with a strong beginning and end, you being to feel like that. The beginning, simply names “Burnt Offerings” is a supposed attack at former label Century Media. The intro is a bit scary with a light but minor key keyboard part. There comes in some demon growling to set the atmosphere. The song then continues into some major riffage and really fast double bass. The vocals change with every line. It’s a clean voice and then it turns into a growl. It works well together. The main riff is without a doubt addictive and the way it goes into the chorus is excellent. The singing on the chorus is epic sounding and the vocal range can be amazing sometimes. The song is heavy and you can listen to it over and over again without losing your attention.
“Dante’s Inferno” starts on the same note as a creepy keyboard part. Though it starts with clean vocals, it is still weird. The song is humongous with 16:24 of awesomeness. The guitar harmonies come in to add a mood to it till I got a fright. It just hits you with the evil guitar parts and the demon singing. It reminds me of “Burnt Offerings” as it has many similarities due to its structure. The guitar tone is to die for. The song progresses into a crazy finger-tapping solo. Nearly half-way there and we are treated to some acoustics. Yet it still manages to keep the same atmosphere. The orchestral parts are amazing and it certainly adds to its epic feel. The song shows the progressive element to their music. The album is near-perfect but I would have liked more tracks, the album is 52:43 so I don’t why I should complain but you always want to have more with an album like this. The drums are strange. It is suddenly fast and chaotic and it shows off his skills and on other songs it is simply keeping the beat. Though minor flaws aside, it is an excellent album that would be recommended to anyone within the power metal or even thrash genre. The riffs are blinding and the melodic vocals are inspiring. This is one band to experiment with their sound and add different genres to their music. It is breath-taking. One thing that could turn people off is the demon vocals which I admit aren’t that good but without it, the certain atmosphere would be gone. It won’t appeal to everyone though, only to metal-heads and people looking for something different. My final score is
4.5. It would have got a five if it were a bit accessible but I doubt anyone with a good ear would care.
