Metal Reviews

Pete, listen to your old buddy Rad. Night of the Stormrider is the Iced Earth album for you.

Horror Show was my first Iced Earth too....I'm still not a big fan.

I think that I could really enjoy them, a few tracks are amazing and I love the vocals. Like I said though, others were shit.

They have some sucky songs, that's true, and on the whole I think are a slightly overrated band but most of their CDs are worth having.

Night of the Stormrider is nice, thrashy epic power metal with lots of shrieky and aggressive vocals. Right up your alley, methinks.

I like this group, they show lots of potential. If Schaffer could stop trying to make himself MUCH larger than what he is, they'd prolly be even further than they are now.

I'll just rate all the albums how I feel.

Iced Earth: 3/10 - Nothing but a bit of potential on this album. Production quality is bad, vocalist is pitiful. Some decent guitar work on a few tracks.

Night of the Stormrider: 6/10 - A better vocalist and improved guitars give this album a step up. Nice songwriting is shown here. Vocals still hold the album back some, and the production still needs some work.

Burnt Offerings: 6/10 - I never could get into this one, although two of my faves from this group are on here, the title track and Dante's Inferno. Last December is good too, but the rest I just can't dig at all.

Dark Saga: 8/10 - A big step up for the band. Songs have more hooks in them and flow together much better. Barlow does some amazing vocal work on this one too.

Days of Purgatory: 7/10 - A strong album featuring many of the classic old tracks re-recorded by the new band, the most noticable change being Barlow on vocals. Still, some older tracks show some of the early problems the band had.

Melencholy EP: 7/10 - Gave a nice preview for the coming album to follow. Didn't care much for the cover songs however.

Something Wicked This Way Comes: 9/10 - In my opinion, the bands high point. Great opener, strong songs, a great and powerful ending trilogy. The high water mark of the band.

Alive in Athens: 10/10 - While the previous album was the high water mark, this one scores higher for the great song selection, and incredible atmosphere. Get the 3 disc version, not the neutered 2 disc.

Horror Show: 7/10 - The band took a step forward in production, and a step back with some of the music. Wolf is an incredible opener, but the album, while strong, seems to stumble a bit.

Tribute to the Gods: 4/10 - Barlows final showing with the band. They redo some classics, some well, some horrible. I can't get into this one at all.

The Reckoning EP: 8/10 - A great way to introduce new vocalist Owens with a very powerful single, plus shows he can do the slower stuff well too on the following track.

The Glorious Burden: 7/10 - Not as horrible as some make it out to be. Some really good, catchy songs, some draggers. Gettysburg trilogy drags on for way too long.

Overture of the Wicked: 8/10 - Owens redoes the Wicked trilogy. Feels a bit darker, some parts I like better, others I prefer the original. A good showing.

Framing Armageddon: 8/10 - Well rounded, but can't stand up to the original Something Wicked. Nice songs all around, no real stand-outs though, and a bit of filler holds this album back.

Dont want to be a dick, but that is the worst mini reviews I have ever read. GB got a higher score than NotSR? HA!

Damn straight it got a lower score. Vocalist needs work, production is muddy, some songs drag somewhat. Glorious Burden had good production, a great lead singer, and catchy tracks with only the Gettysburg Trilogy being draggy.

I find GB to be very underrated. Just because the album is overly-patriotic doesn't make it a bad album! Chage the lyrics from patriotism and classic characters and battles in history to a Blind Guardian-esque dungeons and dragons lyric thing, while keeping all the music exactly the same, and more people would've liked the album. I love the fact that it's so patriotic, and someone went out and did something different in the metal world. Too bad Schaffer is still too ego-inflated.

I actually think the mastering on TGB is terrible and the production overall is pretty thin. I don't think there's anything wrong with Stormrider outside of the not-so-great vocalist.

Gonna have to give my own mini review. Fun to see where taste differs.

I am reviewing the remastered albums.

Iced Earth: 6,5/10 - Good, but Gene Adams does take some time to get used to. Some pretty cool riffs though.
Night of the Stormrider: 9,5/10 - Simply the best bunch of songs Iced Earth ever released. The story is pretty cool and the riffs man.. The riffs! Only thing holding the album back is not having Barlow or Ripper yet.
Burnt Offerings: 9/10 - As dark and heavy as they come. Pretty damn awesome.
Dark Saga: 8,5/10 - They started making more simplistic songs. Alot catchier but still very heavy stuff. Another cool storyline. A very strong, emotional performance by Barlow on the last two tracks.
Something Wicked This Way Comes: 9/10 - A good balance. Most of the album consists of straight forward songs but the ending triology is some of the best metal ever.
Alive in Athens: 10/10 - My all time favorite live album.
Horror Show: 8/10 - Some great songs, a few okay songs. I like the album alot, but I can understand some people not liking it much.
The Glorious Burden: 7/10 - Ripper did great, the big shock to me was how the thick guitar sound no longer was a part of Iced Earth. Riffs weren't that great either. Still, songs are pretty good for what they are and the Gettysburgh trilogy is probably the best songs released Ripper-era IE.
Framing Armageddon: 6/10 - Same problem as The Glorious Burden; the riffs aren't great and the guitar sound is just plain flat. Only this time the album lacks the catchy "hit songs" of TGB. Luckily Ripper saves it from being a total bust.

My problem with The Glorious Burden was the softening of the music. Songs like Decleration Day were just pretty weak and riff-light. I think its an ok album, but just a little watered down. And I agree with Ken, the production is the downfall. Everything sounds so thin.

I believe TGB is when Jon started recording in Pro-Tools. Framing Armageddon was better, but it's still missing that bottom end, that thick sound that makes an album like Something Wicked This Way Comes sound so killer. It's got balls, while the latest two are eunuchs in comparison.

The Dark Saga and Alive in Athens.

I didnt like TGB. I thought the civil war trilogy was the only saving grace on that album.

Dark saga is my fav IE album followed by Burnt Offerings. Something wicked would rank up behind those two. I cant stand to listen to NoTSR and Iced Earth due to the singers. I would rather just listen to Barlow do his thing on days in purgatory or Alive in Athens.

How any fan of Iced Earth-type metal could dislike John Greely's voice is beyond me.

"This is the path that I....chewse!!"

I prefer Matt's live rendition

I've got NOTSR now and I agree, he's mint. Especially the first heavy bit of Angel's Holocaust. Sounds absolutely perfect to me. The album overall is absolutely fucking brilliant aswell.

Hey, what'd I tell you?

His vocals are like a cross between early Annihilator and Forbidden. How can't you like that?!? But yeah, the album has caused so much pwnage in my house since I got it.