Metal Reviews

And I was always one to defend your site when people would bitch about you starting new threads about it.

Ah, such is the life of the underrated.

That's what was so confusing to me about your remarks.





NP: Aspire - The age of reckoning

I can't believe I'm starting to miss the normally never-ending Barlow vs Owens discussion.

I heard the album a few times also, no matter on what side you are on, whether is ripper or barlow. I personally have a lot of respect for both men. Barlow is amazing as always, sure the album is not the best they have ever done, i compare it pretty close to Framing Armageddon. But to still be relevant and stay solid and keep on making that "pure ripping metal" sound Iced Earth is known for sure, after these years and keep on dishing out solid material, is pretty impressive. I say the album is less melodic but more straightforward.

Just to hear Barlow back makes the album that much better, I just always thought Matt's voice has that much power that blends well with the band.

Btw i was watching the Youtube performance of Iced Earth for the Graspop Metal festival 2008, damm what a performance, just amazing, brings back memories of the Alive In Athens days.

I reviewed their debut here. No one cared.

Assholes.

You durn tootin!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoxwgXSFg5U

He sure as hell can do those Owens-like wails. Wish he'd do more of them!

Here's something for you hardcore Barlow maniacs.

http://www.myspace.com/158137216

Cauldron demos (the band he was in before Iced Earth).

Yeah, I downloaded this a few years back. Pretty cool stuff. "Entry Number 161914" has a lot of parts that were used in Iced Earth's "Last December." Pretty sweet!

For those of us who don't download Iced Earth have posted 6 samples from the upcoming CD "The Crucible of Man". Enjoy.

http://www.myspace.com/icedearth

I have to say that upon my first listen to this CD I am not impressed at all. Consistency does not advocate for mediocrity and that is what this CD is...mediocre. Don't misunderstand me, I love Iced Earth and the return of Matt Barlow but as of late this band has been nothing but predictable. The last CD I truly enjoyed from start to finish was Horrorshow and the last great music that Schaffer wrote was "Hell To Pay", "Hold At All Costs", and "High Water Mark" from The Glorious Burden.

The new Pyramaze blows this away. I only make that comparison due to Barlow's obvious involvement with both projects.

Bruce Dickinson made an observation of the music that Maiden was creating around the recording of Iron Maiden's No Prayer For The Dying. He was making an apt comparison of Maiden to Dream Theater and he said, "They're (DT's) demos are better than any of our finished recordings." Bruce was pointing out the obvious writing rut that Maiden had
found themselves in. It took quite some time and band upheaval for Maiden to "right the ship". I feel that Iced Earth may find themselves in similar territory right now.

I'll have to disagree with you a bit, granted the new albums are kinda hard to get into at first but thats because of their "concept" quality, after listen to both albums for quite some time i can see what Jon tried to do here, he had been wanting to make this concept albums for quite some time and i can really feel that he gave his best, can you honestly say that a song like Come What May or I walk Alone doesnt do anything for you?, IMO if there is any IE album that fits your Maiden analogy that would be Horror Show,to me it seems like John only wanted to do it to end the contract with Century Media, and for that he just released some leftover tracks from Demons And Wizard, its a good album of course but i dont get that same level of "honesty" that i get with the wicked albums.


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Now playing: Iced Earth - Declaration Day
via FoxyTunes

I really like Crucify The King and Something Wicked 3 from the new CD. The others you mention are good songs but they sound derivative of their previous material. I understand that artists have a particular style and I applaud Schaffer for that because he has carved out his own brand of metal and created a distinctive sound. I kind of liken it to the AC/DC argument that every album begins to sound the same after awhile. I mean no disrespect to IE at all it's just that it doesn't do much for me.

I had a hard time with Framing Armageddon because the production sounded so weak and I found Ripper's vocals too profound.

Late to the party but better late then never.I have loved these guys for a long @ss time(me and everybody else's mother),and I am pleasantly suprised by this cd's quality.I love having Barlow back,so many great songs.I have always been a deathhead,but these guys keep me coming back for more!

After having some time to digest this material I'd say it's about the same as Part 1 (which isn't surprising since they were written at the same time). The return of Barlow doesn't make it better since I enjoy Ripper almost equally on material like this. I like that they use more bottom end in their production compared to part 1. But it just doesn't hold up.

After IE released the bland The Glorious Burden I thought they couldn't go anywhere but up. Unfortunately they didn't and I must say this two part album is their worst release yet.

I like the story but I just don't like the songs. Stop using choirs on every damn chorus and stop multi-layering everything from guitars to song. It waters down the music. Go back to basics and do what you do best, don't be another Blind Guardian clone.

Sorry, had to get that off my chest ;)

I'll save some comments for the review when it gets done.

Hey Voice, I need to point out one of my biggest fallacies as a listener is that I tend to make quick first impressions and post them just after listening to new CD's. I need to curtail that behavior and give some things time so that I can make better overall observations of new CD's that I listen too. I know I'm guilty of it. I'm sure that I'll have an improved view of the new Iced Earth after a few listens.

Well, got the album today, and so far I'm very disappointed with the booklet. Poor font for the lyrics, makes it look like it's not printed properly, whilst the pictures are all simplistic comic booky crap instead of the slightly more sophisticated stuff I was hoping for. Here's hoping that the album itself makes up for it...