Iced Earth

Horror Show

Another Great Theme - Another Great Album

Review Score:

(10/10)
Jon Schaffer truly surprised Iced Earth fans when he announced that he would postpone what would originally be the plot continuation from "Something Wicked..." and instead record an album focused around a completely different theme - the more notorious figures of horror in fiction literature, movies, television, and even reality. At first, it was a disappointment due to the long wait fans endured in order to hear the rest of the amazing story that was introduced in a trilogy on the last album. But once "Horror Show" was released, it satisfied the appetites of those waiting to hear what would come next from Metal's living legends. Basically what happened was that Schaffer realized this would be Iced Earth's last album with his current label, and he wanted to save the "Something Wicked..." plot for a better day - when a label would be willing to promote it to its fullest, since he felt that what he has in mind could be much more than simply an album. Therefore, he went in another direction, fulfilling his earliest desires to create a record based solely on his favorite horror legends.
Over the course of their career, Iced Earth have made a point to evolve and mature with each album. "Horror Show" proves no different in this respect. As a whole, it's a culmination of the complex arrangements and mature inclusion of such instrumentation as acoustic guitars, keyboards, pipe organ, mandolin, and a huge backing chorus on some parts to make this Iced Earth's largest production to date. The band has obviously used some of these elements before, but not necessarily to this degree. No fear, though - with the first song "Wolf" it's definitely proven that Iced Earth are pure Metal at heart with no intention of straying from that path. Sure, other elements are added as flourishes here and there (especially as song intros) but when each song kicks in, there's no doubt that this is still the same Iced Earth that eat, sleep, and breathe melodic, thrashy Heavy Metal. It's generally regarded that the band improves with every album, and once again "Horror Show" does not disappoint in this regard. Schaffer's talent (as well as that of the Schaffer/Barlow team) of writing epic and monumental thrash-influenced numbers seems to have no end. It's as though the well just cannot run dry.
As each of the songs progress, it's easy to notice how each is specifically written and performed to correlate with the subject at hand. Barlow's voice often turns menacing, brooding and downright monstrous and other times soaring triumphantly while the music partly gives the appropriate atmosphere to tell the story for each character. Taking this element to its fullest extent is "The Phanton Opera Ghost" which even includes dialogue to carry the plot through to its conclusion. The only track that doesn't fit the album's overall theme is "Ghost Of Freedom", which is patriotic in nature - yet another theme that Iced Earth has previously visited with "1776" on the last album.
With "Horror Show" Iced Earth enjoyed an increasing fan base and better record sales than any of their previous albums, it's good to see this band finally getting their rewards. The reason for this success is that they've simply been the best thing in pure Heavy Metal for some time, and music fans are finally coming around to recognize true talent in Metal. Forget money and fame, Schaffer was doing this when it was impossible to achieve those things, and for Iced Earth to be continuing on that path is a testament to their dedication and passion.

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