Iced Earth

Horror Show

New to Iced Earth... Like what I hear.

Review Score:

(8/10)
Okay, let's start this off with the fact that this is the first Iced Earth album I've heard. So I'll write this for anyone else who has never heard them and you die hard fans can argue over the best/worst Iced Earth song/singer/cd/etc. I'd known about the band for a long time from seeing them advertised in the back of that rag Metal Edge over the years and always assumed they were a death metal band. Well, they're not. No vomiting into the mic here. This is pure old-school metal.

The sound of IE is something like Testament and Slayer blended together with a hint of Fear Factory. The vocal style is kinda like Iron Maiden/Fates Warning, only much harder edged.

What can be said about this CD that other reviews haven't said? This is one scorching CD. Thundering drums, brutal guitars, and screatching vocals, all blended together perfectly (unlike the newer, more popular metal now with leans heavily towards just vocals). I will definitley pick up a few more IE cds after hearing this one.

But it ain't perfect. Many of the songs sound the same and it's hard to tell them apart. Some of them don't end very well and seem to just stop. And since this is kinda a concept album, the lyrics are a little jarring at first. This kind of "storytelling" metal is something I haven't been into for a long time. If it weren't for the sheer technical prowess of the band this could have been very silly and cheesy. I grew up on Irion Maiden and Metallica, but I grew tired of old school metal because it never changed. Metallica evolved, Iron Maiden didn't, so I lost interest in them. A lot of people complain about newer Metallica, but I much prefer it over the old stuff, because it's just that: Old, dated, behind the times. Iced Earth is a throwback to those old style metal bands, but feels modern in its heaviness and sensibilities.

And this album is heavy. The opening track "Wolf" has got to be one of the coolest songs ever. I just want to stop the cd whereever its at and go back to the begining, the song is that damn cool. A lot of people like "Damien," I think it's okay, kinda long though. "Jeckal & Hyde" and "Dracula" are both really cool as well. But "Wolf" is worth the price of the cd alone. Listen and you'll see what I mean.

More Reviews: