Iced Earth: The Dark Saga (1996)

That's Spawn on the cover isn't it?  I am no big comic book fan, and certainly not of most superheroes, but even I can recognize Spawn when I see him.  The major reason for that is that I have actually seen the live-action movie with Michael Jai White, Martin Sheen and John Leguizamo.  It was bad.  The name of the album does not really give much away, but listening to the album it becomes pretty clear that this is a concept album revolving around the Spawn comic storyline.  At least I am pretty sure, based on my limited knowledge.

Well, let's not waste any more time talking about the concept.  It is what it is and I have no problem with an album covering that storyline.  It is admittedly somewhat compelling.  Let's talk instead about Iced Earth, a band I have enjoyed for something like 20 years.  Yet, I have not done much looking into their works prior to Something Wicked This Way Comes, which is an album I love.  Recently, I picked up second album Night of the Stormrider, but the Iced Earth on that album bears only a passing resemblance even to this album.  The biggest change is the inclusion of vocalist Matt Barlow who joined for Burnt Offerings, the album preceding this one and the most popular vocalist of Iced Earth's tenure.  His rough-edged, deeper-voiced vocals fit well with bandleader Jon Schaeffer's Iron Maiden-esque galloping riffing style.  That style is in fairly short supply on this album however, which is kind of odd.

This album really feels like one drawn-out song with very little variance in the riffing or vocal styles.  Most of the songs are somewhat mid-paced with crunching riffs and Barlow's captivating vocals.  There is one ballad on the release that stands out quite a bit because of how different it is to the rest of the album.  It is really the storyline that drives this album moreso than the music.  Schaeffer sought more to create a cohesive story with music to match than to write anything groundbreaking musically.  Thus, the album comes across as cinematic, but not terribly interesting from a musical standpoint.

Ultimately, I would not recommend this album to someone looking at getting into Iced Earth.  There are some interesting ideas present, but it is not overly representative of the band's general musical style.  I like the album and Barlow's vocals are great, if a little overwrought, but a lot of the other elements that I have come to expect in an Iced Earth album are simply not present.  I am curious to know what Spawn fans think about it though.

Iced Earth in Omaha: Feb. 27, 2018

Last night, Iced Earth brought their Incorruptible World Tour to Omaha with support from Sanctuary and Kill Ritual, as well as a performance from local band The Clincher.  The venue was Sokol Auditorium, but it was in the basement instead of the main stage, which was definitely weird.  The basement was pretty musty and featured a small stage.  It was a shockingly small crowd for a band of Iced Earth's stature and the band seemed somewhat dismayed by it (that and some douchebaggery in the crowd).  I do not blame them.  I thought that Omaha was doing a better job of supporting metal bands in concert, but this was a step backwards.

Omaha band The Clincher was the first to take the stage.  I will admit I knew next to nothing about the band before last night.  They had a strong performance, and I would be interested in checking them out a little bit more.  Vocalist Lori Piper was the main draw with her ability to change her vocal style from a soft croon to a blood-curdling shriek quickly.  

Kill Ritual was next, and I was able to get a little bit of information from the Metal Archives on them, though I feel that information needs to be corrected.  The band is much more of a power metal band than a thrash metal band.  The riffs were definitely not all that thrashy and the vocals were the driving force.  They were catchy enough at the time, but not terribly memorable.

Up next was Sanctuary, a band who has hit some major hardship recently.  Legendary vocalist Warrel Dane died suddenly while the band was in Brazil on tour in December.  Somehow, the band managed to find a replacement singer to continue with their commitments, and that singer does do a hell of a Dane impression.  After overcoming a few sound issues (we were treated to a very loud bass solo randomly), the band performed an incredible set that covered all of their albums.  I recently discovered Sanctuary's early albums before forming Nevermore and kicked myself for not looking into them earlier.  The performance was of course dedicated to the departed Dane.    

Iced Earth finally took the stage and they were absolutely incredible.  The band is celebrating 30 years of releasing material under the name "Iced Earth".  Of course, guitarist Jon Schaffer is the only continuous member of the band during all of that time, with a variety of other members over the years.  Of particular note is that Stu Block, formerly of the underrated Into Eternity, has been the singer for the last few years.  Block does a shockingly good job performing a number of songs that were originally written for Matt Barlow.  I was a little disappointed there were no tracks from the Ripper Owens era.  I think Block could have handled them well.  They played songs from all eras of their history.  The biggest surprise for me was seeing Schafer himself sing on "Stormrider" from the band's first album.  I was not overly impressed with the new songs from last year's album, but a lot of the other songs were great.  Iced Earth really does put on a terrific live performance and a lot more people should have been there to see them.

The highlight of the night from my wife's perspective was likely the compliments she received about her clothes and the fact that another woman acknowledged to her that it was nice to see another woman there.  She has long referred to metal concerts as sausage parties.    

Initial Impressions: Iced Earth: Dystopia

One of the most difficult things to get used to in my formative years as a metalhead was the idea that sometimes bands changed their lead singers. I think the first bands that I noticed this with were Black Sabbath and Cannibal Corpse. Now obviously bands have been changing lead singers for years, but when I was younger and more naive the lead singer seemed like the most indispensable member.

All of the above is meant as an introduction to Iced Earth's latest release, with new singer Stu Block. Iced Earth has had a number of singers over the years, so it is really no surprise that the band is on their fifth different lead singer, with Matt Barlow serving two stints. Block was previously with progressive melodeath band Into Eternity, which is a band whose last couple of albums I have definitely enjoyed. I was interested in hearing how Block would do with Iced Earth. Iced Earth has always been guitarist Jon Schaffer's band. He is the creative force behind them and the only stable member over the years.

Iced Earth was a little stagnant on their last album. It sounded stale and was largely a disappointment. Sad considering that it was the second stint with Barlow. So, the question was whether the addition of Block would reinvigorate the band. That question was answered with an emphatic yes.

This is Iced Earth's best album in years. I think I prefer it even over the albums Tim Owens appeared on. Block actually sounds a little like a cross between Owens and Barlow in places. It is their fastest and most energetic album in a while. The riffs are still typical for the band, meaning galloping Iron Maiden-esque melodies.

Iced Earth has released a very good album here. While it is no match for their best albums at the height of the band's career, it is fairly impressive for a band going for a quarter of a century.

In Remembrance of Those Who Died on 9/11

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 52: Iced Earth

Iced Earth is the U.S.'s answer to Iron Maiden and Blind Guardian. The thrash/power metal band has been around for a long time and, up until recently, consistently put out great releases. The only real issue with the band is the revolving door behind the mic. Matt Barlow is the most recognizable voice for the band, but Ripper Owens and others have previously occupied the spot, which is now taken by Into Eternity's Stu Block. Jon Schaeffer has always been the driving force behind the band though, and his distinctive galloping Maiden-esque riff is so identifiable that anyone can instantly recognize an Iced Earth song.

FAVORITE ALBUM: SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES

Iced Earth Brings in New Singer

Link.

A few weeks ago, Matt Barlow announced he was leaving Iced Earth. The band hired Stu Block of Into Eternity to replace him. I have mixed feelings about this. I love Block's vocals with Into Eternity. He, like Scar Symmetry's former vocalist, is able to switch between a variety of vocal styles with ease, but I am not sure how this will help with Iced Earth, who has always used cleaner vocal styles. Also, Iced Earth's last album was kind of disappointing, resembling much more of a hard rock album than a metal album.

I guess time will tell.

Year in Metal: 1998

BEHEMOTH: PANDEMONIC INCANTATIONS
This album found Behemoth at a crossroads. For years, Behemoth was an underground black metal band out of Poland. However, this album found Behemoth adding more and more death metal influences to their sound. The same death metal influences that would later come to define their sound. Behemoth was still mostly a black metal band, but their sound was undergoing changes. This is a very powerful and aggressive album, and is one of the better albums by the band.

BLIND GUARDIAN: NIGHTFALL IN MIDDLE EARTH
This album is a concept album covering J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Silmarillion". I am not a Tolkien expert by any means so I have no idea of the accuracy of the story, but Blind Guardian does a masterful job of spinning an epic tale. There are short spoken interludes between several of the songs which are meant to further the story along. Such interludes are helpful. Otherwise, this is typical epic power metal by a band that has forged an amazing career at it.

BOLT THROWER: MERCENARY
A comeback album of sorts by Bolt Thrower. This is the first album after Karl Willetts returned. In the meantime, Bolt Thrower had done a few tours with other vocalists, such as Martin Van Drunen. However, the band never released an album with another singer. This is fairly typical Bolt Thrower output, fantastic old school death metal. This album does include one of the band's best songs, the anthemic " No Guts, No Glory".

DEATH: THE SOUND OF PERSEVERANCE
Of course this album was going to make it on here. This is one of my favorite albums of all time. Death's swansong is an amazing slab of progressive death metal. Chuck Schuldiner did a masterful job of songwriting on this release. The album completely transcends the death metal genre to become a certifiable work of art. Schuldiner's riffs, song structures, and lyrics are completely without par. Unfortunately, this was the band's final album.

ICED EARTH: SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES
Iced Earth, the amazing power/thrash metal band from the United States, had been around for nearly fifteen years by this point, but this is their first truly great album, in my opinion. All of the elements seemed to come together on this release. Jon Schaefer's riffs have always been the focal point in the band, but Matt Barlow's vocals really shine through on this album. The songwriting is also very strong on this album, and it featured the prelude to the Something Wicked concept in the final three songs.

Honorable Mentions: Cradle of Filth: Cruelty and the Beast; Fear Factory: Obsolete; Hammerfall: Legacy of Kings; Metallica: Garage Inc.; Opeth: My Arms, Your Hearse; Slayer: Diabolus in Musicana

Bands that Formed in 1998: Chimaira, Tyr

Three Fun Halloween Albums

Once again, in honor of Halloween coming up (I'm probably going to run out of ideas before I get there), I wanted to look at three albums that are especially fun to listen to this time of year. These albums are not scary at all musically (two are from power metal bands, the other a light-hearted death metal band). Instead the lyrical themes are old school horror movie monsters. That's what makes them a lot of fun. I love horror movies almost as much as I love metal, so albums that combine the two are great in my book.

DENIAL FIEND: THEY RISE

Denial Fiend is a band formed by Kam Lee, the original singer for Death (well they were actually known as Mantas at that time) and also formerly of Massacre. Denial Fiend is a death metal band but the band strives for more of a fun sound influenced equally by horrorpunk groups like The Misfits as they are by death metal. This album mostly deals with zombies, but also tackles The Creature from the Black Lagoon and Frankenstein as well.

FORCE OF EVIL: BLACK EMPIRE

The musicians from Mercyful Fate had to do something while King Diamond was busy with his self-named band, so they formed Force of Evil with a new singer. This band is more of a traditional metal band with some occasional power metal leanings but it is driven by the masterful guitar work of Hank Shermann and Michael Denner. The horror movie monster references are more recent than the Golden Age of Horror icons that Denial Fiend and Iced Earth touch on and include: Candyman ("Cabrini Green"), The Omen ("Days of Damien"), Friday the 13th ("Voorhees Revenge"), Texas Chainsaw Massacre ("Dead in Texas"), and In the Mouth of Madness ("Hobbs End"). It also features a song referencing many of Stephen King's works ("Disciples of the King").

ICED EARTH: HORROR SHOW

Iced Earth is a well-known American power/thrash metal band that is strongly influenced by groups like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. The band has been going strong for over 20 years at this point and sound as if they could continue for another ten years. This album, as mentioned above, deals more with Golden Age horror icons, with a couple of newer ones thrown in for good measure. Monsters with their own song include Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Wolfman, the Mummy, Jekyll and Hyde, and the Phantom of the Opera. Jack the Ripper and Damien from The Omen also have songs.

5 Important Bands To Me From 1 Genre: Pt. 1: Power Metal

Huh, there hasn't been much going on lately in the world of metal. No big releases lately, no major feuds, well there have been but nothing much worth commenting on here. So here I am, knowing I need to write something because I've been slacking, but not having much to write about.

Well after brainstorming and glancing through my prior posts, I notice that I have not had much to say about power metal. Power metal is a genre that it took me a little while to get into. Not because I did not care for the music, far from it, but because I have been so focused on the more extreme genres like death and thrash metal.

Power metal is my best friend's favorite genre, but like I said, it took me a bit longer to really get into it. I will start today's post, the first in a new series, with five power metal bands that I got into before I really got into power metal. The point of this series is to look at five bands from one genre that have affected my tastes in some way or another.

1. Queensryche

This band is kind of a fusion between power metal and progressive metal, particularly on their earlier material. Their later material dropped much of the power metal influence but the band was at least as important as Jag Panzer and Fates Warning on the American scene. I have two of their earlier albums and two of their mid-era albums. I much prefer their earlier stuff which is faster, more aggressive, and more emotional than the rest of their material. Geoff Tate has one of the best voices in metal. This was the first power metal band I really got into. The band did not really lead me to any other bands and my tastes mostly remained stagnant from here.

2. Iced Earth
I always liked the album covers for this band but never really knew what to expect from them. I had heard that they were kind of like a thrashier Iron Maiden and this comparison is what lead me to bite the bullet and check them out. The comparison proved to be reasonably accurate. The riffs were very similar to Maiden, except the galloping was not from the bass, but rather the rhythm guitar. Matt Barlow's voice was incredible in its own way. Unfortunately Iced Earth has had some difficulty in keeping singers and Barlow was out of the band for awhile. He is back now, but this has hurt Iced Earth's ability to become the force they deserve to be in American metal. Iced Earth eventually lead me to Symphony X and Blind Guardian.

3. Symphony X
Symphony X is similar to Queensryche in that they are more of a progressive power metal band. I became interested in this band when they released The Odyssey, a concept album about the Greek epic poem. As a big fan of Greek mythology in general, and that poem in particular, I HAD to check this out. The album is great, although it lags in a few places and is definitely longer than it should be. Still, the band sounded like a more drawn out and epic Iced Earth. Not bad at all. Their latest album is a concept album revolving around Milton's Paradise Lost.

4. Children of Bodom
This is kind of an odd band to be here, but once you get past the harsh vocal style, it begins to become apparent that Children of Bodom is indeed a power metal band. The melodic structure, wailing guitar solos, keyboards all are closer to Blind Guardian than to melodic death metal bands like Dark Tranquillity and In Flames that the band often gets lumped in with. At one time, I didn't think music could possibly get faster than Children of Bodom. Some of their songs are still incredibly fast but the band has slowed quite a bit in recent albums. Too bad, they just couldn't keep up the pace. This band lead me to Kalmah, Norther, Skyfire, Destroy Destroy Destroy, and other power metal bands with harsher vocals.

5. Blind Guardian
This is arguably the most important band in the second stage of European power metal. Helloween helped create the genre, but Blind Guardian perfected it. Blind Guardian is one of the most musically gifted bands in metal, after Iron Maiden, and has a great sense of melody and structure. Their early albums are incredible and their later ones still maintain a degree of that early power. This band made it okay to enjoy Tolkien in metal and even wrote a song about Peter Pan. Not many bands can pull that kind of thing off. After Blind Guardian, I became very interested in power metal bands. Some good, some great, some not so great. Blind Guardian though, is still my favorite power metal band.

That's it for this installment.