The
band Iced Earth is a long-time testament to the survival of metal since
the music's inception, regardless of how far underground the band, and
the scene itself, has had to go to continue developing. The band's new
metal masterpiece, Something Wicked This Way Comes, is the sixth in a long
line of Century Media releases for the band, a diversely-written record
that will appeal to a wide variety of metal fans.
Once
guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer added able-throated vocalist
Matthew Barlow to the band's nucleus in 1995, the band's writing and delivery
stepped up accordingly. Indeed Barlow earned high praise for his work on
the band's third studio album, Burnt Offerings, though it was only a hint
of things to come. 1996's The Dark Saga heralded the band's breakthrough,
as Schaffer continued to steadily hone his craft as a masterful songwriter,
combining fluid vocal melodies with intense metallic riffs and elements
that often verged on orchestral. A non-stop slate of touring helped to
solidify their reputation as one of the best live bands on the circuit,
winning over crowds as part of the Summer Metal Meetings tout in Europe.
All
along, sales of the group's back catalog picked up with each newfound fan,
and all too often the members faced inquiries about their demo recordings
and unreleased rarities. Spending several months in Morrisound Studios
with chief producer Jim Morris, the band meticulously reworked songs from
their earliest days together, along with all of the material from their
infamous Enter The Realm demo tape, and select songs from their first two
classics, Iced Earth and Night Of The Stormrider. Thus, Days Of Purgatory
was born (the name refers to the grours original moniker, Purgatory) and
fans could now hear some classics songs with the band line-up and technology
at their finest.
Something
Wicked is Iced Earth's most comprehensive work so far. The band has taken
it upon themselves to explore most of metal's realms, while at the same
time remembering the importance of roots and influences. Again deciding
to give the fans a visually outstanding release as well as musically, Greg
Capullo (who aided McFarlane with The Dark Saga artwork) and Travis Smith
were brought in to design the cover art for the Something Wicked album,
a graphic creation that has definitely continued the trend of outstanding
album covers for Iced Earth. Song-wise, the new album flows much like The
Dark Saga, but is embellished with additional melancholy and acoustic parts
that completely show the band's dynamic range. Accompanied by the subtle
use of acoustic guitars, keyboards and even a little flute, the record's
hourlong journey is capped off with a 20+ minute trilogy of the album's
title, coming in the form of songs 'Prophecy, 'Birth Of The Wicked' and
'Coming Curse, which portray Schaffer's fathoming of an ancient Earth culture
being overrun by the alien species, man.
Iced
Earth continue to ignore all passing trends in heavy music and stick to
what they and the fans love most, well-written and executed heavy metal,
which is absolutely fine with us!
