Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Iced Earth
Label: SPV Records
Release: 2007
With Iced Earth, Jon Schaffer built one of the biggest metal bands around over 22 years, and their career has spawned some excellent records that earned a place in the metal encyclopedia. Probably the highest spot under the Iced Earth name is held by Something Wicked This Way Comes (1998), which closed out the Something Wicked This Way Comes trilogy, the one where Iced Earth kicked off the story of the character Set Abominae, a tale spanning several millennia. The band’s sound left a huge mark on the scene thanks to the unbelievable vocalist Matt Barlow, who quit in 2003 and was replaced on the last record, The Glorious Burden (2004), by the one-of-a-kind Tim “Ripper” Owens. A deep silence then fell over the Iced Earth camp for a solid three years, but Schaffer has finally quenched the fans’ thirst by announcing that the trilogy continues!
The story carries on with the album Framing Armageddon, due out this summer, and the first taste for your buds is the EP Overture of the Wicked, which brings the band’s first new song in three years, Ten Thousand Strong. If some people doubted that Schaffer still had a great record in him (even though I personally think The Glorious Burden is a very good release), Ten Thousand Strong proves that Iced Earth are very much alive and kicking at full force. The new song is a classic, hard-hitting wave of heavy/thrash metal that could have slotted onto the legendary Something Wicked This Way Comes without any trouble. Ten Thousand Strong kicks off with a 15-second falsetto scream from the incredible Ripper, which is hard to believe comes from human vocal cords. Owens just keeps on proving that he’s probably even the best vocalist of the newer generation. Halford and the rest should be sweating bullets. Ten Thousand Strong is a proper epic massacre, with an unbelievable sing-along chorus that sounds totally natural and unforced, which was perhaps the biggest minus of The Glorious Burden, if we leave out the epic Gettysburg trilogy. Apparently the guys are simply a lot better at fantasy stories with some depth than at historical creations…
The bulk of the EP is the re-recorded cult trilogy Something Wicked This Way Comes, the crown jewel of the band’s discography and without a doubt one of the peaks of heavy metal. Purists crossed themselves the moment they heard SWTWC was getting re-recorded, but I fully agree with Schaffer’s move, since it’ll make the transition to the continuation of the epic saga much easier, even though we all know the trilogy with Barlow’s vocals is beyond words. But that’s Iced Earth’s past, behind us and still held in fond memory; here is the Iced Earth of the new century, with Ripper on the throne!
The production of the “new” trilogy is superb. Plenty of people will be bothered by Schaffer’s lower-tuned guitar, but personally it doesn’t bug me much, and the bass is pushed a bit more to the front, which gives the crazy bass lines in Prophecy a slightly bigger role. If there’s one thing you can’t fault on the re-recorded masterpiece (and a masterpiece it remains), it’s the solos, which are noticeably improved over the original trilogy. I’m really sorry that Tim Mills, who played the solos on the EP, is no longer in the band for personal reasons. Troy Steel will have a tough job filling Mills’ spot. The re-recorded Prophecy gets a much creepier atmosphere, and Ripper, true to his nickname, rips it apart! Birth of The Wicked saw the fewest changes and sounds pretty similar to the original. The biggest “fixes” went to the trilogy’s closer, The Coming Curse, which is a big letdown at least in the opening moments, since Schaffer decided to drop the incredible piano intro from the original track. I really hope I hear it on Framing Armageddon, since the trilogy is supposed to get a few more changes. The Coming Curse is nicely filled out by Brent Smedley’s fantastic drums and, once again, a great Mills solo, and the track throws in a considerable surprise with the use of sitar and drums, which add an ominous Egyptian or East Asian vibe to the song, while the expanded choir section just takes the atmosphere up another notch.
With Overture of the Wicked, Schaffer has completely pulled off what he set out to do. The two-month wait for the album is going to be even harder now. And the fears that Iced Earth had run out of steam are destroyed. If Framing Armageddon sounds at least roughly like Overture of the Wicked (and I’m sure it’ll be even better), I can say with a clear conscience that it’ll be a release sitting at the top of this year’s best albums.
Lineup
Tim Owens – vocals
Tim Mills – lead guitar
Jon Schaffer – guitar and bass guitar
Brent Smedley – drums
Production
Jon Schaffer
Tracklist
1. Ten Thousand Strong 03:54
2. Prophecy 06:00
3. Birth of the Wicked 04:31
4. The Coming Curse 08:00
