Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Iced Earth
Label: Century Media
Release: 2011
Length: 46:11
Rating: 4.5/5
Iced Earth, one of America’s biggest power metal bands, spent the last decade stumbling around in the dark. Horror Show, released in 2001, was the last album truly worthy of the Iced Earth name, one that could hold its own against the best stuff the band cranked out through the nineties. After that album, themed (naturally) around horror flicks and horror literature, a seriously turbulent and stormy period followed for Iced Earth and bandleader Jon Schaffer. First the band’s original voice, Matt Barlow, left. Fired up with patriotism after 9/11, he joined the American police force. The otherwise excellent Tim “Ripper” Owens stepped in for the half-finished The Glorious Burden, but that solid record (with a few fantastic moments, and I’m mainly thinking of the epic Gettysburg trilogy) was plagued by one thing in particular. Schaffer apparently forgot about the mix of thrash aggression and power metal melody that had made Iced Earth so unique from the very start. The first part of the epic Something Wicked story, Framing Armageddon, didn’t fare any better, and then came the feud with Owens and his exit from the band. Schaffer then swapped out as many members as Glanzkopf goes through hair-growth products, and as if by miracle, the prodigal son Matt Barlow returned to Iced Earth. Sadly, his comeback didn’t bring quality back with it. He left the band again after probably the worst album of Iced Earth’s career, The Crucible of Man. It was questionable whether Jon could even pick Iced Earth up off the floor after such a mediocre release, and the big question was who would replace Matt Barlow. Early last year, Stu Block, vocalist of the Canadian band Into Eternity, stepped into his shoes, and last October the revamped, refreshed Iced Earth released their tenth studio album, Dystopia.
Considering Schaffer’s paranoid views on the “new world order,” a dystopian theme was totally expected from him, and it was only a matter of time before Iced Earth waded into anti-utopian waters. After the incredibly lukewarm and boring The Crucible of Man, it was doubtful whether Iced Earth would ever find their way back to their old glory, but there was a ray of hope in the fact that with this record Jon Schaffer wrapped up his story about the character Set Abominae, and with it the writing of slow, monotonous, atmospheric, quasi-epic, repetitive songs that not even Barlow could save. But Schaffer hasn’t buried his character for good just yet, since Dystopia picks up right where The Crucible of Man ended, with the song Come What May, which says it’s human actions that will determine the future of humanity. The title track of the new album reveals that humanity lives in city-states under prison-like control. Still, Dystopia is a big step in the right direction. As rebels against the dystopian system, Iced Earth have found the power and aggression that we missed so badly on a few of their previous releases. And if picking Block as the new vocalist caused quite a bit of skepticism, since judging by his work in Into Eternity Stu seemed like maybe too much of a classic power metal vocalist, every doubt is squashed in the album’s first moments. With his melodic voice, which has injected fresh energy and fury into Iced Earth, Stu is the main culprit behind the band’s rebirth. Block shows off his vocal talent (without a doubt one of the best of the younger generation) through countless unforgettable moments on the album, and he has all the attributes of the great Iced Earth vocalists of the past. With a mighty, epic and dramatic, deeper-pitched baritone, Stu easily builds an ominous “Barlow-esque” atmosphere. With ear-piercing falsetto screams he could bring even Tim “Ripper” Owens to his knees. And with his own unique “tenor” he makes sure the vocal lines flow like the brainwashing of Orwell’s Big Brother or the Father from Equillibrium. Stu has without doubt brought some badly needed freshness and youth to a crew that was slowly growing moss and already smelled of cypress trees. Schaffer’s right hand is once again mowing down everything in front of it, and the brutal riffs could easily bring the looming totalitarian architecture crashing down to dust. The epically catchy sing-along choruses are back, lodging themselves in your ears thanks to Block’s fantastic performance, and above all there are faster, more aggressive songs, which we missed so much on the snore-inducing predecessor. Schaffer also made an excellent move by squashing his megalomaniac ego a bit and letting the other members take part in the songwriting. Block wrote a full three quarters of the lyrics and proved himself with an effective presentation of the album’s shared theme, which draws heavily from the films V for Vendetta, Dark City, Equillibrium and Soylent Green (which is crystal clear from the song titles alone). He also wrote the gripping, emotionally sung ballad End of Innocence and dedicated it to his mother, who has cancer. Lead guitarist Troy Steele proved himself too, promising at least as much as probably the best Iced Earth soloist ever, Randy Shawver. Steele delivered short but punchy, dynamic solos and also put his name to the excellent bonus track Soylent Green as a co-writer. Together with Schaffer he forms a hard-hitting duo that strings together extremely good melodic riffs and harmonic passages across the whole record.
Given the album’s theme of an anti-utopian future, you’d expect it to be dark and depressing, but it’s far from that. Through stories of heroes who rise up against a tyrannical system, it paints an optimistic, full-of-life picture. Still, given the essence of anti-utopia, which is of course the subordination of all human processes to the social system and technology, and to an elite (military) clique under a charismatic leader whose only task is to wipe out the last essence of individuality, you could justifiably have expected a classic dark and dramatic Iced Earth epic. Something along the lines of Dante’s Inferno or the Something Wicked trilogy would have worked great in Dystopia’s thematic setting too.
Still, above all Dystopia is a record you enjoy listening to from start to finish, and that makes it a big comeback for Iced Earth and Jon Schaffer, back among the elite of today’s heavy metal. Admittedly, Dystopia doesn’t bring anything Iced Earth fans aren’t already used to, but after ten years of sad mediocrity it’s really nice to hear that Jon hasn’t run out of ideas and drive. The rejuvenated crew delivered the badly needed kick in Schaffer’s backside, and I hope that, maybe for the first time in his career, Jon will keep this crew around him and build a strong band, one that with Dystopia may only just be proving what it’s capable of. As the unforgettable anarchist anti-hero V said: “…A building is a symbol, as is the act of destroying it. Symbols are given power by people. A symbol, in and of itself is powerless, but with enough people behind it, blowing up a building can change the world.” Dystopia is not just such a symbol, and the fans’ great response is proof that the time for a rebirth has come for Iced Earth.
Lineup
Jon Schaffer – guitar, backing vocals
Stu Block – vocals
Freddie Vidales – bass guitar, backing vocals
Troy Steel – guitar
Brent Smedley – drums
Production
Jim Morris and Jon Schaffer
Tracklist
1. Dystopia
2. Anthem
3. Boiling Point
4. Anguish of Youth
5. V
6. Dark City
7. Equillibrium
8. Days of Rage
9. End of Innocence
10. Soylent Green*
11. Iron Will*
12. Tragedy and Triumph
13. Anthem (string mix)*
*bonus tracks on the digipak edition
