Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Iced Earth
Label: SPV Records
Release: 2007
Ever since the release of the rather mediocre album “The Glorious Burden” in 2004, which was saved from total gray mediocrity mainly by the fantastic Gettysburg trilogy, silence reigned in the Iced Earth camp. But at the start of this year, mastermind Jon Schaffer finally broke the silence and announced a grand plan – the band’s next release will be the first part of a concept album. And not just any album! The story is set to tie into and expand on the one Schaffer started with the Something Wicked This Way Comes trilogy on the album of the same name, released in 1998.
Writing a good concept album is damn hard work, since the story has to work as one big whole, and on top of that the music has to keep up to really land. True, there are quite a few good concept albums, let me just mention The Wall and Metropolis Pt.2, but now try to think of one of the bad ones. Can’t, right? The whole point of a concept record is that it burns itself completely into the listener’s memory, and if I’m being totally honest, Framing Armageddon didn’t do that for me. What’s more, at first I even thought Shaffer had, for the first time in his career, really and truly dropped the ball. But for once I’m glad I’m a bit late with the review (Framing Armageddon officially came out on September 7), because after a few more spins all the beauty of this record opened up to me, and Framing Armageddon has it by the ton. So let’s take it from the top.
The Something Wicked This Way Comes trilogy introduced the anti-hero Set Abominae back in 1998, and Framing Armageddon continues the story started by that incredible closer of the SWTWC album. Let’s quickly run through the album’s framing story (if you’d rather fight your way through the epic sci-fi saga yourself, skip this paragraph), though I really do urge you to read the phenomenal lyrics, especially if you count yourself among sci-fi fans. Framing Armageddon is about the fate of the Setian race, the original inhabitants of Earth and direct descendants of the Great Architect, who also possessed unlimited knowledge. Humans, who had developed space travel, occupied Earth and killed off the entire race, except for ten thousand who fled to the mountains. The High Setian Council, made up of 13 members (the so-called Order ot the Rose), draws up a plan for revenge on humanity. With a procedure they call “The Clouding” they will wipe humanity’s memory of its origins. After that, the Setians will manipulate history by creating religions, dividing humanity even further. After ten thousand years, as the prophecy foretold, the Setians will witness the birth of the Antichrist, Set Abominae. He will destroy humanity, and the Setians’ long-awaited revenge will be complete. Framing Armageddon describes the events from the prophecy right up to the birth of Set Abominae.
Thanks to the story alone, this album is jam-packed with all kinds of emotions, from anger and sadness to joy. Schaffer pulled off an excellent selection of songs, ranging from epic ballads and mid-tempo tracks to pure thrash metal blasters. In places the songs are linked by interludes that work like bridges between chapters. Luckily they’re short, the incredible Ripper is on almost all of them, and you could have skipped Invasion and Cataclysm with no great loss, since they’re just a bunch of sound effects. That these little stopovers aren’t all filler is proven by the calm Reflections, which segues superbly into the heart-wrenchingly fast masterpiece Ten Thousand Strong. If there’s one thing you can’t fault this record for, it’s variety. The songs are so different from one another, their sequencing so dynamic, and they’re so good structurally on their own that they stick in the memory quickly and quite easily. A real treat for the ears is also the mystical atmosphere, which the opening overture sets up right away and which is then built across the album’s whole 70 minutes by an interesting Middle Eastern musical flavor, conjured by Schaffer with various instruments and female and male choir vocals. Something Wicked Pt.1, with its mid-tempo groove and epic chorus, is a proper start to an album whose quality just keeps growing as the minutes tick by. Setian Massacre shows off brutal riffing and Schaffer’s proverbially superior rhythm playing, and the single Ten Thousand Strong is a cup of tea for all the “speed freaks”. Guitar-wise, Framing Armageddon is a real palette of colors, offering everything from brutal sawing, sharp and venomous riffs and fast shredding to calm, clean guitar tone. The guitar has a mighty, thick sound and classic Schaffer riffing, to which the master adds a few new tricks. The solos are nothing special, offering a few interesting moments, but Iced Earth were always built around rhythm guitar and vocals anyway. Oh yes, and the vocals on Framing Armageddon are hard to describe in words. Tim Owens delivers probably the best vocal performance of his shining career on this album, topping even the one on Beyond Fear. Jon, I applaud you, you’ve finally used Tim right! He couldn’t have a more fitting nickname than Ripper Tim; right now he’s one of the best and most talented voices in metal. There isn’t a moment where he doesn’t get my blood pumping, send shivers down my spine or make my eyes well up! Whether it’s the inhumanly high screams in Ten Thousand Strong or the soft, calm moments in Reflections or The Clouding. The rhythm section is just as excellent, too – the bass guitar finally gets its place, mighty and with an incredible sound. Just listen to the bass in The Clouding! Brent Smedley’s drums are devastatingly heavy, the fast thrash parts are a proper brutal massacre reminiscent of a machine gun, and Brent delivers countless excellent fills, especially in Motivation of Man. The production of the album is fantastic!
For perhaps the first time in his career, Schaffer also treats himself to a good dose of experimenting, which surfaces mainly in the first half of the nine-minute epic The Clouding, whose calm, dreamy acoustic sound recalls Pink Floyd. Domino Decree is a real surprise, with organ sounds recalling the great Deep Purple, while Something Wicked Part 2 is full of Asian atmosphere, created by tribal drums and an acoustic guitar that sounds like a sitar. And to the delight of us old Iced Earth fans, Schaffer showers us with the thrash massacre Framing Armageddon, which with its ultra-fast riffs and indescribable Ripper chorus (FRAAAAAMIIIIIING AAAARMAGEDOOOOOON!!!!) carries us back to the band’s golden days (which, judging by Framing Armageddon, are coming back). And last but not least, there are the classic Iced Earth “sing-a-long” choruses, which absolutely shine – A Charge to Keep, Ten Thousand Strong, Infiltrate and Assimilate, Order of the Rose; with the crowd singing along, those choruses will blow the roofs off halls.
Framing Armageddon is a masterpiece that’s only missing a track or two more in the vein of Ten Thousand Strong or Framing Armageddon to earn a top score. But this is only the intro to an epic story that will continue in February 2008, and judging by the start, we can expect another excellent release packed with aggression. Something wicked is coming…
Line-up
Tim Owens – vocals
Troy Seele – lead guitar
Jon Schaffer – rhythm, lead, acoustic and bass guitar
Brent Smedley – drums
Tim Mills – lead guitar on “Ten Thousand Strong”
Dennis Hayes – additional bass guitar
Production
Jon Schaffer
Track list
1. Overture 02:24
2. Something Wicked pt. 1 05:02
3. Invasion 01:00
4. Motivation of Man 01:34
5. Setian Massacre 03:48
6. A Charge to Keep 04:24
7. Reflections 01:50
8. Ten Thousand Strong 03:56
9. Execution 01:27
10. Order of the Rose 04:51
11. Cataclysm 01:30
12. The Clouding 09:18
13. Infiltrate and Assimilate 03:48
14. Retribution Through the Ages 04:32
15. Something Wicked pt. 2 02:59
16. The Domino Decree 06:36
17. Framing Armageddon 03:40
18. When Stars Collide (Born is He) 04:17
19. The Awakening 02:01
