Today I am covering one of the seminal Iced Earth albums. Ths is Iced Earth often considered to be one of the greatest albums produced by one of the greatest power metal bands. Also the cover art is nifty, so yeah kudos for that. This album explores the boundary between thrash and power metal and it ends up getting a very nice feel due to that. There is some kickin' guitar work on here that is really easy to love. The bass is solid but does not shine. The drums are also solid, sometimes they get a bit generic with long periods of the drummer playing 32nd notes. The vocals are solid and are very similar to those of Hetfield. The lyrics are very fantasy oriented and well done.
The guitar work is amazing, it is loud powerful and simply beautiful. There are quieter more somber parts, often these bits are at the beginning of songs. Then the guitar explodes into a thrash and power metal blend it actually sounds pretty cool. The rhythm guitar focuses mainly on adding a thrash feel to the music and the lead guitar adds more of a power metal feel but retaining the thrash influence. The riffs are solid and very well done. There are also some pretty intense and enjoyable solos. They have a catchy sound and I like them a lot. The bass is solid but does not do much asides from add to the thrash feel. The drums are fast and intense but rather unoriginal, sticking to tried and true power metal fills, but doing them fairly well.
The vocals on this album are excellent. They are filled with anger like many thrash metal vocalists are. While Matthew Barlow does have an excellent thrash voice he can not really manage a lot else. His gentle crooning in Jack is average at best. However the scream following that gentle crooning bit is simply mind blowing. He can also do some pretty good clean singing which is also enjoyable, her just can not sing to quietly. He has a wonderful voice which reminds me a lot of Hetfield moreso than anybody else I have heard. Barlows voice has a lot of guts behind it making it very powerful. The vocals are more thrash metal than power metal but still very good. The lyrics are interesting because they are primarily fantasy based. There are bits based off Dracula and Frankenstein. They are pretty good and definitely worth listening to.
Overall this is a really good album with a great sound. They have a lot of things that make them good. The most important thing is that they have their own unique blend of thrash and power metal and that makes them excellent. The guitars are also excellent, they are the big factors combining thrash and power metal. The bass is steady but unremarkable. The drums are also well done but rather unremarkable. However the vocals are fantastic and make Iced Earth memorable. The lyrics are also very well done and very enjoyable. All in all this is a spectacular album with a major emphasis on guitars and vocals.
OVERALL 9/10
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