A Little Slice of Metal: Iced Earth

Greetings everyone, and welcome back to Rave Up Music! I am your music reviewer Barius and I would like to apologize for the delay of this review. I have been busy working these last few weeks on things for my career, plus my old computer is pretty much non-functioning, so I had to go buy a new one. Unfortunately, the review blog had to be put on hold. But, I am back to review more music here on my brand new laptop (I am still getting use to Windows 8). And what better way to come back from this short break than a new segment of this blog? This is something I like to call “A Little Slice of Metal.”

 

Created by faraom13. how many metal bands do you know?

With “A Little Slice of Metal,” I will be examining one metal band from a specific genre of metal, and give you, the readers, a little taste of this band. My goal is to try and look at metal bands that are not as well-known outside the metal community. Although, I will from time to time give the bigger named metal bands a little love and appreciation, or even dissect them bit by bit. For each band, I will look at their history, discuss their style of metal, some noteworthy songs or albums, and state if I feel they deserve more recognition than they have received in the past. If it is a more well-known metal, I will state if I feel they deserve the recognition they have.

Please note that “A Little Slice of Metal” is a more analytical review than humorous review like my other reviews here on this blog. However, if warranted, I might throw in the occasional joke here and there. Also, I will not put up a lot of music samples like I would in an album review or Top 10 list, for I actually want you to go out and listen (or not listen) to these bands, be it downloading songs off of iTunes or actually going away from the computer for half an hour to purchase their albums at your local music store.

Okay, I am getting off my soapbox now…

Since I am posting this on American Independence Day, July 4^th, I have decided to look at an American metal band that has been compared to as an American equivalent to a very well-known British band. Yes, I know that is a very loose way connection to the holiday, but I just really want to talk about this band. Today, on “A Little Slice of Metal,” I will be talking about Iced Earth.

Now, before I get started, I will note that despite the band’s name, I am not going to make a lot of ice puns or jokes. If you want that, please refer to the following Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze video:

Now that we got that out of our systems, let us talk about Iced Earth, here on “A Little Slice of Metal.”

Band History:

Be prepared; this is going to be a little lengthy. But do not worry; it is still a lot shorter than the band’s Wikipedia entry.

Every time I mention this band to someone, they give me this weird look, and often asked me if that is some video game about the Iced Age (Wait, was that an ice joke? Dang it!) Yeah, I have no idea where they come up with that idea, but it shows that they are not aware of the band. Plus, these people do not realized is that the band Iced Earth has been around the music industry for nearly thirty years.

Though an earlier version of the band was formed in 1984 as “The Rose,” the band that would become Iced Earth actually formed in 1985 under the name “Purgatory.” At the heart of Purgatory/Iced Earth is guitarist Jon Schaffer, who has been the only consistent member of the band throughout its history. While Purgatory did record a demo in 1985, they renamed themselves as “Iced Earth,” which Schaffer has stated that the name came from a close friend who died in a motorcycle accident after Schaffer had moved to Florida.

Jon Schaffer - The driving force of Iced Earth

After recording their demo album Enter the Realm in 1989 with vocalist Gene Adam, Iced Earth was eventually signed by the relatively new record company Century Media, and recorded their self-titled debut album in November 1990, which was essentially a polished version of Enter the Realm, with a few tracks removed.

Following a tour in Europe, opening for Blind Guardian, the band returned to the studio to begin working on their next album. However, before they began recording process, vocalist Gene Adam was fired for refusing to get voice lessons. This began the revolving door of musicians who would come in and out of Iced Earth over the years. Despite this setback, Iced Earth recorded their second album Night of the Stormrider with vocalist John Greely. This album would be the first of many concept albums that Iced Earth would release.

After again touring with Blind Guardian in Europe, the band went on hiatus from 1992 to 1995, which almost led to the band breaking up. Eventually, they reemerged with a new vocalist, Matt Barlow, who would have the longest tenure as vocalist, lasting from 1995 to 2002, and rejoining them from 2007 to 2011. During Barlow’s original run, the band would record four albums, 1995’s Burnt Offerings, 1996’s The Dark Saga (based on Todd McFarlane’s Spawn character), 1998’s Something Wicked This Way Comes, and 2000’s Horror Show.

Shortly after recording the cover album Tribute to the Gods, Iced Earth prepared to enter the studio again. But, with the tragic events in New York City on September 11^th, 2001, vocalist Matt Barlow decided to leave the band to “contribute to the real world” (his words) and become a police officer in his home town of Georgetown, Delaware. Though Schaffer convinced Barlow to record vocals for the next album, it became apparent that Barlow did not have the passion and quality needed to be a part of Iced Earth, and he was eventually dismissed from the band.

Matt Barlow - the longest serving vocalist of Iced Earth

Replacing Matt Barlow for the band’s next album was Tim “Ripper” Owens, who at the time was the vocals for the world-famous metal band Judas Priest. In 2004, The Glorious Burden, a concept album that celebrated American history, was released, and was the first album under the band’s new record label, SPV. Though “Ripper” Owens was only going to serve as a guess vocalist for the album, he would eventually join Iced Earth full time when Judas Priest brought back singer Rob Halford. Owens would last with Iced Earth through 2007, including recording Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked Part 1, an album that continued the “Something Wicked” Saga from Something Wicked This Way Comes.

 Tim "Ripper" Owens

After the departure of Owens, Matt Barlow, who had returned to the metal scene, rejoined Iced Earth to record 2007’s The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked Part 2, which featured the second to last part of the “Something Wicked” Saga. In March of 2011, Barlow announced his retirement from the band due to family commitments, but would remain with the band to finish their then-current tour. Barlow was replaced by Into Eternity vocalist Stu Block, and Iced Earth would release their tenth studio album Dystopia in the fall of 2011, returning back to Century Media, and featured two tracks that would end the “Something Wicked” Saga (at least for now). As of this post, Iced Earth is preparing to release the eleventh studio album, Plagues of Babylon in October 2013, and, of course, they will tour and support the album, going all over Europe and North America.

Is that enough history for you? Do not worry; I will not be administrating any exams…yet... Well, let us talk about the band’s style of metal.

Style/Genre of Metal:

In their early days, Iced Earth was described as the American equivalent to Britain’s Iron Maiden. The band utilized a lot of Iron Maiden’s galloping rhythms in the guitars, and with the occasional high-pitched vocals similar to that of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson. However, with the second album, Night of the Stormrider, the band began to use more power metal/progressive metal sound, using more piano/keyboards and vocal choir arrangements in their songs, but still maintaining a thrash metal sound. This was also the start of the band producing concept albums, with this one being about a man being betrayed by his religion and his struggles with it. Hmm, where have I heard that one before...?

While the album Burnt Offerings has been debated as the darkest album by Iced Earth, it is universally agreed upon that starting with The Dark Saga and onward that Iced Earth began to shift their sound and focus more on the melody and emotion of their musicianship than their technical skills. The band would continue to experiment with various power metal/progressive metal sounds including using full string orchestra arrangements on The Glorious Burden.

The Dark Saga featured the comic book character Spawn on the album cover.

The common lyrical themes of Iced range from religion and fantasy to history, literature and film. The “Something Wicked” Saga (Something Wicked This Way Comes, Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked Part 1, The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked Part 2¸ and Dystopia, as well as two additional EPs) tells the story that with events parallel to those in the Bible, but with a darker twist that will lead to the downfall of man at the hands of a Setian messiah known as Set Abominae.

On a lighter note, the album Horror Show pays homage to the classical horror film icons, such as Dracula, the Wolfman, and even Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. The latest album Dystopia features themes and elements of dystopian societies found in literature and film. Trust me, if I did a full-blown analysis of the “Something Wicked” Saga (*hint* future review *hint*), you will be begging for a song about the Creature From the Black Lagoon (“Dragon’s Child”).

"Dragon's Child" off of Horror Show.

One notable recurring theme in many of the Iced Earth’s albums is the inclusion of multi-track epics, also known as "song cycles." Beginning with The Dark Saga, Iced Earth saved the last three to four tracks of the album to tell an epic tale based on a theme, such as the previously mentioned “Something Wicked” story found on Something Wicked This Way Comes.

For me, the best of these song cycles would have to be The “Gettysburg” Suite from The Glorious Burden. These tracks tell the Battle of Gettysburg from the American Civil War, covering the events happening near or around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania from July 1^st 1863 to July 3^rd, 1863. The song cycle employs lot of orchestral strings, as Iced Earth collaborated with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra in composing the over thirty-minute masterpiece.

Throughout the piece, hints of American patriotic anthems, such as “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” and “Dixie” can be heard representing the Confederate and Union armies. The lyrics are powerful, yet fictionalized speeches of some of the historic figures involved in the battle. This piece was so well-produced and arranged that it was later released separately from the rest of The Glorious Burden as a DVD music video, filled with images of the battle and everything that is Americana. I HIGHLY recommend everyone to check out the “Gettysburg” Suite, for I feel it is one of, if not the best work from Iced Earth.

"The Devil to Pay," the first part of  the "Gettysburg" Suite

Hey, I actually managed to connect the review to today’s holiday in America. Hooray for me! Well, enough self-high fives...

Recommended Albums/Songs:

As much as I love the “Gettysburg” Suite, the “Something Wicked” Saga truly stands out as a compositional achievement from Iced Earth. Similar to that of Dream Theater’s “Twelve-Step Suite” (another one I will cover in the future), the multi-album Saga demonstrates Jon Schaffer’s ability to take a theme and transform it to make it fit the album's theme. The story of Set Abominae is a very intriguing one, as he sees his actions start a chain of events that will lead to the fall of civilization. If you have well over seventy minutes to spare, I recommend listening to all of the tracks in the Saga. Furthermore, if you have well over four hours of your time, I recommend checking out all of the albums that feature the “Something Wicked” Saga.

"Birth of the Wicked" from the original Something Wicked song cycle

In addition to the “Gettysburg” Suite, The Glorious Burden as a whole is fantastic, and demonstrates true American spirit, as well as captures some unique moments in history. Tracks like “When The Eagle Cries” and “Valley Forge” capture America through its histroy, while tracks like “Attila” and “Red Baron/Blue Max” paint a picture of these historic figures.

As for individual songs by Iced Earth, I recommend the following tracks:

• “Watching Over Me” from Something Wicked This Way Comes­

A very upbeat, melodic song that will truly lift up you spirits, especially for those who have lost someone close to them.

• “Dracula” from Horror Show

This is an excellent song that captures all of the mystery, suspense, danger, and tragedy of the world’s most infamous vampire.

• “Dante’s Inferno” from Burnt Offerings

Based off the Inferno section of Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy,” this sixteen-minute epic was the beginning of similarly long works to come from Iced Earth. There is also a FREE re-recording of the song on the bands website at www.icedearth.com under the “MEDIA” Tab (NOTE: You must provide an email to receive confirmation email for the track).

  

The tracks I have mentioned above I feel best represent the wide spectrum of music that Iced Earth has produced over the years. If one of these tracks intrigue you, I suggest you check out the rest of the albums that the track comes from.

Final Comments/Analysis:

If it was not obvious, I really enjoy listening to Iced Earth. They are an excellent blend of power metal and classical thrash metal. Jon Schaffer and crew perform some of the greatest compositions in not only heavy metal music, but music as a whole. The lyrics cover a wide range of topics, some that many people can relate to, while still having the escapism that some people need when listening to music. And yet, despite their superb music, Iced Earth has had more of a cult following here in the United States with very little mainstream success. In Europe, they are huge. But then again, heavy metal seems to be appreciated more in Europe than North America, so I am not surprised by the following that Iced Earth has there.

Here in America, I feel like metal bands like Iced Earth get lost in the shuffle due to the changing times in rock music. When Iced Earth released their first and second album, the music of the day was Grunge, and bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam dominated the rock scene. When Iced Earth resurfaced in 1995, rock was in the Alternative stage, and even later, the Nu Metal scene. By the 2000s, Iced Earth had finally started to carve out a place in rock/metal, and I feel that, in time, they will gain the respect and recognition as the likes of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Metallica. Yes, I know that some of my fellow metalheads would rather keep Iced Earth to our close community, but I feel that Iced Earth is one of those bands that can be appreciated by any body for their superior compositional styles, and the visual imagery they evoke in their lyrics. Thus, I dubbed Iced Earth to be the first band to receive the metal horns of approval.

 APPROVED!!!

If you really enjoy the music you heard today, or if you want to learn more about Iced Earth, please visit their website at www.icedearth.com . You will find news reports, song samples, pictures, and videos of the band live in concert. There is also merchandise for you to purchase if you want to show your support for the band on you t-shirt, wall, or a patch on your ripped denim jacket.

Well, that will do it for now on Rave Up Music. Next time, it is a classic metal god against a band of the modern metal era as it will be time once again for “Cover Wars.” Until next time, this is Barius wishing all Americans a Happy Independence Day, and wishing everyone else around the world a Happy Thursday, July 4^th. Until next time, here is Sam the Eagle and some other Muppets performing “The Star Stripes Forever.” Enjoy!

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