Iced Earth's Reviews
Burnt Offerings (Average Rating: 9.12 out of 10)
Iced Earth's Best Album (Rated this album with 10 out of 10)
Reviewed by
bacchus80
from Duncan, OK United States
I've listened to all of Iced Earth's albums with the exception of Dark Saga, and I would say this is there most impressive hands-down. It is more complex and progressive structurally than most of their albums and doesn't have the power metal cheesiness that seeped in on latter-day Iced Earth (I'm speaking specifically of the God-awful Horror Show). There is a dark underlying storyline, but the album does not strictly follow narrative. Rather it often plays on themes related, making this kind of a semi-concept album. The underlying story is similiar to Romeo and Juliet and is exceptionally written even if it is not totally unique.In addition to the lyrics, the music is top-notch. The most significant improvement over Stormrider is that Barlow has now taken over lead vocals and has shown himself to be a much superior singer to Schaffer. The drumming, also, is more impressive here than on any other Iced Earth album (although it is always good), and the guitar riffs are exceptionally crafted. The riffs contain a bit of Metallica and Maiden, but have their own sound, although nothing truly innovative. The album is consistent throughout the entire listen but the main highlight is the closing 16-minute epic "Dante's Inferno". The song is split into three parts and switches between lighter parts and heavy bursts periodically. This makes it similar to early Metallica but the structures in this song and others are much more complex. As impressive as the whole album is, this song alone is worth the price of the CD. Of course, this song does not totally overshadow the rest of the work. The album is classic without faulter. As a whole, this is one of the top 10 metal albums of the 90's. Highlights: Burnt Offerings, Last December, Dante's Inferno
Buy this album on Amazon at $14.99
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