I should give this album more credit than it deserves...
(Rated this album with 10 out of 10) Reviewed by
Musicman
from egg.
Truly a classic concept album. Right up there with Savatage's "Streets." The concept, from Iced Earth's web site, is about a man who is betrayed by religion and turns away from it. Then, the dark forces of nature reach out to this man and use it their vessel to literally bring Hell on Earth. The Man has no remorse for his deeds, and for 7 years, works with Satan's army of darkness. Finally, he numbly accepts his fate of living eternally in Hell. The singing defintely has improved since the last album, with John Greely for vocals. Jon Schaffer and Randy Shavner's riffs are just incredible, and the solos are reminsent of Iron Maiden. The best song is "Pure Evil" because of its great instrumental part. I miss that in Iced Earth. The old Intro-verse-chorus-long instrumental part-verse-chorus-end thing. Oh well. They're staying true to their music. The nice acoustic songs are also classics. Very good songs!
