Iced Earth's Reviews
The Dark Saga (Average Rating: 9.32 out of 10)
Really Good. (Rated this album with 10 out of 10)
Reviewed by
Kcin
from the west
First of all, I will address the important issue, which is it's asssociation with the Spawn comic books. I personally do not care for comic books at all, and those of you who think comic books are lame may also be concerned that this will be really stupid and silly, since it is based on one. I can honestly say that this isn't a problem. The lyrics are pretty well written, and it is all very professionally and seriously done, so don't let it's this prevent you from buying this cd.That aside, this is a truly excellent cd. It is extremely cohesive, lyrically and instrumentally, and does this with out becoming repetitve, in that is has a similar tone about the whole thing, but it frequently changes tempo and intensity. Iced Earth is defined as a Power Metal band, which at least in their case ends up as a combination of 70's classic metal, and 80's thrash. Thus they have a singer, Matt Barlow, with an extremely wide range, featuring some older metal wailing, counterbalanced with thrash-style barking. Barlow is an extremely intense and theatrical performer, occasionally excessively so, but overall he is excellent. The drummer, whose name a cannot immediately remember is fairly run-of the mill, and is pushed into the background mostly, other than his use of tons of extremely fast double-bass. The Bass is also simple, utilitarian bass, performed adequately. The basis of any good hard rock album is the rhythm guitar, and Jon Schaffer is excellent, perhaps the best I've heard besides James Hetfield. Schaffer's work isn't that technical here (much less so than on the excellent Something Wicked This Way Comes), but the tone is perfect and it has lots of power behind it, and always compliments the vocals perfectly. The lead guitar is nice, not too spectacular, though it feautures one truly brilliant solo on the final track. All of this might not sound too spectacular, but it come out incredible. There isn't a weak track on here, and they all flow well one into the next. It starts out a bit softer, sadder and more melodic on the first two tracks, than explodes with speed and aggression on the next couple, later slower down again and becoming darker again. The best tracks are "The Last Laugh", a very fast and pounding thrash track, "Vengeance is Mine" also faster and more aggressive, and "A Question of Heaven", the spectacular ballad ending out the album. Anyone who likes metal should buy this, as well as "Something Wicked This Way Comes", which is nearly the equal of this.
Buy this album on Amazon at $13.99
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