Iced Earth's Reviews

The Glorious Burden

Their finest work to date

Following the released of Iced Earth's 2001 album, Horrow Show, vocalist Matt Barlow had left the band. He had been with the band for four of the six albums they had been released to the point, and surely, many fans of the band must have felt that Barlow could never be replaced. Fortunately, the band managed to find a new vocalist. Tim "Ripper" Owens, formerly Halford's replacement in Judas Priest, was no longer needed in that band due to Halford's return. Accordingly, he became the new singer for Iced Earth. Owens' albums with Priest were NOT good. Would he fare better with Iced Earth? Read on for my review.

When I first listened to this album, I was in shock. The GOOD kind of shock. Owens was a terrible vocalist in Judas Priest, and pretty much everyone considered Matt Barlow to be one of the finest vocalists in heavy metal. Why was I in shock? Owens, the man who ruined Judas Priest in the late nineties, has taken Iced Earth to new heights. As hard as it was for me to believe, Owens had become, in fact, a better vocalist than Barlow! While Barlow tried taking Iced Earth in a more death metal-style direction in the late nineties, other singers for the band preferred a semi-melodic power metal sound similar to Iron Maiden, Dio, and Judas Priest. Owens tries the same thing, and succeeds beautifully in every way. As any fan of Iced Earth knows, band leader/rhythm guitarist Jon Schaffer is a history buff. He had done history-based songs before, but this album consists of nothing but those types of songs. Topics of the songs cover a variety of historical topics. Closing out the album is the three-part epic, the Gettysburg trilogy. This is an amazing, three-part epic you must hear to appreciate. The band demonstrated its ability to do multitrack epics well a number of times in the past, and they demonstrate it once again in this album. When you combine the tried and true instrumental stylings of Iced Earth with Owens' newfound vocal greatness, and you get what I consider to be Iced Earth's finest work to date. On several of the songs, Owens' vocals sound remarkably close to, say, Bruce Dickinson, Ronnie James Dio, and even Rob Halford. Although this shift in Iced Earth's sound is sure to disappoint more than a few of their fans, I think it has taken the band to new heights. Yes, I know people will beg to differ, but I feel that this is the band's finest work to day, and hopefully, it's a premonition of things to come.

In addition to the regular version of this album that is readily available in America, there is a special edition version. The special edition contains two tracks that aren't on the standard version - Waterloo and an unplugged version of When The Eagle Cries. Oddly enough, it features the Gettysburg trilogy on a separate disc, even though it would easily have fit on the same disc as the other material. If you're a big Iced Earth fan, shell out the extra cash and get the special edition for the two extra tracks.

What more can I say? This is Iced Earth's finest work to date (in my eyes anyway.) It's amazing how a man I once so heavily resented has shot an already great band to new heights! If you're a fan of Iced Earth, or just a fan of classic power metal in general, The Glorious Burden is more than worthy of a place in your musical collection. This, my friends, is a heavy metal masterpiece.

Buy this album on Amazon at $20.99