Burnt Offerings

Sorry, NotS fans, but this is Iced Earths peak. Their best material is on this album, with a new vocalist to pick up the slack Greely left and push the bar to new heights (Though Schaffer would go downhill from here, but that's another story.) Burnt Offerings has got atmosphere, from the demonic title track to the mourning Pierced Spirit, you can feel an undercurrent of betrayal, vengeance and mysticism.

Starting out with a bang, BOs title track and opener is, as said before, demonic, but that really fails to describe how good this is. Matt Barlow (not sure if he did the actual lower pitched stuff, but whatever) goes first from an accusing, almost hurt type of voice, to demanding the 'offerings' described in the lyrics. The effect is just fantastic, and leaves the listener torn about whether the demon is a terrible creature or just a betrayed being.

After this, though, the songs aren't quite as unique for awhile. Last December is great, but seems kind of lacking after the stellar title track, Diary picks things up a bit with another solid performance by Barlow, and Brainwashed pushes it further with an excellent chorus (And maintaining Barlows streak of perfection) but the two songs after that just seem boring in comparison, mostly due to the fact that the songs start sounding samey at this point. Don't get me wrong they're still solid, but I can see how someone would get bored even earlier on, especially if they don't like Barlow.

Luckily, The Pierced Spirit shakes things up. This song is a solid ballad, but is really more notable for how it goes perfectly into the next track. Dantes Inferno, is quite simply the crowning achievement here. It contains all the peaks of this album with almost none of the lows. Granted there are some moments where it does drag out a bit, but it just seems to make what is good that much better.

Burnt Offerings does require a little warning though. Alot of what makes this album is Matt Barlow, if you don't like him, for whatever reason, you probably won't like this album. The rest of the band members don't really give nearly as much of a performance as Barlow. If, like me, you love Matt Barlows singing, then this album will be great for you as well.

Highlights: Burnt Offerings, Brainwashed, Dantes Inferno