Enter the Realm

I stopped in at the local record store earlier today, and came across an Iced Earth CD that I didn't recognize. Upon closer inspection I discovered that it was a brand-new reissue of the 1989 Enter the Realm demo. Intrigued, I picked it up (along with Dance of Death by Iron Maiden and Raise Your Fist and Yell by Alice Cooper). Turned out to be a quite cool little EP.

There are a total of six tracks on the EP, two being instrumentals. Both tracks, "Enter the Realm" and "Solitude," are short, with the latter coming in at under two minutes and the former under one. They are guitar-driven and played clean, lending an ominous feel to the EP. "Enter the Realm" in particular is an excellent intro, which leads into the much heavier song "Colors." Instrumental intros either work well or they don't, but thankfully this one is in the first category.

The remaining songs are all fast-paced heavy hitters, most of which appeared (albiet in reworked and rerecorded forms) on the Days of Purgatory compilation. The versions on the EP feature the original vocalist, Gene Adam. While I like Barlow's renditions of the songs, I find that Adam's vocals fit the tracks better, ranging from a thrashy bark to piercing wails. The sole exception is "Iced Earth," half of which is performed in a shrill shriek. Barlow's deeper voice is far less grating.

All of the music on here is the typical Iced Earth fare, lots of galloping riffs and pounding rhythms. Jon Schaffer and Randy Shawver are the guitar duo on Enter the Realm, a complimentary team cranking out riffs and solos. Shawver, the lead guitarist, is quite talented, yet seems to have vanished after playing with a few other bands in the 90s and early 2000s. His leads are fast and melodic, with a bit of an Iron Maiden feel to them. Bass and drums are solid and provide a good, heavy rhythm to it all.

Enter the Realm provides four thrashy songs and two gentle yet eerie instrumentals. The only song that never appeared on another release, "To Curse the Sky," is one of the best on here. As the album notes point out, this is a sought after release and it is very nice to have a remastered version on CD. Check it out, even if just for the aforementioned song.

Lurking behind the shadows of Iced Earth’s impressive stint as late purveyors of thrash metal with a melodic edge in the early 90s is “Enter The Realm”, a literal blueprint of what would become most of the band’s greatest works, and also a very impressive demo by late 80s standards. Most of its contents would end up on the self-titled debut, but the overall presentation is very different, all but mirroring the dark, spiritual character of many earlier 80s acts that took to writing creepy thrash as opposed to politically charged, neck-ruining goodness. It presents a band with one foot still firmly placed in the sorrowful melodic character of several relevant early 80s metal acts from Britain, while the other stamps down hard in the post-Metallica Bay Area explosion that was still largely underway at this point in history.

If there is one thing that really makes Iced Earth distinct from most of the thrash metal world, particularly post-1984, it is a glaring lack of punk/hardcore influences. While the hyper-galloping character of Jon Schaffer’s riffs has its origins in the pioneer work of Mustaine and Hetfield, the overall mood and feel, one might argue that the direction taken by this band is a step backward, if progression towards the later extreme metal scene that was also underway by 1989 be the standard. In light of the more NWOBHM influenced material that preceded this under the moniker of Purgatory, it could be safely argued that the Iced Earth institution is more a celebration of metal than a desire to push its boundaries, but the result is still a fine slab of traditionally anchored thrash metal with an eye for pummeling riff work, catchy hooks and a dark atmosphere.

The dichotomy of thrash metal riff work and creepy, 80s occult based darkness is on full display from one song to the next. Perhaps the most blatant example of the latter side of the coin is “Nightmares”, the lone song that didn’t make it onto the subsequent studio debut. It plays off a fairly simple mid-tempo groove and showcases a crunchy set of guitar lines that is somewhat reminiscent of the proto-thrash character of Blitzkrieg and Satan, alongside a vocal job out of Gene Adam that channels elements of King Diamond, Quorthon and Jeff Ulmer. Naturally, shining examples of neck-crunching madness also ensue on “Colors” and “To Curse The Sky”, alongside some brief acoustic ditties with a slight familiarity to what would come to dominate much of the Barlow years in “Enter The Realm” and “Solitude” are to be found here as well, though they also appeared on the debut. However, the presentation here is much more guitar oriented, and lends itself more to the archaic character of 80s thrash that the 1990 incarnation of these songs.

While I have a slight preference for the finalized version of these songs, there is a sort of mystique to these versions that lend themselves to an obligatory listen, especially for fans of older Iced Earth, though a similar case could be made for the general 80s thrash audience. The presence of “Nightmares” alone makes it a worthy listen, but there is also a very different air to this entire demo that separates itself from the rest of the catalog, and the production actually lends itself a bit more to “Night Of The Stormrider” than it does to the album that came immediately after this demo. This is a band that was young and hungry, and though it is still bound by the power/thrash orthodoxy that continues to dominate Jon Schaffer’s songwriting, it’s not watered down to the point of redundancy and lacking in passion.

Iced Earth's first demo is an awesome example of the band's talent presented in a more energetic, raw form. The production isn't as refined as on their self-titled debut, so the demo just plain reeks of metalness. The guitar tone is powerful, the solos are brilliant, the drumming is masterful and the vocals sound just as vicious as they do on the debut (for those that like the band's singer). Two songs on this demo didn't go on to be included on the debut, the intro track "Enter the Realm" and "Nightmares." The former is just a brief acoustic instrumental, nice but forgettable. The latter is a thrash classic with a sweet intro solo. The Days of Purgatory version with Barlow isn't even close to as glorious as this demo's version of it.

It doesn't offer much more if you already own the first album, but it's an interesting look at the band's early material if you're an Iced Earth fan. Plus "Nightmares" is a cool ass song. Certainly worth obtaining if you get the chance.

This is how the Iced Earth s/t LP should've sounded like. The guitars have balls, and the riffs stand out. The album is more of a raging thrasher - then again, most of it is due to the inclusion of Colors, which has riffs down the throat and a good signal to noise ratio. The problems which plague the s/t are here, but somehow masked by the overwhelming riffage.

The problems? Those stupid melodic interludes... see "Iced Earth" for example. That song would make so much more sense without them - and so would the rest. Just put all the silly moments together into one song (Solitude) and get it over with, instead of sprinkling feces into everything.

But yeah, when the demo gets going - oh fuck yeah, it gets going. Curse the Sky has some raging thrash beastitude to it (eyes! lies!), as does the non-album track Nightmares, which of course didn't make the album - it cuts out the fucking bullshit and is just straight-up thrash. Not the direction Iced Earth were going for.

So this is just about the most common demo in the history of the universe, given that it was part of some box set, and Iced Earth is one of the biggest metal bands on the planet, so you can find it. Find it. Note where they came from... a great precursor to Stormrider.