Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked - Part 1)

Iced Earth's Framing Armaggedon is the first part of the Something Wicked story and the second album this american act recorded together with Tim “Ripper” Owens, the singer chosen to replace the universally adored Matt Barlow. Being a concept album, this piece is full of interludes and little intros and, as the result, the album contains 19 tracks and a total playing time of almost one hour and ten minutes.

Now, the most important question regarding the interludes: do they work well? Well, I have no problems with an album filled with lots of interludes, I rated Blind Guardian's Nightfall in Middle-Earth with 90 points and I've got to say that I love a well crafted intro/outro, but eh, Framing Armaggedon could have been better without some of them, mainly because they transform the whole listening experience into a nightmare, the album is too damn LONG thanks to them. That's one of the most important characteristics of this album; if you don't like long albums, better don't listen to this, you won't appreciate.

So, that said, let's move on to the performances of the musicians and to the songwriting. Well, we all know that after the release of Burnt Offerings, Jon Schaffer, the brain of the band, embraced a new musical style, throwing away all those thrash influences that made records like the self-titled debut what they were, adopting a new power metal-ish sound. This album is probably one of the most power metal albums they've already released and there are songs here that absolutely scream Blind Guardian influence. Unfortunately, Schaffer is no André Olbrich: the melodic riffs and fantastic solos of the latter fit the symphonic sound of his band amazingly well, but the riffs of the first don't fit the whole epic sound of this album at all. His riffs aren't as epic as André's, they are more aggressive than actually melodic and you can't use constantly vocal layers and choirs in your songs if the riffs played behind them don't fit. You can't play the main riff of “Hit the Lights” accompanied by a big choir, singing epic, anthemic choruses and vocal lines. It sounds odd, awkard, forced. This is how the majority of the tunes of this piece sound like.

Ah, and about the vocal layers... It's a shame they are so used on this record: Owens is an awesome singer, there are no need for the constant use of choirs and layers here. Please, let him just sing. SING. We don't need one thousand (strong?) of voices backing him. It's a shame. Still, his performance is just terrific, his shrieks are just admirable and he can sing very melodically at times too (check out “Reflections” or “A Charge to Keep”). As for the songwriting, it ranges from pretty great to average. Unfortunately, the majority of the tunes fall on the latter category, containing simple, traditional structures and uninspired instrumental work. There are some very memorable riffs here though, like the main one on “Ten Thousand Strong” (the single) and “Something Wicked pt.1”, but majority of them are average and a bit on the boring side. Solos? Well, we all know Schaffer can't (or doesn't want to) solo, so there are not many solos present there. I miss them on some songs though, after all metal wouldn't be metal without guitar solos, isn't it?

So, individually there are a few stand-outs, indeed. “Something Wicked pt.1”, for example, with its catchy main riff. “10,000 Strong” is awesome too, one of the best songs of the whole record, it's just damn EPIC, this is the closest Iced Earth ever got to mimmick Blind Guardian's over-the-top sound. “Order of the Rose” is worser than the before-mentioned songs, but still a highlight, and “The Clouding” is probably the most ambitious tune here, clocking in at around nine minutes. A great song all around. The title track closes the list of stand-outs, with its powerful last section. As for the rest, there are no real stinkers here, the other tunes are painfully boring though. Really, I don't recommend them to you. They are all pretty bland and uninspired.

So, five good songs on an album containing nineteen tunes... Bah, I can't rate this thing that high. If you like pretentious, ultra-pompous concept albums, get this one. Otherwise, I recommend you to get Night of the Stormrider instead of this piece... Now THAT'S a concept album!

A last note about the concept of Something Wicked: I recently got into the story, and it is a damn good one to write an album about, it's just a shame Hansi Kurch didn't come up with the concept first, Blind Guardian would have made a much better album than this one, I tell you. But then again, Blind Guardian are godly and Iced Earth aren't.

Best Moments of the CD:
-the first seconds of “Something Wicked pt.1”
-the choruses of the title track and “10,000 Strong”.