I Walk Among You

So here it is, the first new Iced Earth material with returning long-time vocalist Matt Barlow, so is it any good, well the lead song is obviously newie ‘I Walk Alone’, the first glimpse of the forthcoming album ‘The Crucible of Man’, well basically it’s a typical Iced Earth mid-paced stomper, it’s pretty damn good in fact, it just takes a few listens to get into it, and then it won’t leave your head, especially the catchy chorus. Matt does a great job, using his lower range to great effect. The guitar riffs are fairly derivative for Iced Earth but do give a great staccato groove to the song. There is no lead solo but there are some nice keyboard touches which add to the atmosphere, perhaps I’m a little disappointed as I was expecting something a little faster and more aggressive, I’m sure ‘I Walk Alone’ fits in well within the whole album concept but for a single I think something with a little bit more punch and impact would have been a better choice.

So what about the much maligned re-recorded tracks? Musically if you’ve heard the originals then there is not much new to report here. They use the same music tracks that were used on ‘Framing Armageddon’ but now the re-mix and re-mastering job does give a little more punch and clarity to the guitars. No the biggest change is obviously the vocals, and it’s very much whether you prefer Matt or Tim’s vocals. What can I say, if you’re a fan of Matt then I think you’ll dig these versions, in my opinion he adds greater power and emotion, especially on the epic ‘The Clouding’. I think Tim always struggled a little with the more emotional material but if you prefer the higher more soaring and perhaps more aggressive vocals of Tim, then stick to the originals.

I’m very much in the minority here, but I’m glad that Matt Barlow has re-recorded some of the ‘Framing Armageddon’ tracks; in fact I hope he re-records them all! In my humble opinion, Matt Barlow IS the voice of Iced Earth, I know people use the ‘it’s ripping the fans off, releasing previous material with different vocals’ argument, but I don’t agree with that; if you don’t like it, then don’t buy it! If you like the originals best, then stick with them!

My only major gripe is that the song ‘A Charge to Keep’ is only available as an itunes exclusive! Why? It just seems pointless!

That gripe aside, all in all a promising start to the next Ice Earth chapter. Bring on ‘Something Wicked part II’!