Iced Earth

Iced Earth has become quite a popular and famous band over the two decades of existence, displaying a major impact on the metal scene garnering a hardcore and unbelievably dedicated fanbase that outmatches many others. To say you're a diehard Iced Earth fan means something, it seems like you're either a hater or a lover and there's always those that have to choose between the differing vocalist eras etc. I must say already, I'm quite the Iced Earth fanboy, as you can tell from previous reviews and whatnot... they're quite plainly put my favorite band and I have enjoyed every single recorded material they have released, with their most recent third installment to the Something Wicked trilogy being a quite lackluster and somewhat disappointing performance, I've still managed to enjoy something from each album. So here it is in 1991, Jon Schaffer has managed to craft this work of amazing boundaries, that leads you through an distorted journey into a netherworld of evil and insanity.

You can find the evil atmosphere displayed in an utter journey through hell and witness the several plains of Dante's evil on Burnt Offerings, you can travel through Stygian and the utter chaos and the overwhelming feeling of evil on Night of the Stormrider, or you can wallow in a pile of sadness, hate, and depression with uncontrollable emotion found on The Dark Saga. But here, on their self-titled debut, Iced Earth manage to show you a nice balance between there more thrashy side with a godly riffing and an overall darker inception on the power metal spectrum. Iced Earth displays a certain amount of sad and melancholic atmosphere, mixed within the maniacal riff-fest that Schaffer releases. Songs like Written on the Walls, When the Night Falls and the Funeral all showcase the certain depth of melancholy and atmosphere that is found here. The thing I love the most about Iced Earth, is that somehow every single fucking song manages to maintain memorability and catchy, whether within Schaffer's otherworldly riffing like on Colors or the title track, or Randall Shawver's melodic and shredding leads or even the catchy vocals/backing vocals.

Yes, now first I must address Gene Adam because he certainly is an interesting figure in Iced Earth's history. Most people find it hard to get into his vocals, as they are somewhat grating from the insanely high pitched shrieks and wails he manages to burst out like a fucking phoenix from it's flamed body. Throughout the album, he will find his way to prove his vocal prowess somehow; some find this grating with this overall tone... but god dammit this guy has a powerful set of pipes. I love his voice and I can't imagine hearing anyone else replace him for this and having it sound as up to par; though if you wish to you can always hear the Matt Barlow remakes off Days of Purgatory. There are plenty of catchy sing along choruses that will forever remain lodged in your head that play over and over; be it the cool faced paced thrasher Colors, or the melancholic and ominous Curse the Sky that has a fucking chorus that catches the ears of the gods themselves. When the Night Falls manages to create the epic atmosphere they would later use on the next two following albums, as also shown on Life and Death; creating a balance between despair and shattering riffage.

Iced Earth is an album brewing with hatred, sadness, melancholy and utter contempt that creates an uncontrollable atmosphere that you isn't quite as powerful or noticeable on later Iced Earth albums; some might say this is where their production is at a highest, where Schaffer plays those fucking riffs like the god he is, ripping out memorable riffs that dominate your head and neck, while Shawver shows he's easily Iced Earth's best guitarist bringing in the melody like they're known for. God dammit, if the title track isn't one of the coolest fucking songs ever written then I don't know what is, everything about this sums up this album perfectly, the outro riff is one of my favorites ever penned. Musicianship is at a highest here, where the unknown Mike McGill and Dave Abell hold a heavy rhythm section, double bass and solid bass lines guide the songs along, where Iced Earth was at their thrashiest. Solitude is a nice little instrumental song thrown in, for good measure of helping along the overall 'atmosphere' of the album, as a lot of bands do; clean guitars slowly pick their way into another powerful song that manages to showcase Schaffer's riffing the best off this album. The main riff that opens up the majority of the song at about 1 minute in totally slays every fucking poser that has a gauge in his ear, pussy this is a real riff!

If you are a fan of Iced Earth, this will no doubt enter your collection at highest praise. If you've heard Iced Earth before, you definitely know their biggest influences Iron Maiden and the like, so this is where they perform their best and show their true "colors". This is their most atmospheric release in my eyes, as well as the thrashiest. Even if you can't get into Gene Adam's vocals I find myself baffled when someone doesn't enjoy the instrumental prowess on this album, this is pure heavy metal. Iced Earth have created a fucking masterpiece on their first fucking album! How often is this seen? It happens, but especially lately it's a lot more rare and hard to come across; if you are a fan of metal in general I will endlessly praise and recommend this album. This is their debut and introduction into the world of metal and with all this fanboy raving that is to be found here this still isn't their best album! Fucking amazing, if you can get past Gene Adam's vocals I have a hard time believing most fans of heavy metal not getting into this.