The Glorious Burden

Iced Earth is a band that people certainly love to hate on and at times, with good reason. Jon Schaffer is pretty much an unmistakable tool at times, completely full of himself and a boatload full of redundancy. At times, the hate and bashing are rather justified, but I just don't see this album as being one of those times.

Replacing Matt Barlow was no easy task, and Barlow's decision to pick Tim Owens meant things were going to be at least a little different than they had been in the past. My introduction to this band came with "When the Eagle Cries", which I really disliked on first listen, and still do not love today. Ripper's voice is pretty much godawful on ballads, drowning in a whiny, melodramatic tone completely unbecoming of any genuine emotion. Thus, "Hollow Man" offers little to nothing of worth either.

That being said, the record does offer a few genuine Iced Earth highlights. "Declaration Day" is as good an opening track as they've ever recorded, including an absolutely superb third verse from Owens reaching into the stratosphere with his piercing falsetto. The perfect balance of drama and metal intensity. "The Reckoning" also keeps things moving with some energetic drumming from Richard Christie and more solid riffs and vocals. Tunes like "Valley Forge" and "Attila" are a bit more dynamic but still keep the overall quality and energy high, and fit into the "winner" category as well for me.

The highlight of the record is the Gettysburg trilogy, however. A detailed account of the battle and some genuine emotions from some real-life figures coupled with bombastic string arrangements and powerful choruses make this a thoroughly enjoyable listen. It's hard to believe that a 32-minute trilogy without a single genuine guitar solo could manage to be so enjoyable. The strings really add some amazing flourishes to the music, at times referencing period pieces such as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". Schaffer's obsession with America and American history (now turned into a bit of an unsettling conspiracy theory-driven craze) has not produced a better or seemingly more inspired piece of music. It's honestly amazing to me that someone usually so void of a knowledge of good counter-melody, harmony, and composition managed to produce something so long and so bombastic that wings in a big way for me.

Overall, as a record, The Glorious Burden isn't one of Iced Earth's very best, but it's considerably better and more worthwhile than I feel most of the band's fans give it credit for. It's not trying to be overly thrashy, and it's not TOO watered down with ballads (compared to albums like Something Wicked), so perhaps its lost between those who want the over-the-top melodramaticness and people who want a thrashy riff-o-rama. The Glorious Burden might honestly be the band's finest hour at simply being a mid-paced Traditional Metal band.