The Glorious Burden

At one point in time there was an era in which it was considered a good thing to love your country and to do what you can to ensure that it perseveres and grows. It used to be encouraged to support your country and to be proud of where you live. It seems as if those days are almost over, as people seem to condemn others for expressing pride that they hold for their nation; this happens so much regarding the U.S. that it isn‘t even funny. It seems one can’t be proud of their country anymore because maybe that country has a rocky past, or is even more rigid in the present. I have a feeling many people see patriotism as being egotistical and fat headed, and thus many people cry their eyes out because Iced Earth made an album with a slight patriotic edge and a historical theme.

You know what? Those people can go ahead and bleed their hearts out until they die, because despite people believing that patriotism is a bad thing, this isn’t a bad album. The Glorious Burden is far blown out of proportion when people say it‘s all about patriotism. This album deals more with historical figures and telling the story of occurrences throughout history rather than just the simple theme of national pride. Having maybe two or three tracks, which are even remotely patriotic, doesn’t qualify for mindless and arrogant patriotism. The only songs that are even remotely patriotic that I can think of are “The Reckoning“, “Star Spangled Banner”, and “When The Eagle Cries”.

This entire album is packed with one giant passionate performance, which surely makes this one of the best albums of 2004. The album is also fairly diverse; you’ve got your thrasher songs, heavy set, and the in between which shares both the thrash and heavy characteristics. Ripper‘s vocal implementation is pretty ardent, but I still think Barlow is, and forever will be, the real voice of Iced Earth. Ripper has a sound quite similar to Rob Halford, and you can hear some vocal melodies and tones similar to Judas Priest’s “Screaming For Vengeance” and “Painkiller“ albums (“Greenface” and “The Reckoning” are good examples of this). What I’m referring to for some songs are the high pitched singing style and the well placed shrieks that Owens dishes out, sounding very much like the middle-class man’s Rob Halford.

Yes, yes, we all know of Jon’s recursive riff style, but even though it’s not incredibly diverse it still sounds different. The way I look at it is, if you can tell the difference between all of the songs, then the composer has done a good job. That’s the thing - none of the songs sound exactly the same...and no matter how parallel the riffing style is to previous works, it won’t change the fact that the tempo and rhythm are different. One can argue that some of the songs may be simplistic, but even the most well-liked songs aren’t the most complex in construction - you have to hear the music for what it is, not see it as it’s contrived in order to fully appreciate it. Yet again, Jon demonstrates his hand agility and stamina on songs like the thrashing “The Reckoning,” which only induces the will to bang your head until your spine snaps in half.

This album certainly keeps the thrash elements which made Iced Earth one of the more well-known power metal bands, with songs that ride in on the heavy metal cavalry and completely sever your head with one swift swing of the melody axe. Songs such as “Red Baron/Blue Max” really let Richard Christy show off his incredible drumming skills with enough speed to punch you in the face, run away, and you’d never know what hit you. On songs like “Attila” and “Red Baron/Blue Max” the rhythm guitar goes into some seriously fast palm muting, quickly come out to reveal some melody, then falls back into it’s tight formation with lead guitar, over and over again to make them scream with blistering thrash power. There is only one song that doesn’t particularly spark my interest, which is “Hollow Man”. It’s not a bad heavy metal song (it‘s somewhat similar to “I Died For You), it’s got a blazing solo, but it just doesn’t click with me unless I happen to be in a melancholic mood.

Of course, Richard Christy proves himself to be one of the most coherent and best drummers in the metal world on songs such as “The Reckoning”, “Greenface”, and “Red Baron/Blue Max”. Whenever he has the opportunity to give some speed, he goes above and beyond. Some people say he went way overboard on this album on some songs, but I found nothing except joy at the fact that he got to show off a little bit. The album as a whole isn’t the best representation of Richard Christy’s skill on the kit, but in some songs (like the ones I just mentioned) give you a good sense of how good he is. Christy simply destroys with his burley drum sound and the speed that goes with it.

We’ve also got Jimmy back on bass, and as much as I like Steve DiGiorgio, I didn’t feel he was really THE bassist for Iced Earth. Yeah, he was talented and let the bass stand out more in Horror Show, but something just didn’t click when he was in the band for me. Jimmy does a fine job at giving the album the extra “UMPH!” it needs in order to crush the skulls of the naysayers and non-believers. The bass isn’t as “clickity” as it was on Horror Show; it’s much deeper and blends more with the guitars, but still manages to stand out.

The Gettysburg trilogy is nothing short of amazing. Most songs (with the exception of “High Water Mark“) start off fairly steady and build up into an extravaganza of overwhelming emotion, melody, and sky rocketing symphonic elements and an overall enchanting performance. The symphony in the song “High Water Mark” really adds to the feeling of desperation as Schaffer tells the story of the soldiers as they begin to charge into battle, after the nice little role-play between Tim and Jon. If you doubt Schaffer‘s talent as a songwriter, listen to the symphony playing in the songs; Schaffer WROTE the symphony parts. The trilogy as a whole almost feels like I’m at a symphony as well as a metal concert...pure greatness.

The end of “High Water Mark” shows the kind of sorrow General Lee must have felt, knowing he was responsible for sending over 10,000 soldiers to their deaths, with the melancholic line of “God forgive me...please forgive me. It’s all my fault..”. As I’ve said previously about Jon Schaffer; the man is without a doubt, one of the most empathetic lyric writers that I’ve ever known. It’s as if he can place himself into anyone’s shoes and tell their whole life story as if he was telling it from their perspective. I have been to Gettysburg myself, it is a breathtaking sight and I can understand how it could inspire someone to write about it; if you ever get the chance to visit Gettysburg go without thinking twice.

While listening to the trilogy, I’d recommend reading the lyrics and Jon’s comments along with the song. After listening to it and reading along I learned more about the battle at Gettysburg than I had previously known. I was slightly disappointed with the fact that there are no solos in the trilogy, but the performance and the deliverance of the performance more than make up for it. This is, without a doubt, one of the strongest albums Schaffer has written, and it shows by the trilogy alone. I believe the deliverance would have been much more overwhelming if Matt Barlow had been doing the vocals, but Tim Owens did a much better job than I had anticipated.

Overall, this is a rather stunning performance. I can’t really say that I was expecting much from this, but it completely took me by surprise. You can say all you want about Schaffer’s attitude, his riff construction, or his patriotism; but the fact stands that he can still make good, fervent, strenuous, and enthusiastic songs. Iced Earth has still got it and this is blatant evidence of that. If you decide to purchase it, try to get the two-disc version, it’s well worth your money.