Metal Reviews

What songs do you like in The Crucible of Man? I only like Divide and Devour, but I'm in to give this album another try.

Behold the Wicked Child, A Gift of a Curse, I Walk Alone, Harbinger of Fate, Crucify the King, Divide and Devour, and Come What May are all really good if not great tunes.

Of the shorter tunes, I really dig Minions of the Watch and The Revealing.

Crucible of Man, in my opinion, is much stronger overall than Framing Armageddon.

Alright, I will pay extra attention to these tracks. Framing Armageddon has this 'end-of-the-worldish' sounding and feeling I loved at first hearing. And the production was outstanding.
Another album I need to listen properly is The Glorious Burden. I only listened to it once, and hated it. But I'm told it has its moments, so...

The Glorious Burden is good, with a few great songs. The Gettysburg Trilogy is absolutely superb. However, to really appreciate those three songs, you have to read along with the booklet as it goes. If you've downloaded it, you're missing out. Aside from the lyrics, there is narrative that goes along with the music and it makes the whole listening experience better.

I saw them perform it live and was really impressed... Jon even came out in a civil war uniform so I thought what was quite the finishing touch to the epic nature of the song.....

I totally agree with this. The narrative is critical in getting the most out of the music in the trilogy. It becomes even more powerful.

lol fucking try hard. Go make yet another forgettable forum name you old cranky fuck.

I am not cranky!

Yeah, it is the way it has always been with Ken: disagree with him on a band he likes and he resorts to ad-hominem attacks. So it isn't him being cranky, just him being Ken.

Not at all. I was referring to his stupid comments about the band being a mess, and who's gonna be the new singer, etc. That's called trolling, thus I insist he's stupid.

Which he is.

I've never cared if someone disagrees with me about a band's music or whatever.

Am I detecting a hint of southern rock influence in here?

No. My post is all sarcasm.

I really like this actually and I'm very happy the band managed to at least momentarily rise above the creative deathzone they've been trapped in since after The Dark Saga. I think vocally Stu block was under a lot of pressure to be as great as his predecessors, and apart from the more mid-paced stuff the album was as good as it could possibly be. Gotta love Days of rage

"Days of Rage" is the one song I could live without.

Too each his own, I could personally live without the End of innocence and the more flowery tracks.

That's actually the only track I would call "flowery," although I don't think that words appropriate. It's definitely a lighter shade of Iced Earth.

I actually dislike "End of Innocence" when I first heard it. Thought it was wicked sappy, you know. But that was at home, where I tend to be writing while listening to tunes, so the volume is down low. When I first played the album in my truck, with that shit cranked, "End of Innocence" took on a whole new light. Now it's one of my favorites on the album.

My problem with "Days of Rage" is that it's the only track where Stu sounds awkward, like he's force the tough-guy macho vocal. The chorus is weak, and the song just abruptly ends with a stupid fade-out. And it sounds way too much like "Disciples of the Lie," which itself sounded too much like "Violate."

Violate is another good song

THEY ENCOURAGE SUICIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE

I heard Days of Rage a couple months ago and thought it was pretty bad and wasn't a fan of the new singer, so I wrote this album off, since you know, Iced Earth hasn't released an album that's better than mediocre in... 15 years now? Very interested to see now though that it's gotten some positive reviews. I'll have to check it out.

Be sure to give it a few spins. For me, it clicked after 3 listens. A very solid effort, with only 3 tracks I could do without. Also, be sure to hear the bonus tracks.