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While this album is good and a step up from TGB I just don't get why this album is getting such high praise?

The songs still follow a predictable formula that gets quite boring after a while. Jon still has not come up with an actual riff since the original Something Wicked album (which actually was a masterpiece btw). He just plays precision rythmic paterns and power chords for the melody lines to follow.

Iced Earth used to be one of my favorite bands but there are so many other bands doing it much better than IE these days.

All that being said, Owens does sing well and there are enough cool moments that make this a good album, just not anything great like before.

74/100

Boring.

Naa i agree with the review, this album is AMAZING......

90/100 is def a worthy score, and 50 for TGB made sense too, this is just THAT much better!

So... anyone else looking forward to the new Pyramaze?

Jon couldn't win with this album no matter what was on it. When Hate Mode is turned on, it locks into place. Saying this album is predictable is like saying Oprah doesn't like fried chicken. There was nothing Jon could do that would please the haters.

That said, this album is a masterpiece. It blows The Glorious Burden away! Jon has proven once again that's he's a killer songwriter, this time by doing something unlike he's done before. And this is easily Owens' finest hour yet. Killer vocal performance! And as much as I love Barlow's voice, Tim shows here that he's far more versatile and dynamic than Barlow ever was.

I don't expect emo pansies to get it.

Wait, you were being serious?

I like Tim's vocals ALOT now in this band....I wouldn't even want Barlow back for this album... Owen's rules.

I love the Iced Earth Triplet riffs with the slower Melodic lead over it while Tim sings.....Its so classic Iced Earth....

When Stars Collide is the best.

I have to pick this up sometime this week. I usually wait until an album's been out for a while before buying it, but being a huge IE fan, I just HAVE to pick this up sometime during the week.

You really can't compare Owens to Barlow since both have very different singing styles. Which is IMO a good thing because, if a band replaces a much loved vocalist, it's usually better to get one with a different vocal style than the previous so that you're not left with what seems like a "cheap imitation of the previous vocalist."

it's been a few days since i bought this album.

after numerous listens, i've come to a conclusion: this framing armageddon is impressive and what's even more impressive is the fact that it seems almost average on the first spin.

the first time i heard it, i was quite confused: it was too long, there were too many choruses, too many interludes and it seemed, at the time, that it lacked some highlights, some songs strong enough to be compared to Iced Earth's previous work.

that impression was wrong and, if you give it the attention it deserves, you may realize that this album, far from beeing bland, may be one of the band's finest hours.

tracks like Setian Massacre, the domino decree, ten thousand strong or framing armageddon, just to name a few, are so far above what iced earth has given us with "the glorious burden".

it's a mighty return to form for this band
and i just can' wait to hear part II

I was, like many, very disappointed after the first few spins. But this album grows so much if you can push past those first listens and explore the storyline as well. On a song to song basis this might be the weakest IE album, but as a whole and as a concept it's infinitely better.

I'm still not quite ready to rate the album yet, it's still in the process of growing and I tend to want to rate my favorite bands higher than they deserve for the first few months after a release. It took me about a year before I really could say what my honest opinions about The Glorious Burden was so I'm hesitant to praise/bash this album right now.

But I'll give a few general opinions about it.

The Good:
+ Ripper sounds awesome (his best performance to date?)
+ The story is intruiging
+ This is unlike anything I've heard from IE before (organs, choirs etc)

Songs (disregarding the interludes):
+ Something Wicked Part 1 - I LOVE this song! Doesn't get enough praise, the second half of the song just kills
+ The Clouding - The first ballad-like half, though good, feels a bit long, but once the Setian part kicks in I can't help but loving it
+ Framing Armageddon - A furious assault in the same vein of My Own Savior, but with more variation. I love it, Schaffers apocalyptic talking layered on top of the chorus is awesome. The last minute is neckbreakingly good
+ When Stars Collide - Heavy crunching guitars with a huge choir on top, a real cool song but what sets it off is Rippers incredibly high vocal harmony towards the end of the song

The Bad:
- The album seems slightly overproduced. There's alot of stuff going on and I'm not sure it's for the better
- The guitars aren't what they used to be. TGB suffered from this as well, I miss the loud, in your face, heavy crunching guitars (and riffs) that were such a huge part of this band up until Horror Show
- Not enough fast, heavy songs

Songs (disregarding the interludes):
- Order of the Rose - Good lyrics but the song seems simplistic and uninteresting
- Infiltrate and Assimilate - I don't know about that one, the chorus just feels too cheerful
- Retribution Through the Ages - The guitars are so busy the song loses much needed heavyness. It still gets better with each listen, so I might think something else in the near future

I have alot to say about this album, so I'll save some of my comments and come back later for more. I am carefully optimistic, this album is far from solid but definitely alot better than what it at first seemed to be. I have a really good feeling about Part 2, my hunch is that it will be alot more aggressive than Part 1. And I am curious to see where the storyline is ultimately heading.

Just one thing, could we leave the Barlow/Ripper discussion out of this, please? Every IE thread ultimately seems to succumb to that worn out topic.

As someone who liked Glorious Burden, it looks like I'll like this too. Sounds as if it's intricate enough to earn a few repeated listens, which is good - the one thing that lets the original Something Wicked album down for me is that it's a bit too straightforward. Here's a band who should totally go prog.

Great album,
i love it.

Did you listen to more than 30-second samples this time? Your opinion is meaningless.

Yes, I downloaded the whole thing this time (not something I normally do).

It's not as good as people are making it out to be, but that's not unusual.

Yes, because your word is law! Personal taste has nothing to do with it, right, tubby?

Tubby? I only weigh 153 pounds...

It's funny that you say my word is law, when you were the one prattling on about nu-metal bands, like you wanted your opinion to matter and no one elses.

Idiot.

I was highly impressed with it, and it really is an album you have to sit quietly and pay attention to. There's a lot going on here that you'll miss if you have it on while doing the dishes. It's not really something that you can talk about in terms of songs, as everything is part of an overall story, and some songs have to convey certain moods to get across the point of the story being told. Which this album does amazingly well, it conveys moods and emotions with precision, the music takes you where the lyrics are. Ripper really shows off his range on this release, and I'll fucking say it. Matt Barlow could not have accomplished what Jon Schaffer was asking Ripper to do here, not in a million years. Ripper has a far better range, and does everything from Air Raid Sirens to Snarling Growls with absolute ease, sometimes moving seamlessly from one to the other within a bridge. This album is ambitious, and I applaud Jon for taking the proper time needed to nurture this and realize it's full potential. This isn't some lame rehash in hopes of cashing in, this is a project that deserved to be given it's proper treatment, and there's so much more to this story than could be told in a simple song trilogy. The love Jon had for this shines through in every note, and it's not meant to be a mere album.