Oh God I have waited for this promo too much time. I expected too much from this record because Iced Earth is my favorite metal band. For me, there is no other band on this planet that can compete with Iced Earth. No bands because Iced Earth rules. They have taken the best of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath to create their own sound. In two words, last record Something Wicked This Way Comes has been elected by many mags and webzine as the best album for 1999. I simply ... agree !

So when you expect too much, when you wait too much, when you bet too much you are sometimes disappointed with the final result. Here, except the fact this record is not a return to the early years as announced, it is still a killer. The kind of record that deserve to be placed near Something Wicked This Way Comes. Now ... I don't know were to start.

Vocals ? Better than ever. Matthew Barlow still sounds like Paul Stanley, but this time it looks he has eaten a dozen of lions. Mummy !!!

Rhythm ? Double and as fast as ever on some track : Wolf (a new hit), Ghost Of Freedom (what a mid-tempo song!), Jeckyl & Hyde.

Song-Writing ? Magical !!! Typical Iced Earth hook, riffs, bass delivering once again a thrashy melodic power metal masterpiece.

So why Horror Show is quoted only 97 ??? Well because I think this record has been too much influenced by Demons & Wizards works and that Iced Earth can be much more powerful and much more aggressive. Melodies are still here and a song like Dracula will haunt us forever, but where are the famous unbelievable trilogies of previous records (not able to be written again ?).

Now this is my point of view, my words. I am a mega fan of Iced Earth and discovered this band when everybody was listening to grunge, neo-metal and hip-hop shit and when lots of journalists were laughing after them with their "old sound". That was many years before Demons & Wizards and many years before Something Wicked This Way Comes.

At the end, this is a fuc***g great record .... but I guess I was excepting something BIGGER. Apart from that, run and buy it. If you still don't know this band, let's say the last Iron Maiden is a joke compare to this bombastic Horror Show and let's say that bands like Nevermore and Iced Earth are the new generation in the power / thrash metal genre.