Iced Earth

Haters gonna hate, Judas Goat rules :p

And Iced Earth OPENING for Sabaton would be a blasphemy of the highest order.
 
Night Prowler said:
YES, SMEDLEY IS BACK. (In your face, Mosh! :p)
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As if this band couldn't get any worse. :p

Sabaton is great but I'd rather see IE headline. They have more songs to choose and when all else fails, they still know how to come up with a killer setlist.

The Judas Goat is silly but I'll be really surprised if that turns out to be the actual title.

I'm surprised Stu lasted this wrong. His vocals were a little weird on the last album but generally I think he's a pretty good studio singer. I hope he tones it down on the Barlow impersonating and adds a bit more personality this time around.
 
Mosh said:
Sabaton is great but I'd rather see IE headline. They have more songs to choose and when all else fails, they still know how to come up with a killer setlist.
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Yep. One more thing though: Iced Earth isn't really a... party atmosphere band like Sabaton is, and I don't mean it as a bad thing. Sabaton has all these jumpy catchy songs and IE is way darker, so they shouldn't really be paired for a tour. It's like pairing Opeth and Amon Amarth... Even Opeth before the prog rock phase was relatively slower paced, with acoustic sections while Amon Amarth is non-stop headbanging. You can't have Amon Amarth opening for a band that isn't as heavy, or Sabaton for a band that isn't as cheery. And you can't have Iced Earth open for Sabaton because it's fucking blasphemy! :p At least IMO.
 
Collin said:
Nooo. I saw Sabaton open for Iced Earth and it should've been the other way around. Sabaton is so much better.
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I love Iced Earth. I've seen Iced Earth live more than almost every other band (only Megadeth beat them, and many bands (Symphony X, Dream Theater, Clutch) tie them). However, Iced Earth has not been "the same" live since the early 2000's. After Matt left the band, the wind went out of the sails and everything just became...rote. I feel the same way now as when I see Megadeth...guys playing well and putting on a decent show, but mostly going through the motions. It's ironic, because I saw Megadeth and Iced Earth tour together in 2001/02 and both bands were completely on fire at every gig. Must have seen 'em 5-6 times and every time was amazing. Now it's just like watching a DVD: fun, but pretty average.

And this isn't a Stu or a Ripper thing...I saw them with Barlow in their heyday and it was phenomenal. Everybody was at the top of their game. Saw them with Ripper and they were alright, but mostly boring, even though Ripper seemed very fired up. Saw them during the Barlow reunion and it was easily the most boring, passionless IE show I could imagine. Saw them twice with Stu and he was great, but the band seemed like they were performing to a timed clock - no passion, just paint-by-numbers. Regardless of singer or songwriting, the fire has left Iced Earth's live shows.

Sabaton, however, is the pure essence of fire. Their shows are electric.

Night Prowler said:
Yep. One more thing though: Iced Earth isn't really a... party atmosphere band like Sabaton is, and I don't mean it as a bad thing. Sabaton has all these jumpy catchy songs and IE is way darker, so they shouldn't really be paired for a tour. It's like pairing Opeth and Amon Amarth...
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Iced Earth sings about Spawn and an imaginary angry Egyptian semi-deity. Sabaton sings about The Holocaust. Granted, the music offsets the lyrics, but you can't say Iced Earth is "way darker" than Sabaton.

Also, just throwing this out there: I'd fucking love to see an Amon Amarth/Opeth show.

Forostar said:
Basically, compared to Iced Earth, Sabaton is simple pop music. Or compared to Sabaton, Iced Earth is complex metal.
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Guitarwise, they are equal. Iced Earth has better right hand picking, Sabaton has more intricate lead work. I once learned how to play all of the rhythm parts to the Gettysburg trilogy and it was no more challenging than a Green Day song.


Night Prowler said:
Yeah, only The Fugitive is complex enough to be called complex :p
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The Fugitive is far too complex for either Jon Schaffer or Joakim Broden.
 
I meant how songs are constructed.
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Knicker: Iced Earth's lyrics are deeper than you just portrayed. Listen to Burnt Offerings for example. Or The Glorious Burden.
 
Forostar said:
I talked about how songs are constructed.
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In that case, yes, more IE songs are complex whereas more Sabaton songs are simplistic. But I'd say they each have their fair share of both.

Forostar said:
Knicker: Iced Earth's lyrics are deeper than you just portrayed. Listen to Burnt Offerings for example. Or The Glorious Burden.
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I'm well aware that they are. But Sabaton's lyrics are also deeper than NP portrayed, and that was my point.
 
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I'd say it's pretty close at this point. Iced Earth has been following the same formula for years now. They have rare moments of diversity such as on Gettysburg or even some moments on Plagues, but generally you know what you're going to get with them. So they have a slight edge on Sabaton I suppose, but it's really close. Plus Sabaton has way more energy on their recordings these days which makes up for the formulaic music IMO.
 
I'm not talking about the lyrics; IE's music is just way darker. Some Sabaton songs sound happy even if the lyrics are about war and stuff. IE only has one (relatively) happy song - Tragedy & Triumph. The rest is pretty dark or melancholic (the ballads).
 
Right, they're a nice glass of dark beer, aged in bourbon barrels and imbibed while consuming a medium-rare steak by candlelight...

...before Sabaton breaks in the door, chugs the rest of your beer, gives you 10 more beers, and then rocks your face off while teaching you history!
 
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