Plagues of Babylon - The way
@Night Prowler feels about Great Heathen Army is pretty much how I feel about this track. The intro is pretty boring and anticlimatic. Once the song gets going, it's OK but plods a lot. I like the verses, not sure if there's anything else I particularly enjoy. Overall just overblown and kinda boring. It gets a vote.
Democide - Another dragged out boring intro. When the song actually finally starts it's just your average thrasher. On top of that, something about the song seems incoherent. Like the vocals don't gel with the riffs. A bit of a mess all around. It gets a
vote.
The Culling - Great song. Some awesome rhythmic stuff happening (I like this drummer more than recent Smedley, it's too bad they didn't stick with him) and a great chorus. It even has a decent guitar solo. An awesome track with an epic feel, the album needs more of this.
Among the Living Dead - I know this song tends to be a favorite among a lot of people but it still hasn't clicked with me. Not bad at all, still among the album's better moments, but I would never go out of my way for it. A little too heavy on the huge vocal choirs. I do like the heaviness though.
Resistance - This song ends pretty strong but it takes such a long time to get there. Lots of boring moments prior to that. Mostly forgettable overall. It gets a
vote.
The End? - Overly long with an annoying chorus and questionable vocals. One of the worst songs on the album.
Vote.
If I Could See You - Ugh. One of their worst ballads. It plods, it is just like every other Iced Earth ballad, and the vocals are annoying. Obvious
vote.
Cthulu - This one isn't too bad. I could do without the chorus (the huge anthemic choruses are really overdone on this and it gets old) but the rest of it is pretty good. The slow intros are pretty hit and miss with IE but I think this one works, Stu even gives a solid performance during it. The riffing illustrates the lyrics nicely.
Peacemaker - Unlike Cthulu, the slow intro on this one doesn't work. Eventually it picks up and the song improves a ton. Don't remember this making an impression the first time I heard the album, so it's a bit of a hidden gem for me. It's nothing particularly special, just a solid song with a catchy chorus.
Parasite - This one is a lot better than I remember. Feels like they're doing something different here and I really dig the screeching guitars in the choruses. Not bad at all. Very awkward ending though. A lot of the songs on this album (and Incorruptible for that matter) seem kinda sloppily written. Like not much thought was put into the structures.
Spirit of the Times - Not only is this another boring ballad, but it's a cover of a boring Sons of Liberty song. WTF. This song is so bland and it plods so hard. The guitar solo at 1:28 sounds like Troy noodling before an actual take. Did Jon record his warm up as a joke? Although on second thought that might actually be Jon playing. Also what is going on with Stu's vocals? There's a lot of bad singing on this album, but this particular track takes the cake. On top of that, the sound of his voice is just weird and unnatural, especially on the sibilance. Did they over do it with the de-esser? (Paging
@MrKnickerbocker ) I don't get it, it's not like the album wasn't long enough. This did not need to happen. A worst IE song contender.
Highwayman - How did this b-side fodder make it on to the album? It's not bad, but it just seems bizarre to end the album with two covers. It's such an anticlimactic end. The guest vocals don't really add anything either. It's not bad, but essentially the same as if Iron Maiden put their cover of Hocus Pocus on A Matter of Life and Death. It gets a
vote.
Overall, this is really a low point in their discography. Incorruptible further proves it to me, it's not like they were out of good music. I'm not really sure what the problem was. The bulk of the songs are bland and uninspired, Stu's vocals often range from serviceable to outright bad, and the production is muddy and lifeless. I genuinely thought they were either going to break up or kick Stu out after this album because something wasn't working. I don't know what happened in between this and Incorruptible because they improved on nearly every front. But Incorruptible being such a strong album just makes this one seem even worse in comparison. We'll see how I feel at the end of this, but right now I'm thinking it's my least favorite IE album (yes including the debut).
There are some positives though. A couple songs that I remember disliking or not thinking much of in general left a more positive impression on me this time around. I was also really impressed with the drumming. A lot better than what Smedley does these days. It would've been nice to hear a different drummer on Incorruptible, because while the guitars show a ton of improvement the drums have slightly declined in comparison. A lot of dull moments on this album are saved by interesting drumming.
But seriously, they have a song like this on almost every album. Most of them are just fine, but aren't really original. Thankfully the solos are quite awesome on this song.
