Iced Earth

Re: New Iced Earth Album

OK.  I've given the album one listen through.  It's decent, it's got a couple very good songs, but a lot of filler and a lot of over the top cheesy stuff.  Highlights are Ten Thousand Strong, Order of the Rose, The Clouding.

My main question is as this is a promo:  will there be more solos?

And, my most nagging question:
will the something wickeds actually be there or will it just be their incredibly awful replacements??  Like ANYONE would want to hear a bunch of middle eastern acoustics for a minute instead of the original.

I'll give it a couple more listens at least.  It IS better than the Glorious Burden, but I'm still not sure of the overall quality.
 
Re: New Iced Earth Album

Er... the regular album will be exactly the same as the promo copy, except that Schaffer's blabber is not in it...
 
Re: New Iced Earth Album

Yax said:
I won't download the promo-album, because:

1. I don't want the voice-overs to ruin it for me.
2. I want to wait until it's released. 
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Same here. I can't listen well enough to an album with voice overs. Those interruptions would draw away my attention constantly. More important: It spoils the first magic moments of music that I am looking forward to.

@GuineaPig and Perun:
I also know some promo's, containing edited songs only. The last My Dying Bride promo, the last In Flames promo had parts of songs cut out. It was difficult to discover at first. Only after comparing the promo tracks with the real material (also the song lengths) made me see that these promo's didn't give the right impression.

@any mod: Could this topic be merged with the Iced Earth topic? If not, then that topic was opened for nothing. Thanks in advance!
 
So I was actually stupid enough to buy Overture of the Wicked and I have to say I like Ten Thousand Strong. Yes, it could be on TGB, but that's one of the reasons I like it. Also.. the other three rerecorded songs two things: 1. I like the "upgrade" on the music 2. I kept thinking how great they would sound with Barlow on vocals, sorry Ripper.
 
Hey, this reminds the Blaze bashing...  Many Iced Earth fans will bash Owens because they were used to Matt Barlow, as matter of fact, I loved Matt Barlow, but Tim Owens is an awesome performer, and so far, he is doing a good job.
 
Yeah, I agree.  I think Ripper and Barlow are like Blaze and Bruce: you can't really compare them.  I liked The Glorious Burden perhaps more than any Barlow-age albums, but that might just be because GB was the first Iced Earth album I heard...
 
Invader said:
I liked The Glorious Burden perhaps more than any Barlow-age albums, but that might just be because GB was the first Iced Earth album I heard...
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Yeah, me too... I actually bought it because of Ripper. And I wasn't let down.
 
YES, finally tourdates and an intersting support act!

ICED EARTH will embark on a European headlining tour in October/November. Support on all shows will come from DARK TRANQUILLITY. Confirmed dates are as follows:

Oct. 08 - D - Köln - Live Music Hall
Oct. 09 - D - München - Backstage Werk
Oct. 10 - I - Milan - Alcatraz
Oct. 12 - E - Barcelona - Sala Razzmatazz 1
Oct. 13 - E - Madrid - La Riviera
Oct. 15 - CH - Pratteln - Konzertfabrik Z7
Oct. 16 - A - Graz - Orpheum
Oct. 17 - A - Wien - Planet Music
Oct. 18 - CZ - Brno - Fleda
Oct. 19 - D - Berlin - Columbia Club
Oct. 21 - S - Malmö - Kulturbolaget
Oct. 22 - N - Oslo - Rockefeller
Oct. 23 - S - Gothenburg - Tradgarn
Oct. 25 - S - Stockholm - Tirol
Oct. 26 - DK - Kopenhagen - Pumpenhuset
Oct. 28 - D - Hamburg - Markthalle
Oct. 30 - D - Stuttgart - LKA Longhorn
Nov. 01 - NL - Tilburg - Club 013
Nov. 02 - B - Antwerpen - Hof Ter Lo

iced_dark.jpg


ICED EARTH will support HEAVEN AND HELL on a U.K. tour beginning on November 4 in Newcastle.

04 : Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
06 : Glasgow, Scotland
07 : Sheffield, UK
09 : Manchester, UK
10 : London, UK
11 : Brighton, UK
13 : Birmingham, UK
14 : Cardiff, UK
15 : Nottingham, UK
17 : Plymouth, UK
18 : Bournemouth, UK


SPV has set the following release dates for ICED EARTH's new studio album, "Framing Armageddon - Something Wicked Part I":

Germany: September 7
Rest of Europe: September 10
North America: September 11
 
Thanks for the videos and the tour info Forostar  :) I like the support act. I heard 'The Gallery' a few months back and loved it.  :yey:
Cant wait till September, or whenever a proper copy of the album is leaked on the net  :lol:
 
Saw IE at WOA, and even through I was dying of some mystery illness, I noted the fact that Owens' vocals have improved quite a lot since The Glorious Burden. I myself won't download the promo, but I'm looking forward to the album muchly  B)
 
I listened to Overture of the Wicked,  and I'm not really impressed.  Ten Thousand Strong is ok but mediocre (I like the chorus though),  and Ripper does a good job in it.  As far as the "new" versions of the trilogy though,  :wtf:.  It's not the way Ripper sings it,  in fact I think he does a great job.  But the way they've changed the music sucks big time.  Plus,  the voices in The Coming Curse just don't do it for me.  It's better with the ecclesiastical chanting,  rather than the oriental Xena crap...
 
SneakySneaky said:
I listened to Overture of the Wicked,  and I'm not really impressed.  Ten Thousand Strong is ok but mediocre (I like the chorus though),  and Ripper does a good job in it. 
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Right, that made sense.



SneakySneaky said:
As far as the "new" versions of the trilogy though,   :wtf:.  It's not the way Ripper sings it,  in fact I think he does a great job.  But the way they've changed the music sucks big time.  Plus,  the voices in The Coming Curse just don't do it for me.  It's better with the ecclesiastical chanting,  rather than the oriental Xena crap...
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Is it really the way they changed things or that they changed things? I tend to believe the latter.
How come people can't stand new ideas on this "so called" open minded, intellectual forum?
 
Forostar said:
Right, that made sense.
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Actually, if you properly read his response rather than trying to appear condescending and superior, you would notice that Sneaky meant that the song is listenable, but poor by IE standards (hence, it is 'ok' to listen to, yet still mediocre).  Funnily enough, he is allowed find the song bad while actually liking the singing! -_-

Forostar said:
Is it really the way they changed things or that they changed things? I tend to believe the latter.
How come people can't stand new ideas on this "so called" open minded, intellectual forum?
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For God's sake, not this again.  You think that because you like the Overture of the Wicked, you're somehow superior to the rest of us in being open-minded.  I'm open to new ideas, provided they do not suck elephant balls.  If I don't like Schaffer's raping of the SW trilogy (which, rather than being 'experimental' or 'enticing to new fans', is, let's face it, a cynical marketing move to promote the new album), I'm not going to pussyfoot around it just to appease your 'broad-mindedness'.

As to the new album, I listened to it (with an open mind), and nearly had to turn it off.

1). The numerous interludes and intros are unnecessary.  You listen to them once, then skip them on the next time (a la 'Nightfall In Middle-Earth').  Funnily enough, it's here that the most memorable song-writing is, with various oriental instruments and interesting story-telling.

2). Who the fuck told Schaffer to layer every single chorus?  I'm guessing the effect he was going for was epicness, grandness and a sense of scale. Instead, he's buried Owen's voice so much in bland, overly-saccharine overdubs that the feeling that remains is one of hollowness.  To put it thus; imagine a production of, say, Les Miserables. The production is done in a football stadium; the sets are scaled up, but the sound system is the same as for a standard theatre.  As such, the voices are completely buried in the setting.

3). Schaffer's riffing really started to piss me off.  Call me closed-minded, but my idea of a good riff is not excessive palm muting to obliterate all melody.  Nor is it the ridiculous amount of 'chugging' riffs and stop-start riffing used on this album.  I don't listen to other bands that use that kind of tedious rhythm (Epica, Slipknot)...am I being 'close-minded' for that?

4). The solos are good, although not quite up to the standards of the 90's era. But if you think I'm going to listen to a 3 minute song just for 20 seconds of solo...it's like serving up a dinner of stale bread and hardened cheese, with a small dollop of sweet cream on top.

5). Last but not least, Ripper's vocals.  In accordance with Forostar's demands that we should be 'open minded', I tried to ignore my qualms about Ripper's vocals as much as possible.  There were certain points at which he showed himself to be a well-talented singer, but I find his voice, like Schaffer's riffing, to be bland and hollow.
 
It has nothing to do with me being superior. I absolutely don't feel this way, nor do I want to show it. I hate superiority and I also hate any form of elite. I am not demanding anything.

Recently, I am just more and more confronted with conservative negative opinions on this forum, especially when it comes to new music. I see that and I state it. To understand these negative views, I am interested to find out more about it.

What's wrong with adding some tribal/oriental elements in a metal song? Listen to "Balls to Picasso", it's all over it. More metal bands do it.

Perhaps my last remark of my previous post was too cynical, but the rest was not over the top.

Fight on.
Grab on.
Stormrider.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYadxsWxgo0
 
Well, I've listened to Overture again, and am ready to weigh in on this discussion again.

The reimagining of Something Wicked is very interesting, to say the least.  Prophecy, imo, is the worst of the three.  I really think all the changes that Schaffer made were for the worst there.  The other two are better, the Coming Curse is even pretty good.  I honestly don't think they're as good as the originals.  But I tend to always default towards the first versions I hear of a song...even so.  If they choose to play these songs live, I hope they choose the older versions.

It's not that they changed it.  I don't mind that, like when they re-recorded the older albums with Barlow.  I just think that the way Schaffer redid the original Something Wicked trilogy isn't up to the very, very high standards set on Something Wicked This Way Comes.  That said, the new versions of the songs seem to blend with the new album...
 
Forostar said:
What's wrong with adding some tribal/oriental elements in a metal song? Listen to "Balls to Picasso", it's all over it. More metal bands do it.
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Once again, you didn't read my post properly.  I said the oriental elements were the most enjoyable aspects of the album, as they were original and fresh.

In addition to my earlier criticism, the most overwhelming thing I can find wrong with the new Iced Earth album is an overwhelming sense of soullessness.  It's as if Schaffer decided that the concept should come first, with the music and overall feel of the album being played second priority, saying 'Okay, so now we have our second interlude, and then we need a song about mankind's intentions, then we need a regretful song'...all style, no substance.
 
Raven said:
Once again, you didn't read my post properly.  I said the oriental elements were the most enjoyable aspects of the album, as they were original and fresh.

In addition to my earlier criticism, the most overwhelming thing I can find wrong with the new Iced Earth album is an overwhelming sense of soullessness.  It's as if Schaffer decided that the concept should come first, with the music and overall feel of the album being played second priority, saying 'Okay, so now we have our second interlude, and then we need a song about mankind's intentions, then we need a regretful song'...all style, no substance.
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Raven, my posts were not only directed towards you, hope you see that. I know you're opinion very well (I do not mind hearing more though).
 
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