Iced Earth

Black Wizard said:
I would, however, like to see a super group with Jon Schaffer, Dave Mustaine, Mike Portnoy and Axl Rose.
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SixesAlltheway said:
And they should undertake a grueling 6 months tour across the world with a camera crew following them, each week a new episode would air with Bruce Dickinson as the presenter. It would be the best metal drama show ever.
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Their band name would be "Ego Implosion"

Season 1, Episode 2
Jon and Dave try to convince (re: force) the rest of the band to wear American flag t-shirts at every gig. Axl finally caves and rips a piece off of an American flag to use as a headband. Dave and Jon try to beat up Axl, but they all end up winded and bruised. Jon throws out his back. Meanwhile, Portnoy writes down buzz words that he wants to use during the six press statements he plans to issue the following day.
 
Night Prowler said:

Weird drum sound again o_O But the song is pretty good :edmetal:
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Huh. I don't know what I think.

First impressions:
-That intro is in dire need of a lead guitar layer.
-Stu's vocals sound great.
-The chorus and the bridge (especially the bridge, whoa buddy) are basically "Damien"
-Why the hell is the guitar solo mixed so low?!
-Outro is cool, but goes on a little long (just like the intro).
 
It's an ok song I guess. This isn't Iced Earth Jon breaking any new ground of course as I've heard the guitar sounds in that song in half of Iced Earth's back catalogue already. The drum sound doesn't bother as I'm not much of a music nerd to pick up on stuff like that, unless it's as bad as 'St. Anger'! :P

By the way, is it the next part of the Something Wicked storyline by any chance?
 
Yeah, this absolutely is nothing new. It's solid, but not surprising or all that engaging.

Black Wizard said:
It's an ok song I guess. This isn't Iced Earth Jon breaking any new ground of course as I've heard the guitar sounds in that song in half of Iced Earth's back catalogue already. The drum sound doesn't bother as I'm not much of a music nerd to pick up on stuff like that, unless it's as bad as 'St. Anger'! :p

By the way, is it the next part of the Something Wicked storyline by any chance?
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Drums are definitely not as bad as St. Anger, they just sound odd...too much treble? Mostly it sounds like a bad room tone.

I don't think this album has anything to do with the Something Wicked storyline. I'm pretty sure they're done with that. @Night Prowler ?
 
Night Prowler said:
1 for this band, 5 for his 5 progrock sideprojects.
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The press release for this band would be something about his dislike for Axl's vocals and how if he were to go back and pick the singer again he wouldn't have picked Axl. Axl then fires Portnoy in retaliation. Dave then decides to fire Axl and take over on vocals but Jon fires him soon after. Jon attempts to hire Matt Barlow on vocals but after failing to tempt Matt back on tour he has to settle for ZP Theart (Dragonforce) as he's the only singer available. In the next episode Jon invites Dave and Axl back into the band and Mike issues a scene-by-scene review of the latest episode on his website.
 
Black Wizard said:
he has to settle for ZP Theart (Dragonforce) as he's the only singer available.
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Lame. We all know Ripper Owens is the designated vocalist replacement :P

Drum sound is similar to the one used on Ashes Of Ares' album, because both albums are produced by Jim Morris, who produced all Iced Earth releases.

Apparently half of the album is conceptual, but the concept is currently unknown. It's got nothing to do with Something Wicked though.
 
Unknown One said:
I'd add Attila to the list but that's about it.
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That's what I was thinking. Glorious Burden was the last cd I fully enjoyed (minus When the Eagle Cries), even Red Baron was cool in a cheesy way, but Attila is a bad ass track and the Trilogy is his best work by far.
 
Night Prowler said:

Weird drum sound again o_O But the song is pretty good :edmetal:
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So up to 1:13 it reminded me a bit of Grave Digger and the pseudo-bagpipe guitar build up. then as it gets heavy I
could've sworn I've heard that "intro" before... it's recycled from Attila... fucking bastard. It's not an EXACT copy, but close enough.
 
Onhell said:
So up to 1:13 it reminded me a bit of Grave Digger and the pseudo-bagpipe guitar build up. then as it gets heavy I
could've sworn I've heard that "intro" before... it's recycled from Attila... fucking bastard. It's not an EXACT copy, but close enough.
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Jon Schaffer does not recycle, he's a 'Merican!
 
Plagues Of Babylon is awesome!!! I can't get over how much Stu Block sounds like Matt Barlow which is perfectly fine by me because I love Matt's voice and it helps IE retain their original sound and style.
 
It's so interesting how we hear singers in different ways. Mosh thinks Todd La Torre sounds a lot like Geoff Tate and I think they sound way different.
 
New song sounds like Stu trying way too hard to sound like Barlow. Besides that, generic IE song. :yawn:
 
Black Wizard said:
But Stu sounds nothing like Matt.:eek:
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Let's not exaggerate. I agree that he's not a Barlow clone, but there are, striking similarities. I don't think he would've been hired if he had zero in common vocally with Barlow (Ripper is a different case as he was a well established singer right out of Judas Priest, with the emphasis on the high register, contrary to Barlows strong low range singing. Also IE went for a bit different sound altogether with Ripper). As are there between La Torre and Tate.

I like the new song.
 
Agreed, Stu certainly has a similar tone to Barlow. It is most prevalent in the low-tenor range, which is where both singers use the majority of their rasp. Their lows and highs are very different, but in the center of their range, Stu and Barlow share many qualities. Stu lacks the operatic depth that Barlow has (especially in the lows), but he still has a nice lower register. His highs, IMO, seem a little forced, using lots of falsetto (versus Barlow's perfect mix between falsetto and head voice). It makes sense that this song is not overdoing the highs.

I'm not familiar with Stu's other work, but I'm sure he's doing his best to adapt his voice to "the Iced Earth sound", which means Matt Barlow.
 
Stu not sounding like Barlow? And Santa gives presents at Easter.

I don't remember any other singer in the history of metal who sounded so much like the previous singer on purpose, and while doing that: without using his own natural voice. The man is an impersonator (also does Ripper impressions), I even think he admitted that in an interview I read. This is the main reason why I have trouble with liking this line-up. It feels plastic, caricature.
 
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Live version on Youtube (warning: pretty bad sound quality at times)


Someone from Inverness is selling a ticket for Thursday's gig on Gumtree for £30.<_<
 
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