Iced Earth - The Dark Saga review
| Band: | Iced Earth |
| Album: | The Dark Saga |
| Style: | Heavy metal, US power metal |
| Release date: | 1996 |
| A review by: | Sephiroth |
01. Dark Saga
02. I Died For You
03. Violate
04. The Hunter
05. The Last Laugh
06. Depths Of Hell
07. Vengeance Is Mine
08. The Suffering
1 - Scarred
2 - Slave To The Dark
3 - A Question Of Heaven
Todd Mc Farlane is a genius. He has created the best american comic of all times and his character, Spawn, has became a legend. Sadness, evilness, violence, love?.are all inside the dark stories he lives in. So, who could grasp this feelings and put it into music? Jon Schaffer obviously! And who can sing with the voice of the tormented Hellspawn, suffer with him, making us hear deep melancholy or pure evilness through the notes of his throat?? Matthew Barlow of course.
Published just one year after the masterpiece "Burnt Offerings" this album moved IE' songwriting style slightly forwards: we can find slight additions of melodies and choruses, and in particular the first two slow songs which are not interludes made by Schaffer. Listen to "A Question of Heaven" and cry for our life that gives us nothing but pain. The session drummer Keith Prator is not that amazing while the guitars sound clear and heavy, and Matt gives us the usual outstanding performance. The whole album follows the story of the comic so we find songs of pure violence like "Violate" or the immense "Vengeance is Mine" in wich we can find Jon's typical guitar gallops. If I have to be critical (and I'm forcing myself to be that way because they're my favorite Power Metal band) Jon's songwriting has lost a bit of complexity compared to the times of "Night of the Stormrider" or to the already mentioned "Burnt Offerings"- but it is always more than a step above other bands.
Obviously if you know the comic you'll appreciate the lyrics as well as Matt's voice, and you'll recognize from which of Spawn's episode the CD artwork comes from.
In conclusion its a great album that has to be listened to entirely in order to grasp the harmonic line which gives it unity.
If you like the comic to madness add one point to the rating.
Written by Sephiroth | 18.09.2003
Rating:
8.8
8.8
|
Rating: 8.8 |
'The Dark Saga' is a classic metal album, and is without doubt one of Iced Earths best albums. The album is based on the comic Spawn as the concept behind the music. The album depicts the story of a man who sell's his soul to the devil for love, an irony that few seem to grasp. 'The Dark Saga' represents also the coming of age of Mat Barlow, the emotive and charismatic vocalist of Iced Earth. This is an album of class by a band who's suffered numerous changes too their line up including three vocalists. The Dark Saga was the first time Iced Earth had produced an album with the same vocalist as the previous album and it truly paid dividends for the band as a final product. Read more ›› |
Comments
Comments: 11
Visited by: 133 users
| Dam3k Posts: 704  |
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| Robstar Posts: 230  |
Great album ... I love it due to the spawn dark saga... Great stuff I will give it a 9 ...
---- Nothing is unreacheable
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| +{Jonas}+ I R Serious Cat Posts: 4955  |
Great album, the concept is amazoing, and IMO Iced Earth's best album, spite I don't think they're power metal
---- "Nobody wants to be the weird kid, you just end up being the weird kid. You don't know how you ended up getting there" - Rob Zombie http://jonas-bs.deviantart.com My dA, mainly photography, go check it out!
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by +{Jonas}+ on 10.02.2008 at 21:56 So what do you think they are? Because this surely is as much US Power as it comes. Okay it is not the whiny European Flowery Keyboard wankery power metal but it is power nonetheless.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| +{Jonas}+ I R Serious Cat Posts: 4955 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 10.02.2008 at 22:34 I've always seen Iced Earth as heavy... Dark heavy, as far a I remember was the classification here in MS some time ago. Well maybe you're right. US power then.
---- "Nobody wants to be the weird kid, you just end up being the weird kid. You don't know how you ended up getting there" - Rob Zombie http://jonas-bs.deviantart.com My dA, mainly photography, go check it out!
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| IconMaiden Posts: 53 |
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| Metalbound7 Posts: 229  |
IMO IE is Heavy Metal with a lot of Melody, still not Power Metal. I really love this album. it means something special for me because this is one of the first albums that get me in Metal. At that time i was a fan of Spawn comics and i can't did anything that fell in love of this album, beside that is a Masterpiece of Iced Earth. Its a 10/10 for me  TY for the Review Sephiroth! 
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| Umideath Posts: 178  |
Dark Saga is the best Power Metal album for me.:banger2:
---- My Top 90 Metal Albums Of 2023 - Part 2 >> https://youtu.be/6Yi7zV9Xo58 - Part 1 https://youtu.be/8F0E_CAfmMM
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955  |
The best of their early works, no matter what style they are fit. ''A Question of Heaven'' and ''Vengeance is Mine'' are the best songs IMO.
----  ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| Nyoink Posts: 44  |
Flawless album. Spending my money on this album was TRULY worth it... All songs are amazing and barlow's voice makes them even better. And without any doubt, a question of heaven is the best iced earth song ^^
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| FrozenJoy Posts: 60 |
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