Great performance by the band again, but I cannot say the same for these songs, as most of them aren't nearly as good what band is capable of doing. I've always been a huge fan of the songs "Burnt Offerings" and "Dante's Inferno", that are definitely the strongest IE I can imagine. The whole album isn't nearly as enjoyable and I almost never manage to listen to this one fully.

"Dante's Inferno" does nothing for me.

Loved this album when I started listen to Iced Earth. Today I found it good but to be fair there's too many weak moments. Creator Failure and Burning Oasis is pure garbage. I can't see how Jon Schaffer thought these songs where worthy to be included on a album. They don't offer anything interesting, just drags on and on. Last December is pretty weak as well, the chorus especially really sucks. Matt Barlow didn't do a very good job on this album, he sounds tired for the most part and the production is horribly dry. As for the rest of the songs they are all pretty nice even though they sound 5x better on the Alive in Athens album.

I actually always found this to be their weakest release from the 90s. Which doesn't take away from the fact that the opening track is one of the best things they've ever done.

Together with NOTS, this is their best album. I also enjoy their debut very much (and consider it an overlooked album).
After Burnt Offerings, it went downhill for IE.
However, and that I respect, after 25 years this band still keeps up to its roots pretty well. They have no really bad album.
Still, I am not as much a fan of this band anymore as I used to be back in the 90s.

What a boring album. Couldn't wait for it to finish.

Written by majormalfunction on 09.08.2016 at 19:08

Creator Failure and Burning Oasis is pure garbage. I can't see how Jon Schaffer thought these songs where worthy to be included on a album. They don't offer anything interesting, just drags on and on.

I guess I didnt read these lines of your comment carefully any earlier than a minute ago.

How can you even say this!
Burning Oasis is not the best song on this album, but for me it still is excellent. How can you say that it just "drags on and on"? What do you mean by that? There is a lot of variation in this song, in particular in pace, also in singing.
Creator Failure is one of the best IE songs of all time. The same as above for me, full of variation.

All a matter of taste, of course, and you dont have to like these songs, no need mentioning.
But saying that they are "pure garbage" -- beyond me.

I'm not seeing enough praise for what is Iced Earth's best album and one of the best power metal albums ever.

Written by [user id=220667] on 21.03.2020 at 00:32

I'm not seeing enough praise for what is Iced Earth's best album and one of the best power metal albums ever.

So, why dont you share your praise? I would be happy to see it.

Written by Redel on 16.10.2016 at 00:48

Together with NOTS, this is their best album. I also enjoy their debut very much (and consider it an overlooked album).
After Burnt Offerings, it went downhill for IE.
However, and that I respect, after 25 years this band still keeps up to its roots pretty well. They have no really bad album.
Still, I am not as much a fan of this band anymore as I used to be back in the 90s.

I could have written this comment. Word for word.

Written by nikarg on 21.03.2020 at 01:13

I could have written this comment. Word for word.

Written by nikarg on 21.03.2020 at 01:13

Written by Redel on 16.10.2016 at 00:48

Together with NOTS, this is their best album. I also enjoy their debut very much (and consider it an overlooked album).
After Burnt Offerings, it went downhill for IE.
However, and that I respect, after 25 years this band still keeps up to its roots pretty well. They have no really bad album.
Still, I am not as much a fan of this band anymore as I used to be back in the 90s.

I could have written this comment. Word for word.

Its True even fist 2 albums are underated, but if Matt would ot join band would nor survive. Hate me but imo their best id their last one

Written by Redel on 20.03.2020 at 23:58

I guess I didnt read these lines of your comment carefully any earlier than a minute ago.

How can you even say this!
Burning Oasis is not the best song on this album, but for me it still is excellent. How can you say that it just "drags on and on"? What do you mean by that? There is a lot of variation in this song, in particular in pace, also in singing.
Creator Failure is one of the best IE songs of all time. The same as above for me, full of variation.

All a matter of taste, of course, and you dont have to like these songs, no need mentioning.
But saying that they are "pure garbage" -- beyond me.

As long as I've listened to Iced Earth those two tracks have always been victims of the skip button. I'm gonna listen through their entire discography soon again and I will keep your comment in mind and see if there's something i've missed in those songs.

Written by majormalfunction on 21.03.2020 at 19:16

As long as I've listened to Iced Earth those two tracks have always been victims of the skip button. I'm gonna listen through their entire discography soon again and I will keep your comment in mind and see if there's something i've missed in those songs.

Please dont feel pushed to do so by my comment. That was really not my intention.
You will most probably come to the same conclusion again.
I guess my issue is the following:
I have absolutely no problem with people saying that an album feels boring to them (as others do here), I dont even care much about that. This, for me, is a clearly subjective statement.
However, if you say that sth. is pure garbage, to me, that implies some objective note, or at least it feels as if it wanted to be objective, which it obviously cannot.
I guess that was all.
So, no offense.

Written by Redel on 21.03.2020 at 22:04

Please dont feel pushed to do so by my comment. That was really not my intention.
You will most probably come to the same conclusion again.
I guess my issue is the following:
I have absolutely no problem with people saying that an album feels boring to them (as others do here), I dont even care much about that. This, for me, is a clearly subjective statement.
However, if you say that sth. is pure garbage, to me, that implies some objective note, or at least it feels as if it wanted to be objective, which it obviously cannot.
I guess that was all.
So, no offense.

None offense taken Yeah I get what your saying, still as you stated, every opinion about art is subjective it can never be objective so it doesn't matter how you put it

Written by majormalfunction on 23.03.2020 at 09:12

every opinion about art is subjective it can never be objective so it doesn't matter how you put it

That would be true if we all here had a common sense about this point.
But I often get the feeling that this is not the case and that some people -- not you specifically -- tend to put a note at their comments that suggests some degree of objectivity.

Written by Redel on 23.03.2020 at 22:17

That would be true if we all here had a common sense about this point.
But I often get the feeling that this is not the case and that some people -- not you specifically -- tend to put a note at their comments that suggests some degree of objectivity.

Yes in some cases that's definitely true

Very underrated, also I wouldn't call this a power metal, this is pure trash, with riffs and vocals. Dante's Inferno is fantastic progressive trash song.

Going into this album and knowing it was labeled "power metal", I was expecting some cheesy falsetto vocals. But - not - this!
This album took my breath away - I wasn't expecting it to be so damn heavy! I love the biblical themes throughout, the cover art of Satan munching on Judas in a frozen lake, and the absolutely epic conclusion with Dante's Inferno!
The operatic and expressive vocals accompanied by heavy riffs reminds me a lot of Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, actually. To me this is an awesome combination of doom and thrash metal!
Here is a high resolution image of the cover (because I found it hard to tell what it otherwise depicts):

Written by F3ynman on 22.10.2021 at 22:22

The operatic and expressive vocals accompanied by heavy riffs reminds me a lot of Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, actually.

Interesting point.... yeah, indeed

Written by F3ynman on 22.10.2021 at 22:22

To me this is an awesome combination of doom and thrash metal!

Whatever, I have always been somewhat inconclusive as to the genre tag here.

It's hard to pick favorite songs for this album - I love them all! : Diary ("Better lovestory than Twilight"? ), Last December (great melancholy teenage love), title track (super epic and catchy), Dante's Inferno (magnificent descent into Hell), Burning Oasis (so many unexpected transitions between aggressive thrash and melodic doom), Creator Failure (those high pitched vocals at 4:48 in the song are so haunting and even rival Rob Halford), Brainwashed (great song against institutionalized religion)....even Pierced Spirit is such a unique song! Masterpiece!

Written by WizardSlayer99 on 27.06.2021 at 12:03

Very underrated, also I wouldn't call this a power metal, this is pure trash, with riffs and vocals. Dante's Inferno is fantastic progressive trash song.

It's pretty funny that Redel argues (peacefully) against majormalfunction for calling two songs "pure garbage" and then the next post (a year later) on this thread calls the album "pure trash"... I assume you meant "thrash", but it's still pretty ironic

The title song is my favourite, and "Last December", and "Diary" were also very good, I was most disappointed by "Dante's Inferno", it's a good closing epic to hear once, but it's a little too boring compared to other epics they have done.

The rest of the songs were nothing really memorable to me, the album itself is structured very well, with good slow opening melodies and thrashier parts, it's like listening to a blend of Night Of The Stormrider and The Dark Saga, but it didn't really wow me as much as Night Of The Stormrider did, and it didn't impress me as much as The Dark Saga" either.

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 24.01.2022 at 22:23

I was most disappointed by "Dante's Inferno", it's a good closing epic to hear once, but it's a little too boring compared to other epics they have done.

You've got to listen to that song again! It'll grow on you. 16 minutes seems long at first but once you listen to it enough times you can really enjoy the interplay between riffs, poetic lyrics, and menacing chants - at least that was my experience

Written by F3ynman on 10.02.2022 at 19:21

You've got to listen to that song again! It'll grow on you. 16 minutes seems long at first but once you listen to it enough times you can really enjoy the interplay between riffs, poetic lyrics, and menacing chants - at least that was my experience

I have listened to it several more times since, and I must say it's grown on me, the title song is still my favourite on this album, but "Dante's Inferno", and "Diary" are closely behind.

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 10.02.2022 at 19:44

I have listened to it several more times since, and I must say it's grown on me, the title song is still my favourite on this album, but "Dante's Inferno", and "Diary" are closely behind.

Yeah I liked those songs a lot initially. Now I always go back for Last December, Creator Failure, Burning Oasis, and Dantes Inferno