However the last six years have been a bit of a mixed bag for me personally, as a fan. Bringing in Stu Block seemed to satisfy band brainiac, Jon Schaffer’s, quest for the perfect vocalist, and I will admit, the man is a ferociously great singer. He easily conjures up the spirit of the band’s two best vocalists, Matt Barlow and Tim “Ripper” Owens and sometimes  a tad bit of John Greely(Night of the Stormrider). Therein lies my only real problem with the last six years, and now with new album Incorruptible. Block, for the most part, has never gotten to be anything more than a mimic of Barlow and Owens. It’s easily overlooked and ultimately enjoyable, yet it is also bothersome that Block has to be a copy of others. Musically, Incorruptible is well…incorruptible. It’s Iced Earth plain and simple. If you have always been a fan, you still will be. If you’ve never been a fan, this probably won’t win you over. If you are just now looking to get into Iced Earth, this isn’t a bad start, but I would highly recommend going back a decade or two first.

“Great Heathen Army” opens Incorruptible in typical I.E. fashion, an intro complete with choral vocals and building drums and horns/synths until fat riffage and pounding double bass takes over as Block lets loose a quality Ripper-esque scream. As expected, everything is tight, punchy, and clear. Schaffer’s triplets and chords of power are a driving force, emotional and full of pulsing underlying melody. The song is a great opener, capturing that classic I.E. vibe, reminiscent of much of their work over the past four or five albums. Sadly, Incorruptible doesn’t really do much with the next four tracks. They are all good songs. All offering some quality moment(s); I especially liked the Grave Digger feel to the beginning of “Black Sail”. Though overall they all a bit long winded, teetering precariously on that treacherous line of boredom.

“Seven Headed Whore” picks things up and piques my interests more with its straight up power thrash the band can wield so mightily when it chooses. The song’s opening  instantly recalling Slayer, and quickly falling into fierce I.E. awesomeness. Block’s vocals are superb. An equal mix of  Barlow and Owens influence, capturing a blistering performance; mainly due to the Ripper-esque soaring throat acrobatics. The track is pretty simple in its structure, but it rages with an intensity that nowadays, the band doesn’t delve into very often. I really like “The Relic(Part 1)”, the song is nothing Iced Earth fans haven’t heard before, or even many times over, but its mid paced, Barlow infused power is rousing and even engaging. The track strongly recalls their ’98-’01 period and manages to achieve a feel good aura in and of itself until the direction and instrumentation changes to a sultry, almost lullaby-ish affect on the listener’s senses.

A Burnt Offerings meets Something Wicked This Way Comes feeling can be found in the musical flow of “Defiance”, it’s catchy and primarily mid paced with a bit of darker forbiddance. Stu’s screams from 2:14 to 2:35 are wonderfully intense. Personally, I wish his air raid vocalizations saw the light of day more, not only on “Defiance”, but  on the majority of Incorruptible‘s tracks.  For me they are extremely more engaging and visceral than his crooning Barlow mimicry. Instrumental, “Ghost Dance(Awaken the Ancestors)”, must be mentioned for not only being damn good, but for taking a few small baby steps outside the typical Iced Earth box. Classic Schaffer/I.E. riffing gets things going , driving the track along with some wonderful melody and lead work. The musicality and depth of the song invoking feelings of The Glorious Burden in its overall scope. The tribal/Native American beats and vocalizations are a bit odd for I.E., but they work well. It’s all quite interesting, while staying clearly within the refines and parameters of the band’s sound.

Album closer, “Clear the Way(December 13, 1862)”, is arguably some the band’s best material since The Glorious Burden‘s Gettysburg trilogy, and hands down the albums best track. Slow, eerie picking, strummed chords and soft bass kicks  mix with bagpipe induced stirrings of emotion, before melding into a brief Iron Maiden melody and happy lick, giving way to a simply ripping, galloping, upbeat and high powered epic attack of prime Iced Earth quality and brilliance. The track is a rousing call to arms in music and lyrics alike, with a simple yet inspiring chorus. The melody and subsequent riffing at the 3:33 mark to the 4:04  is a neck snapper for sure; the song moving into a couple of different change ups before locking again into Maiden inspired interplay. Six minutes in sees the song taking an emotional change as driving snare rolls, bagpipes, and battlefield soundscapes merge, creating a bit of a break in the track before returning to the driving thrash and the powerful chorus, eventually closing out the song and fading out to the eerie bagpipe melody featured in the beginning.

Being a history lover and having always found interest in the Civil War, I really found “Clear the Way…” to be highly entertaining. The song tells of the doomed assault on Marye’s Heights, during the deadliest day of the Battle of Fredericksburg, by the 28^th Massachusetts, or the “Sons of Erin”, an Irish brigade. The 28^th Mass. were pushed back and defeated by the Confederates (ironically, it was a confederate Irish brigade, the 24^th Georgia, that had a major hand in the defeat of the 28^th Mass.). The 28^th Massachusetts fought so fearlessly and with such bravery and courage, that the Confederate soldiers actually cheered them on in their advance, not out of spite, but because they revered the Sons of Erin and their commitment. Confederate General Robert E. Lee was recorded saying of the 28^th Mass. and their failed assault, “Never were men so brave”. Truly some powerful stuff.

Getting back to Incorruptible, it must be noted that the player’s individual performances are really top notch. Aside from the obvious Schaffer and Block contributions, it is drummer Brent Smedley and lead guitarist Jake Dreyer that really add the icing to this incorruptible cake. Dreyer’s leads are fantastic and really help drive the material and even boost it when it would fall into stale or borish moments. Smedley on the other hand is tight, controlled, and concise. His footwork is damn near impeccable in following and accenting Schaffer’s riffs. His biggest achievement being that you tend to take his performance for granted. He simply knows how to add to the material instead of showboating within it.

In case you couldn’t tell by my long winded review, I easily recommend Incorruptible. It’s a pretty damn good album, sometimes even a brilliant one. Is it going to be remembered and heralded along with some of the band’s best material? Maybe, but probably not. There are definitely some “best of” worthy moments to be found on Incorruptible but unfortunately, the majority falls into the heard it before category from Iced Earth. Still though, that “heard it before” category is still a shit ton better than most other bands are able to muster after being in the game for as long as Schaffer/Iced Earth have.

That’s sort of the way that I feel about the latest record from Iced Earth. It’s like that old car – it’s comfortable and dependable, but I’d still love to have that little extra bit of horsepower that Tim Owens injected.

The Crucible of Man isn’t a bad record. In fact, in places it outshines the first part of the saga Framing Armageddon. Guitarist Jon Schaffer delivers a few more memorable riffs and melodies here than on that record, and it moves a bit quicker as it covers less ground. Returning vocalist Matt Barlow shows just a little more range and a few more dynamics than in past efforts and really shines at times. There’s certainly an effort made here to appease fans of the Owens years with a more aggressive vocal style in many places. On the other hand Barlow’s Paul Stanley voice comes out – a lot.

It doesn’t help Barlow either that the best tracks on the record seem to have been written with Owens’ voice in mind. The lilting, exotic verse of “Minions of the Watch” and the snarls and highs of “Crucify the King” are handled well by Barlow, but fans of Owens won’t be able to avoid imagining what might have been.

Admittedly, Barlow’s voice does give this record a little more connection with the original “Something Wicked” trilogy, but it also makes it a little difficult to judge the concept as a whole, particularly since you switch vocalists halfway through the second act. The Crucible of Man probably fares a bit better as a standalone work than Framing Armageddon simply because it’s the wrap-up of the story rather than the set-up, and as the tale hits its climax, so does the record with tunes like the aforementioned “Crucify the King” and “Divide and Devour.”

In the end, I’m left feeling much the same way about The Crucible of Man that I felt about Framing Armageddon. There are some very good moments, but, like Judas Priest’s Nostradamus earlier this year, it really doesn’t live up to the grandness of the concept. It’s an ambitious idea stretched just a little too far, scattering the really good songs like the human race running from the story’s Set Abominae. If you compare the two records with the three original songs they’re based on, those first three songs are by far the stronger work.

There are certainly some songs that showcase Barlow, primarily slower numbers like “Crown of the Fallen” and “Harbinger of Fate,” and he does at least sound like he’s into the music again, unlike Horror Show where he just seemed to be going through the motions. Still, I can’t put aside my own personal disappointment in the lineup change enough to really get into this record. I’m sure there are legions of fans out there who will love it simply because of Barlow’s return, but personally, I think I’ll just wait for their next record and go for a fresh start.

Those of you who have read my blog and talked to me on the forums won’t find any surprises in this review. It’s no secret that I loved Owens and how he sounded in Iced Earth. The return of Barlow aside, there’s a big difference between this teaser for the upcoming record and last year’s Overture of the Wicked, the teaser for Framing Armageddon. Overture of the Wicked got me really fired up. I loved the re-recordings of the original “Something Wicked” trilogy with Owens, who gave them a little more aggression. They were stripped down, sleek and heavier than the originals. Combined with “Ten Thousand Strong,” arguably the strongest track on Framing Armageddon, it made me want to get my hands on the record as soon as possible. Instead of that effect, I Walk Among You makes me almost dread the upcoming record, as I’m afraid it will be the first Iced Earth record that I truly detest.

 Let’s start with the title track. It seems that, if you’re looking to pump up interest in the new record, you’d choose one of the best songs on it to put out there on an EP. If that’s the case, Iced Earth fans are in trouble. “I Walk Alone” isn’t an awful song, but there’s nothing to recommend it either. It doesn’t have a great riff like, say, “Burning Times.” It doesn’t have a memorable chorus hook like “Ten Thousand Strong.” Basically, it doesn’t have anything. It’s a run-of-the-mill filler song for Iced Earth, and I don’t understand why you’d choose to showcase a piece like this.

After that, Jon Schaffer returns to his usual tricks of re-recording old songs with the new singer. Unlike the Owens re-recordings last year, which I thought were great reworkings of the original material (which I still love, as well), the re-recordings with Barlow border on unlistenable. “Setian Massacre” and “A Charge to Keep” are OK, but pale in comparison to the originals. “The Clouding” is vomit-inducing. I had to force myself to listen to the whole song for the first time for this review, and to be honest, I’ll probably never listen to it again. Barlow’s voice seems to drone rather than evoke any emotion, and the song is just dead and lifeless.

Though I discovered Iced Earth with Barlow at the helm, I make no secret of the fact that I’m an Owens fanboy, and I think Iced Earth sounded their best with him behind the mic. I know there are a lot of fans who disagree with me, and that’s fine. I’ll still check out the new record because I love the band, and I want it to be a great record. I can’t help but think, though, that I won’t be able to listen to it without thinking how much better it might have been with Owens.

Since the December return of Matt Barlow to the Iced Earth fold, fans and critics have speculated the ‘classic Iced Earth’ vocalist’s ability to bring back both the noise and the funk of previous releases, perhaps moreso one than the other. I, for one, freely welcomed Matt’s return, though I have a great amount of respect for Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens and his tenure over two albums and an EP; much as I enjoy the bejesus out of Glorious Burden, it is decidedly not quite as awesome as Horror Show or Dark Saga, perhaps because Burden lacked the visceral bite in Owens’ performance that had made Barlow the shining star in Iced Earth.

“Please, satiate our appetites, Jon Schaffer; let us hear but a shred of new material featuring the magical vocal chords of Matt Barlow that we might ejaculate our collective metal wads at your majesty.”

Jon Schaffer has probably never heard the above phrase, but I’m sure the demand for a new Matt track was fairly high (if not mandatory). Consequently, we are presented with three tracks (in physical copy, anyways…), two of which were featured in Framing Armageddon,  so without being waylaid by further jackassery, my review of the new track ‘I Walk Alone’ is a resounding “average.”

It’s not that Barlow sounds bad on the track. It’s just one of those songs in the Iced Earth catalogue that I don’t reckon will get a whole lot of playtime in the long run. It’s a pedestrian performance from a band that’s pretty good at wowing its target audience (lest we forget the inevitable comparing Iced Earth’s entire catalogue to Dante’s Inferno), featuring no truly dynamic highs and lows. Can’t say I can blame him for the lack of high notes – there’s really not a whole lot to play with riff-wise on this track – and it reflects in how the vocal parts were written.

The two rewrites, ‘Setian Massacre’ and ‘The Clouding’ are both well done, ‘Setian Massacre’ alone being worth the price of admission for this EP, but I can’t help but wonder what ‘A Charge to Keep’ (an iTunes exclusive track, thank you very much) sounds like with Barlow. Who does this kinda shit? I mean, I’m not against re-releasing or re-recording old material (‘Days of Purgatory’ is pretty awesome), but why make some of the tracks exclusive to one type of medium? I want a physical copy of my music so I can take in the whole of the work – artwork and lyrics included, the former admittedly being the reason I got into Iced Earth in the first place. Where’s the weight of an mp3?

Anyways, if you don’t mind having a copy of the album in either form, get the iTunes version since I’m sure ‘A Charge to Keep’ rules (but what would I know?). If you’re a stickler for the copy of the CD, you’re probably going to feel like me: like you’re getting gypped for not succumbing to the age of the computer, violently resistant technophobes that we are.

I’ll admit that my initial reaction to Framing Armageddon was a slight disappointment. It doesn’t have those big stand-alone songs that a record like Something Wicked This Way Comes or The Glorious Burden had. Sure, “Ten Thousand Strong,” “Order of the Rose” and some of the other songs can stand on their own, but this record is a different kind of beast. It took a few listens through for me to come around. This isn’t a record that can be carved into bite-sized pieces for mass consumption. It’s one that, to really appreciate, you have to listen to from beginning to end. Even the weaker moments on the record, like “Infiltrate and Assimilate,” add to the work as a whole.

Framing Armageddon is a rock opera in the truest sense of the phrase, meaning not only that it tells a musical story, but also that the sound of the work is, well, operatic. Many of the vocal harmonies and melodies on the song choruses owe more to musical theater than to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. It’s particularly true on songs like “When Stars Collide (Born is He)” and “A Charge to Keep,” with their choir-like choruses. The album covers a lot of ground from tribal percussion to plodding hard rock riffs to the 1970s-style organ on “The Domino Decree.” Though there are moments that don’t sound like Iced Earth, the basic feel of the band is there in the galloping riffing of songs like “Ten Thousand Strong.”

As with most things that Jon Schaffer does, there’s a great attention to detail and a show of respect for fans that have followed them. There are some nice Egyptian/middle eastern themes that run throughout the record, and fans will pick up on quite a few links to the past. Most appropriate are the melodic elements that recall songs from Something Wicked, particularly in the instrumental “Cataclysm.”

I continue to be impressed by the way that Tim Owens’ voice meshes with the music, and as much as I like the older records, I really think this is what the band was always meant to sound like. Here, Owens gets to stretch his vocals and be a little more expressive, from angry snarls to soaring, exultant high notes. Though the Halford-like screams are still there, on this record he finally manages to break away from his image as a clone of the legendary singer he replaced in Judas Priest and emerge as a dynamic vocalist in his own right.

In these days of disposable single-song downloads, it’s always refreshing when a band releases a record that demands to be taken as a whole. Framing Armageddon certainly does that. If you take the pieces apart, you lose the thread that makes the whole a great album. It’s easily one of the best releases of the year. So why am I reserving judgment? Because I haven’t heard the work as a whole yet. I look forward to hearing the second half, so that I can experience the story as it was meant to be heard.

If this EP is a taste of things to come, I can’t wait. The new song here from Framing Armageddon is “Ten Thousand Strong.” The song, to me, blends the sound of The Glorious Burden with just a little taste of some of the band’s earliest work. It’s got everything Iced Earth fans want, high speed galloping guitar riffs and a catchy as hell chorus.

The remainder of the album is a re-recording of the original trilogy, “Prophecy,” “Birth of the Wicked” and “The Coming Curse.” I had low expectations for this, thinking it would just be a new version of the songs with Tim Owens’ vocals in place of Matt Barlow’s. But the two versions are night and day. Of course, there aren’t any major melodic changes to the songs, but this version is by far heavier, meaner and nastier than the original. The synth ambience on “Birth of the Wicked” was left on the cutting room floor and the piano pieces of “The Coming Curse” are stripped away, and they’re most definitely not missed. The guitar has more bite and it’s more in your face than on the originals.

That brings us to Owens, whose vocals shred the original Barlow vocals. I sincerely hope Schaffer’s game of musical chairs is over and Owens is in the band to stay because, as much as I like the old records, he’s never had a vocalist that did justice to his songs this way. The way Ripper snarls the vocals of “The Coming Curse” makes you believe it’s actually the antichrist speaking in a way that Barlow’s voice never could.

I usually hate it when a band messes with songs that I know and love, but this is a very big exception to that rule. I’m pumped to hear the rest of the record now. The only bad thing about this EP is that I’ll have to wait four or five months to hear more.