Website: Http://www.icedearth.com
Music: Heavy Metal
Duration: 77 Minutes and 89 Seconds
Cool Songs: Declaration Day, When The Eagle Cries (Unplugged Version)
Iced Earth has once again returned, to the metal world with the release of The Glorious Burden. However there are some distinct differences between the latest album and the others that came before it the main difference being lyrically. Before The Glorious Burden all previous Iced Earth albums lyrics were based on or around dark fantasy and similar themes. Where as this latest efforts lyrics are based on historically accurate events. To some this move away from previous writing styles may come as a surprise, but to the true fans that follow the band more closely then others it does not. It has been well known for many years that lead guitarist John Schaeffer is a total history buff to the point of owning his own history related store. The next big difference on this album is the lack of Matt Barlow at the vocal helm, instead in his place is former Judas Priest lead signer Tim Ripper Owens.
The Glorious Burden starts off with a guitar-ridden rendition of the national anthem, and then moves into the drum heavy track entitled Declaration Day. This song has a wonderful mix of Johns guitars and Rippers out of this world vocal range. The next track that really stood out to me is When The Eagles Cry, again as with Declaration Day you get bombarded with Rippers vocals as they go from low to high throughout the entire duration of the song. When The Eagles Cry will pound your senses with the beauty of its lyrics along side the guitars and drums that range from high to low along with Tims vocal performance. But with the good comes the bad, although I tried my best not find anything wrong on The Glorious Burden there was one thing that kept showing itself and that is the repetitive rift work on some of the tracks. Now not every rift on the CD was the same but there was enough to make it an annoyance. Now if youre lucky enough to get your hands the limited edition of The Glorious Burden you will notice the second disk entitled Gettysburg. Iced Earth has really out done themselves on this bonus CD, its 31 minutes of pulse pounding music by recreating key moments throughout the battle of Gettysburg. By recreating these moments you really get to feel the full aspect of emotions that the soldiers must have been going through at the time.
There are not enough words in the English language to describe how much I enjoyed listing to The Glorious Burden its music is just simply breath taking. With out a doubt this is going to be one of the best metal albums of 2004, and is most definitely something that every metal fan should have in his or her collection.
note: 8.5 / 10
Tracklist
CD #1
01. The Star-Spangled Banner
02. Declaration Day
03. When The Eagle Cries
04. The Reckoning (Don't Tread On Me)
05. Greenface
06. Attila
07. Red Baron / Blue Max
08. Hollow Man
09. Valley Forge
10. Waterloo
11. When The Eagle Cries (Unplugged)
CD #2 – Gettysburg 1863
01. The Devil To Pay
02. Hold At All Costs
03. High Water Mark
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