The First ever release by this awesome Metal Band (I bet you can already tell I love this band).  This Album is packed with good songwriting and cool music.  The songs all stand out on their own.  Jon Shaffer shows his ability to do play good music.  My favorite songs are Iced Earth, Written on  The Walls, Colors, and When the Night Falls.  When The Night Falls is a good song but it doesn't become great until Matthew Barlow joins the band.  Even thought this album is easily surpass by their future releases it is still worth a listen.  The only downfall of this album is the vocalist, Gene Adams, he doesn't fit Iced Earth music good at all.  Especially once you here how good Matthew Barlow (Iced Earth Current Vocalist) is.  Still this is their first release and it is a very good one.   

          The second release of Iced Earth is a concept album.  The story is about a man who embraces the dark side of life and rejects god.  The songs streamed into each other and can only be appreciate when listening to the whole album.  The first two songs are freaking awesome!  It begins with Angels Holocaust which intro is amazing and then blends into Stormrider which is sure to please the thrash crowd.  Also Pure Evil and Travel in Stygian are good.  This album has more of a thrash metal feel to it. but has alot of melodic moments in it.  I enjoyed this album alot and it is always a good listen. Angel Holocaust / Stormrider is still frequently played in my CD player.  So Iced Earth second release is even better then their first.

          This is THE Iced Earth album. It is just a amazing and brilliant album. This showcases Iced Earth ability as a great metal band. Burnt Offering is Iced Earth in a very dark and heavy way. The music is heavier and the vocals are angrier. Matthew Barlow vocals are amazing in his debut showing with Iced Earth. Jon Schaffer (leader/founder of Iced Earth) guitar playing and lyrics are breath taking. The first song Burnt Offerings is awesome. The intro is brilliant and the whole song is a ride of metal greatness. This song has a spooky/evil intro with some death metal like vocals and after that it picks up to a amazing pace, which continues throughout the song. But Burnt Offerings is only the beginning of this amazing album of metal bliss. The next great song is Last December. The song is about two teenage lovers who parents will not let then be together so they decide to end it all. This song has melodic and aggressive moments in it.  The song, Last December, is packed full of emotion. Last December also has some cool flare ups of anger in it. Brainwashed is one of my favorite songs on the album. The song has a angry and awesome feel to it. The song theme is discussing the hypocrisy that takes place in the church. The chorus’s is especially good in this song. There are other songs through out the album and they are all good. The last song is a freaking epic beast of a metal song. It is called Dante’s Inferno, which is based on Dante’s Divine Comedy. This is a 16 minute plus epic song with amazing changes throughout. The song changes throughout out this adventure in music. One moment the song is heavy and angry. The next moment it can be soft and melodic. The emotions vary throughout the journey. After listening to this song you will wish there was more levels of Hell for Barlow to sing about and Schaffer to write about. If you want to get into Iced Earth... wait let me say that again. You NEED to get into Iced Earth.  This is what Metal is about. Great vocals and awesome guitars throughout this amazing album. This is Iced Earth in all their glory. Either Burnt Offerings or Something Wicked This Way Comes is their best album. All Metal fans need this album. I don’t care what you think you need, this album is a masterpiece in Metal. Brilliantly combining power, thrash, and heavy metal is what Iced Earth is about. So get out of your chair and go buy this album now

          Time to review another Iced Earth Album. This is their second album with Matthew Barlow at vocalist. He shows that he is one of the best metal vocalist ever once again. The Dark Saga is pack with songs about emotion. This is a concept album which is based on the Spawn comic book. I really never cared much for concept albums that much. This is Iced Earth weakest album but remember this is Iced Earth. Their worst material is better then most metal bands best work. Dark Saga and I Died For You are more of a depressing love song. Violate is sure to please the thrash metal crowd. The best songs are The Hunter, Venegence Is Mine, Slave To The Dark, and A Question of Heaven. A Question of Heaven is a beautiful song that has great vocals, emotions and a nice chorus. Iced Earth’s Dark Saga is a showcase of emotion and great vocals. It is nowhere near the best Iced Earth album but if you like Iced Earth you probably should get this album.

         Days of Purgatory was released to show new fans of Iced Earth their older music.  Also Matthew Barlow is doing the vocals to the old songs (Songs from the first two album which was before Barlow join the band).  The album is almost like a early Best of by Iced Earth.  All of the songs sound better with Barlow on vocals.  This is especially showcased on When The Night Falls.  Barlow is just amazing on this song and put the old version of it to shame.  Iced Earth fans this is a great album to buy it is packed with reworked versions of all your favorites.  For new fans this is a good starting point for you.  So like every other Iced Earth album I recommend this one to buy. 

          The last Iced Earth CD that has came out was a great one. You can truly tell how Iced Earth has evolved from their start on this CD. Every song on this CD is very good and most of them are great. None of the songs are fillers. The only thing bad I can said about this CD isn't it doesn't seem to have a epic song on it. Now don't get me wrong many of the songs on this CD are better then great. But this is Iced Earth we are talking about not some other Metal Band. Like I can think of classic songs from "Night of the Stormrider" and "Burnt Offerings". Of course the reason I might not notice any classics is because all of the songs are great. The CD starts out with a killer track called "Burning Times" which get you prepare for a adventure or pure Metal. "Watching Over Me" is a slower metal song but it has plenty of emotion packed into it. It was written by Schaffer about a friend of his that was killed in a motorcycle accident. "Stand Alone" is pretty much Iced Earth position on Music. They do their own thing and don't do what other people tell them to do. The CD ends out on a Super high note with the Something Wicked Trilogy. Which compose of three killer tracks, Prophecy, Birth of the Wicked, and The Coming Curse. The Coming Curse is probably my favorite track on the CD. It is pure Metal Bliss for sure. Matthew Barlow vocals especially shine on this song. This is another great Iced Earth CD and Metal CD. All Iced Earth fans probably already have this CD and all Metal things should get it. This is the kind of Metal people should be buying.

          WOW! This is a live CD. You might wonder why I am saying that. Well normally Live CD's aren't very good. This CD is ... Amazing. The crowd is very active and Matthew Barlow vocals are godlike. This is the Best Live CD I have ever heard. Some say Iron Maiden Live CD is the best but I think "Alive in Athens" blows it off the planet. The USA version of "Alive in Athens" is Two CD's. The European version is Three CD's. I own the USA version but I am hunting for the import so I can can get the third CD. If you are not familiar with Iced Earth I will give you a brief description. They are a combination of Heavy, Power, and Thrash Metal. It is like blending the best parts of Iron Maiden, Old Metallica, and Slayer together. One thing is their vocalist is the best Metal vocalist out there. Matthew Barlow has a very powerful voice that makes you listen to him. Also Jon Schaffer the leader of the band writes excellent lyrics and is awesome at the rhythm guitar. The only gripe about this album is they didn't play Burnt Offerings. This CD is a must have for Iced Earth fans. If you don't have it you are missing something great. This would be a excellent to start with if you hadn't heard any of Iced Earth stuff. I also would recommend this CD to any Metal fan.  Buy this CD!!!!! If you consider yourself a Metal fan .. run to your local music store now and get it. I am serious this is the Best Live CD I have ever heard and I recommend this CD to anyone.

          This is one of those rare albums that comes out ever once in awhile. It is a very unique album. First off because it is a side project by two bands combine. Jon Schaffer from Iced Earth and Hansi Kursch from Blind Guardian. Jon played the guitar and Hansi did the vocals. This brings the intensity of Iced Earth and adds it to the epic vocals of Blind Guardian. If you like either of these two bands then you should get this CD. These isn't your regular kind of metal. This is Power Metal at it best. Normally side projects aren't very good because they are rushed. This one isn't like that because it is very good. Iced Earth and Blind Guardian combined to make something very unique. Even though sometimes they sound more like one band then the other. In the end they created a new band with a sound of their very own. The lyrics and chorus lines are very well done. The music goes at a good pace that sets the tone for the vocals. Some good songs on it are Gallows Pole, Last Sunrise, Poor Man Crusade, Fiddler on the Green, and Heaven Denies. My favorite song is "Fiddler on the Green", it is a song that I will always enjoy listening too. It is also the song that the cover is based on. This is a great Metal CD that should be praised for the efforts of these two bands that combined to make one.  If you like the intense guitars of Iced Earth and the amazing vocals of Blind Guardian. Then this CD will be grand for you. Even though this CD was a side project the lyrics aren't rushed. They are very well done and organize in a skilled way. Demons & Wizards is one of the best Metal albums of 2000.