Customer Reviews

Burnt Offerings

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I think it's no coincidence that this album came out on the tenth anniversary of that legendary Slayer album. It's has that same dark, hellish feel. But, as great as that album might be, this is a far superior masterpiece. Let me start off by saying that this album is a bit different from other Iced Earth albums. It's a bit darker and more experimental. You may have heard that this album is a bit death metal-ish, and if that turned you off because you thought it would sound like Cannibal Corpse or something, let me tell you right now that it does not. There are some blast beats, and more hard-edged vocals, but this is undeniably Iced Earth. Most of the songs are pretty long, at least five minutes, and are very well structured, and every song has a pretty good amount of melody in it. There is some really awesome songwriting in here, too. The Romeo and Juliet type story "Last December" is really cool, and "Brainwashed" has some great commentary on religion. But, the real brilliance of the album lies in the final track, "Dante's Inferno". There is truely nothing more incredible than this song. The Crazy Trains, the Masters of Puppets, the Angels of Death, all brilliant songs, but they pale in comparison to this. Imagine if you took all the best material from Metallica, Slayer, and Iron Maiden, and combined it into one song. This is what it would sound like. "Dante's Inferno" is a 16 and a half minute ride through the nine plains of Hell, with layers upon layers of brilliant musicianship, and staggeringly incredible vocalization. If you hadn't figured out by now that Matt Barlow would go on to be their classic vocalist, this confirms it. And, as if the recording wasn't incredibe enough, it is even better live, as is evident on "Alive in Athens". Listening to the recording, it's hard to believe that any improvements could be made, but Matt adds a bit more aggression on a couple of parts, like when he says "all the sinners cry" and "queen of vipers, queen of serpents, cast their souls to stone", and I think it sounds better that way. Even if the rest of the album had nothing to offer, "Dante's Inferno" could easily carry it by itself. That song alone crushes the entire careers of all those trendy nu-metal bands out there. But, the fact that all of the other songs on here are great only adds to the sheer brilliance. It may not be as accessible as other Iced Earth releases, but I think that with time, any true fan of the band could appreciate it. Every fan of thrash, death, or power metal should buy this album. Come, and feel its dark power!

Burnt Offerings opens to a new chapter in the band's career. It is vocalist Matt Barlow's first album of many. Jon Schaffer's songwriting expands to undertake more experimental directions. The band's already dark music sinks into deeper tones of malaise and gloom. Lots of anger and scorn; lots harsh vocals, some pseudo-death metal riffing, and plenty of keyboards for texture. Although this was one of my first Iced Earth albums, I haven't reviewed it for a long time because it takes a while to truly appreciate. It's different, but stunning in its own right. (see also the_wickerman's great review for this disc.)

The lead track, "Burnt Offerings," succinctly captures all of the album's qualities in a 7-minute song. It reveals that Barlow is the perfect vocalist for the band, equipped with astonishing range and expression. John Greely, the former vocalist, was pretty good...he could wail and snarl. Barlow, however, can do these things better, and throws skill, power, and passion into the delivery. During the chorus he skillfully toggles between gruff, fierce intonations and a deep bellow. In the quiet interlude, he sings like a dreary specter. The surrounding music meshes raucous thrash riffs, pounding beats, melodic guitar harmonies, delicate but brief pianos, and ominous lyrics. Quite simply, it's a brilliant song.

The dolorous "Last December" is not-quite-a-power-ballad, starting soft then thrusting into heavy riffing, all very dark in tone. "Brainwashed" is savage, murderous riffing with a lyrical message that condemns the hypocrisy that sometimes characterizes organized religion. "Burning Oasis," aside from having a mega cool song name, is seriously heavy music that comes fast & thick. "The Pierced Spirit" is unusual territory for Iced Earth. Very soft and melodic (and short, just two minutes), it sets emotional vocals over the interplay of piano and guitar. Unlike most of Iced Earth's slower songs, this one has no heavy part at all.

The culmination of the album, and Iced Earth's career (up to this point), comes with the 16-minute epic "Dante's Inferno." Surely one of the greatest metal songs ever written, it is a gothic masterpiece that carries the listener on a journey through the nine layers of Hell. I remember trying to read "The Divine Comedy" (the book on which this song is based) a few years ago and found the archaic prose quite torturous. Thanks to Iced Earth, Hell is fun. "Dante's Inferno" shows Schaffer demonstrating incredible restraint. Instead of blasting through the entire thing with onslaughts of crushing riff after riff, only a few parts of this song really rock. Much of it focuses on spooky guitar atmospherics, demonic vocals, lush keyboards, and resplendent lyrical imagery. Yet it is in no way boring. And Matt Barlow...are all these voices but one man? This song is the ultimate showcase for the gamut of Barlow's vocal power. I'm sure he adopts no fewer than ten voices on this song. Incredible. Like "The Divine Comedy," Schaffer describes Hell with horrid, sometimes revolting phrasing. The descriptions are often quite evocative with frightening imagery that gives me chills.

While this is probably not the best starting place for potential Iced Earth fans (try The Dark Saga or Something Wicked This Way Comes), the experimental, dismal songwriting makes Burnt Offerings a unique and essential part of the catalogue. The band will probably never do anything quite like this again.

Burnt Offerings(1995). Iced Earth's third studio album and the first with legendary metal vocalist Matt Barlow.

In the early 90s, true heavy metal music was falling to the wayside in favor of the alternative grunge rock scene. Though heavy metal became an underground phenomenon once again with newer genres such as doom, death, black, progressive, and power metal, one band picked up the banner and continued on in the scorching thrash stylings of Metallica and melodic songwriting style of Iron Maiden. This band was known to be Iced Earth. Expert rhythm guitar god Jon Schaffer founded the band in the 80s and had a vision much like Steve Harris did for Iron Maiden: to carve a place in heavy metal history with his newfound band. They started off in the early 90s with two great albums: Iced Earth(1990) and Night Of The Stormrider(1992). Each album showed the band following their heroes Metallica and Iron Maiden fairly closely in style, and both featured different vocalists. The first was Gene Adams, who simply couldn't do the rest of the band justice with his cheezy, immature wailings. The next vocalist, Jon Greely, served much better, but due to his inability to cooperate with the rest of the band, he was dismissed after NOTSR. IE managed to achieve success, but thanks to their record label Century Media, they began a huge money dispute which sent the band into a bitter angry era which would greatly influence the sound of the next album they would release in a few years...

Out of nowhere, Schaffer finds vocalist Matt Barlow, and in 1995 they unleashed Burnt Offerings, the band's darkest and heaviest release to date. In many ways, one could say that BO was considered to be the first real IE album. Beforehand, the band was adopting their influences' styles, but now the band managed to make IE its own identity. They are more focused on delivering melodically memorable sound and songstructures in addition to the old-school thrash stylings. Upon listening to this, you can tell that BO reflected the dark times of the band. This album is to IE what Painkiller was to Judas Priest: a heavier than normal release which was fueled by traumatic events. Schaffer even states that this album brings back such horrible times for him that it's considered his least favorite IE album. Ironically though, a large percentage of IE's fanbase consider BO to actually be the best album. As a big fan now, I can certainly see why. The songs tend to employ fairly progressive songstructures with numerous time changes and creative songwriting. It's one of my favorites as well. Schaffer's riffing is at its most talented here too due to the speed played at and the heavier guitar tones used. Barlow immediately showed a GREAT improvement for IE, giving off a convincingly talented vocal performance. In addition to the melodic singing, fierce growling, and Halford-esque screaming, Barlow adds much-needed passion and emotion to the music, which the two other vocalists tended to lack. He served as a great heavy metal vocalist, and he was easy to work with in the band, so he stayed as IE's official singer for many years. To date, he is considered IE's finest vocalist, and I would have to agree. Lead guitarist Randy Shawver is back again and still delivers some amazing solos.

The album starts off calmly in the title track much like Metallica's Master Of Puppets, but then suddenly EXPLODES into a frenzy of fast and heavy guitar riffing. This title track is definitely the most memorable and one of my all-time favorite IE tracks, so it shames me to find out that it never showed up in the live performances. An underrated masterpiece which grabs your attention. Next is the midpaced and melodic heavy hitters 'Last December' and 'Diary', both of which are equally excellent. The heavy metal assault continues with 'Brainwashed' and 'Burning Oasis'. These tracks don't stick out in my mind as much as the first three, but there are some shining moments found between the two. The slow paced 'Creator Failure' deserves a mention because of the guest female vocals and the part where Barlow manages to perform perfect Halford-style vocals. 'The Pierced Spirit' is just a short accoustic interlude much like the interludes found in the previous album. It makes for a good break from the rest of the album's pace, but it is easily eclipsed by the mega-monster epic that immediately follows it. Schaffer's creative songwriting culminates to its fullest in the massive 16-minute juggernaut 'Dante's Inferno'. This track takes the listener all over the place, continuously displaying the band performing at their all-time best. It also includes an orchestra during several sections. The intro starts out accoustically the same as the track 'Reaching The End' on the previous album, but then erupts into an otherworldly thrash rocker which never fails to please. Considered to be IE's magnum opus, the band would not top 'Dante's Inferno' for many years until the 20-minute 'Something Wicked Trilogy' and the 32-minute 'Gettysburg' epics were made, both found in later albums.

In the end, BO stands tall as one of IE's crowning achievements, and it certainly holds the title as IE's most angriest, energetic, and progressive album to date. Even if the album didn't fare well, it proved that IE was a force to be reckoned with in the world of heavy metal. Five stars overall. The production here was much better than the first two albums, though it still wasn't quite on top. Plus, the original album is out of print and very difficult to find, so if you get any version of BO, make it the newly remastered version with improved sound quality and album artwork. Though the other two remastered albums sound great, BO has the best sound, enabling for perfect production to one of heavy metal's finest releases of the 90s. Even though BO is an outstanding album, it may not be the best place for a new fan to start, so go with NOTSR, Something Wicked This Way Comes(1998), or the new release The Glorius Burden(2004) before picking this album up. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO ANY FAN OF GOOD HEAVY METAL.

Other albums which sound like Burnt Offerings:
-'Something Wicked This Way Comes' by Iced Earth
-'Painkiller' by Judas Priest
-'Master Of Puppets' by Metallica
-'Reign In Blood' by Slayer
-'Powerslave' by Iron Maiden

...like he f*cking owns the place and proceeds to make the metal world forget about Iced Earth's previous singers and their efforts (as least for a few years anyway)... but that's not a bad thing at all... Matthew Barlow immediately became Iced Earth's "Bruce Dickinson"... the band's sound is now solidified!!

The album opens with the haunting title track and leaves you thinking, "....WOW! Why the hell aren't these guys famous!?!?" once Dante's Inferno ends... personally I think Iced Earth's position in the music industry is perfect... those who know about them love them and those who first find out about them freak out because they didn't know music like this (still) existed... this is the way heavy metal was meant to be played. (no MTV Crapioca Pudding here, my friends) They are one of the most beloved bands in the underground today and one of the industry's better kept secrets. Like every other IE album... five stars!

Who opened the gates of Hell and let this album out???

ICED EARTH, that's who. Take it from me, this is not for the weak at heart. But for the those who can take it(Die-hard fans, please rise) here is my review.

1.Burnt Offerings-We start with an Exorcist-like musical intro, the song borrowing an excerpt from the movie "Bram Stoker's Dracula": "I WAS BETRAYED, LOOK WHAT YOUR GOD HAS DONE TO ME!" And then, BOOM! Dark, heavy riffs, played in symphonic rhythmn, until midway through the song where an evil tone is presented, with bass and harpsichord, then back to fast paced action. Vintage Iced Earth.
2.Last December-This song is rather short compared to the other songs.(not including "The Pierced Spirit")I like the intro to this song; it's cold and remorseless, yet somewhat mellow. The song deals with the suicide of a young man and his girlfriend, and the misunderstanding of their parents not wanting them together. Pretty much mid-tempo throughout the song. Did'nt like it before, but it grew on me.
3.Diary-My favorite song on this album next to Dante's Inferno. Probably the catchiest song, too. I always thought this was about Dracula, and his search for a perfect companion. Ranges from fast to mid-tempo to slow to fast again, just like much of the other songs on here.
4.Brainwashed-Lyrics on this song are pretty contraversial. They deal with blasphemy, and so forth. Barlow sounds pretty angry on here. My least favorite song on the album.
5.Burning Oasis-Love the intro on here, and the Halford-like wails are what you'll remember on it. The song deals with Adam and Eve and the burning of Eden. Love the drumming at the end of this song.
6.Creator Failure-Schaffer sounds particularly good on here, his riffs are extra brutal. Pretty much similar to "Burning Oasis". Again more high-pitched wailing at the end.
7.The Pierced Spirit-Very short and very sorrowful. The piano and acoustic guitar work well together. The song has a cold "barren land" feel to it. Sets the tone for what's about to come next.
8.Dante's Inferno-Their most technically sound mini-epic, and for good reason, this is a work of art, from beginning to end; you have to hear it to understand. A quest through the 9 plains of Hell.

Their darkest album, and in my opinion, their best. 5stars!

THANK YOU JON FROM ICED EARTH FOR FINDING MATT BARLOW!
This is one of Iced Earth's best-as they all are!-and what I find amazing is, that in interviews Jon states that he thinks this was the worst album they ever did, if he had to pick one?! In sales they say it sold less also, which really freaks me out to no end. Apparently, there were many things going on with the band at the time that affected the writing, or at least Jon thinks it did, I think the songs are trademark-killer Iced Earth with a vengeance. If you have the bonus interview disc that came with limited pressings of Horror Show, you know all I'm talking about: they were having problems with the record company and changing singers. On that last part, I thank the power metal God for allowing Matt Barlow to be found and led to Iced Earth! This guy is Bruce Dickinson/Rob Halford and beyond that in his vocals! Every song is essential Earth material on this, especially the fan favorite, Dante's Inferno: Maiden had Rime of The Ancient Mariner, and Iced Earth has Inferno! This song is an epic that sounds like a half-hour of intensity, but is actually under 17 minutes. Incredible. From the harrowing artwork to the introduction to Matt barlow on vocals, to the guitar shredding and drum blastings of Iced Earth, the question isn't should I buy this; it's why haven't I bought it yet?! ********** 10 STAR RATING FROM SCRAGGY'S TOMB! Cheers.

Before I was exposed to Iced Earth, I had always thought Metallica were the best band from America. I was in for quite a surprise, nontheless, at how Iced Earth wrote amazing dark music with riffs and style comparable to the old Metallica of the 80s. With the album, Burnt Offerings, originally released in 1995, Iced Earth became my favorite American metal band....hands down!! This was also lead vocalist Matthew Barlow's first of many albums that Iced Earth would soon release. This is due to the fact that founder and guitarist John Schaffer had finally found the perfect frontman to take care of the vocal duties.

Burnt Offerings starts out with a creepy intro that leads right into hellish riffs and amazing vocals by Barlow. The title track is a long and complex song, but it is great to get familiarized with Barlow's different vocal talents. 'Last December' is a great rocker but fairly short compared to the other songs. Diary is slower paced, but very intense...I love Barlow's wails throughout this song. The highlight of the album is the last track, titled 'Dante's Inferno.' This is a 16 minute journey through the nine circles, (or plains) of Hell. This song actually made we want to pick up a copy of 'The Inferno' by Dante Alighieri. The book is really good, and i love the fact that when I read the line 'Abandon all hope, ye who enters here..' I started banging my head to the song! Schaffer took a lot of the lyrics straight out of this allegory by Dante.

Overall, this album is Iced Earth's darkest. It may not be their heaviest, but it is quite intense. There are a lot of hellish themes that encompass this release and the artwork really fits the album cover. (I have the re-release of this album..not the cover you see on amazon.com) The re-release by Century Media has very clear production, and Barlow re-recorded some vocals on the songs. It is really awesome! If you are looking for an album that has the heavyness of old Metallica and the styles similar to Iron Maiden with intense death metal-like blastbeats, mixed in with more of an 80s heavy metal, than this album is a great one to start with for newcomers to Iced Earth. This was my first album I heard, and I have gotten most of their catalogue! This album is highly recommended! I put it right up there with Metallica's Master of Puppets! Iced Earth should be a lot more popular than Metallica.

I adore Iced Earth.

I also adore all their albums.
This is one of their best.

The riffs and energy of this album are insane. They will have you overwhelmingly convinced that there is still a band out there making albums approaching the likes of 'Rust in Peace' and 'Ride the Lightning'
That's right, THIS album ranks up there with the best of the BEST.

NOTE
If you are a beginner to Iced Earth and you are a verteran of bands such as Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica (in their better days), I would certainly recommed Burnt Offerings for your next purchase without a doubt because the tracks are longer, more epic sounding and very thrashy. You'll be amazed.
HOWEVER, if you have come from listening to bands like Iron Maiden (!!!) , Judas Priest and Blind Guardian, I would recommend you buy Something Wicked This Way Comes first, since the tracks are mostly shorter, catchier and the singing is better (in my opinion)

So if its right for you, buy this album without delay.

"Burnt Offerings" and "Dante's Inferno" are simply outstanding, eternal tracks of greatness. Its amazing to find them both on the same album. The only thing I can compare it to the presence of both 'Disposable Heroes' and the title-track from Master of Puppets.

When I got this album I couldn't believe Matt Barlow was the singer. I had heard earlier albums and I knew what kind of pounding thrash-style Metal to expect. I had also heard more recent albums and thought I knew what Matt's range was. It's amazing to see how Burnt Offerings blends together the Thrash and Power Metal periods of Iced Earth. I love this album, Burnt Offerings is a great song, Dante's Inferno is a great song, and in between those two are a lot more great songs. Some people say this album is depressing but it is Iced Earth, name one song besides "Watching Over Me" that ISN'T depressing.

Burnt Offerings is my 3rd Iced Earth album, with the other 2 I own being The Dark Saga and Something Wicked This Way Comes, and though this isn't the best of them, it is still very good and distinctive, and certainly worth owning. This cd is in many ways their most Metallica-esque one, as it features longer, more complex song structures and has more fast, thrash guitar riffs. However, at the same time it manages to amplify their traits that are different from Metallica, which are presumably inherited from their primary influences Iron Maiden and the like, which are high drama, emphasis on mood and texture and somewhat distant, gothic-ish story-telling. All this comes together to be very distinctive and fairly dark, though not nearly as much as others seem to think.

The individual performances are generally quite good. The drummer, who's name I can't think of, is not to flashy, but he provides a good base, and uses plenty of double-kick drum, like his slightly better replacement, Mark Prator. Abell's bass suffers the fate of most traditional metal bands basses, which is that it is essentially completely overwhelmed by the guitars, but what you can hear is pretty good. Shawver's lead guitar is somewhat mixed. His traditional solos are pure vanilla, but when he is being more ominous and unconventional he is pretty interesting. Of course, the focuses of all metal albums are the rhythm guitars and vocals, both of which are very good on this. Schaffer's riffs kick [rear], with most of them very fast and heavy and hard, with a lot of technicality in them and a good variety of them. Barlow's vocals always have a very wide range, which is even greater in this one, with genuine singing, distorted falsetto squealing and some more aggressive barking. Occasionally his vocals are overly dramatic, particularly when the songs are trying to be ominous, but this isn't too much of a problem, and is the only real notable flaw on this, or any of their albums that I have heard. Lyrically the album is a bit weird, with bizzarely gothic and supernatural feel, with it's discussions of hell, vampires, sacrifices and monsters. Some might think these subjects a bit silly, and in truth it is, but they do it all well, somehow.

But anyway, all that really matter are the individual songs, and these are of course generally very good. 6 of the 8 would be considered progressive, thrashy epics. Though they generally aren't that long, an average of 6 minutes, excluding the 16 1/2 minute closer, Dante's Inferno, they all manage stray far from conventional song structures, and all contain numerous riff and tempo changes, and usually some softer, more moody sections. Thus it took a bit longer to get into than their other stuff, but it is definitely worth the repeated listens to take it all in They also manage not to retread the same unconventional structure over and over, as Metallica sometimes did. It's got a good variety, with the first half being the faster more intense music, and the second half being slower and more dramatic, occasionally almost operatic. The only notable weak spot is one of the 2 short, simple tracks, The Pierced Spirit, and it isn't too bad and only takes up 2 of the albums 52 minutes anyway. The standout tracks are Burnt Offerings, Diary and Brainwashed, with Burnt Offerings being likely the single best one on the album. The closer, Dante's Inferno is also of particular interest, primarily due to it's extreme length. It's very cool, though not as good as most of the others seem to think, and suffers from some parts that try too hard to be scary.
So, in short, go buy this cd now, cause it's really good, unless you don't own The Dark Saga, which is better, and provides a better introduction to the band.