Dark Genesis [Import]

Iced Earth | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 27, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 5
• Format: Import
• ASIN: B00005S3O3
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,506 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Enter the Realm [Instrumental]

2. Colors

3. Nightmares

4. Curse the Sky

See all 6 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Iced Earth

2. Written on the Walls

3. Colors

4. Curse the Sky

See all 8 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Angels Holocaust

2. Stormrider

3. The Path I Choose

4. Before the Vision

See all 9 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Burnt Offerings

2. Last December

3. Diary

4. Brainwashed

See all 8 tracks on this disc

Disc: 5

1. Burnin' for You

2. Cities on Flame With Rock & Roll

3. Highway to Hell

4. It's a Long Way to the Top

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Five CD set in a 32 page hardcover book sleeve. Contains the albums Iced Earth, Night Of The Stormrider and Burnt Offerings. CD four Tribute To The Gods features Iced Earth covering Kiss, Blue Oyster Cult, AC/DC, Alice Cooper and more. CD five features th

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have boxed set., March 6, 2002

By 

Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Genesis (Audio CD)

I strongly recommend this outstanding boxed set to Iced Earth fans new and old. The package is very affordable and offers a lot of material. There's five CDs, a detailed history of the band, outstanding artwork, and some cool pictures. Heck, the 32-page hardcover book is nice just to hold and look at.

The first disc is a reissue of the band's rare demo, Enter the Realm, which got them signed with Century Media Records back in 1990. (Only 1000 copies were originally created.) Hardcore fans will value this little treat. The songs are:

1. Enter the Realm
2. Colors
3. Nightmares
4. Curse the Sky
5. Solitude
6. Iced Earth

Also included are reissues of the band's first three studio albums, Iced Earth, Night of the Stormrider, and Burnt Offerings. Sounds great for a newer fan, but why would anyone else want these? Because not only has Jim Morris remastered them, but he's REMIXED them too. The improvement in sound quality is tremendous, far beyond what could have been done with a simple remaster job. I find the originals completely unlistenable now. Let me try and explain how good these albums now sound. The guitars on Iced Earth no longer buzz impotently...they crunch! And gone is that cheese-grater piccolo snare that drove me crazy. When the drummer hit the snare on Night of the Stormrider, it sounded like he was smacking a stack of paper. Now the drums hit with all the visceral power you expect from a metal record. Gone are those cheesy keyboard effects on "Pure Evil". Burnt Offerings benefits the most, however, and now it just might be my favorite album by these guys. The mix no longer suffocates the heavy guitars under exceedingly loud drums. Crystal clear riffs mean you can actually identify individual notes with no difficulty. Even the little touches add a great deal, like the new spooky echoes on the song "Burnt Offerings". To hear these albums has they deserve to be heard, Dark Genesis has your ticket!

Finally, something completely new...Iced Earth's Tribute to the Gods, a collection of cover songs recorded in Jon Schaffer's own studio. Schaffer picked some of his most important influences and honors them with this great collection. The songs are:

1. Creatures of the Night - KISS
2. Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
3. Highway to Hell - AC/DC
4. Burnin' For You - Blue Oyster Cult
5. God of Thunder - KISS
6. Screaming For Vengeance - Judas Priest
7. Dead Babies - Alice Cooper
8. Cities On Flame - Blue Oyster Cult
9. It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock n' Roll) - AC/DC
10. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
11. Hallowed Be Thy Name - Iron Maiden

Disappointingly, there is no Metallica cover! Schaffer talks about James Hetfield as an influence often. How cool would it be to hear Iced Earth tackle "Master of Puppets" or "Battery"? (Barlow would kick azz on both.) Oh well, heh. This is a completely fun album. The songs are very faithful to the originals, but since Matt Barlow is such an awesome vocalist, they seem better here. It's too cool hearing Barlow sing, "I'm burnin' I'm burnin' I'm burnin' for you." I can't help but smile listening to this disc, just because it sounds like the band is having lots of fun. The high point for me is Maiden's "Hallowed By Thy Name", which is an unquestionable metal classic. Hearing Barlow sing this song is an awesome experience. His voice is much deeper than Bruce Dickinson's and it really heightens the tension in the song's opening section. Cool take on BOC's "Cities on Flame" too.

And I guess that's all you need to know.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an essential package., February 18, 2002

By 

Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Genesis (Audio CD)

I strongly recommend this outstanding boxed set to Iced Earth fans new and old. The package is very affordable and offers a lot of material. There's five CDs, a detailed history of the band, outstanding artwork, and some cool pictures. Heck, the 32-page hardcover book is nice just to hold and look at.

The first disc is a reissue of the band's rare demo, Enter the Realm, which got them signed with Century Media Records back in 1990. (Only 1000 copies were originally created.) Hardcore fans will value this little treat. The songs are:

1. Enter the Realm
2. Colors
3. Nightmares
4. Curse the Sky
5. Solitude
6. Iced Earth

Also included are reissues of the band's first three studio albums, Iced Earth, Night of the Stormrider, and Burnt Offerings. Sounds great for a newer fan, but why would anyone else want these? Because not only has Jim Morris remastered them, but he's REMIXED them too. The improvement in sound quality is tremendous, far beyond what could have been done with a simple remaster job. I find the originals completely unlistenable now. Let me try and explain how good these albums now sound. The guitars on Iced Earth no longer buzz impotently...they crunch! And gone is that cheese-grater piccolo snare that drove me crazy. When the drummer hit the snare on Night of the Stormrider, it sounded like he was smacking a stack of paper. Now the drums hit with all the visceral power you expect from a metal record. Gone are those cheesy keyboard effects on "Pure Evil". Burnt Offerings benefits the most, however, and now it just might be my favorite album by these guys. The mix no longer suffocates the heavy guitars under exceedingly loud drums. Crystal clear riffs mean you can actually identify individual notes with no difficulty. Even the little touches add a great deal, like the new spooky echoes on the song "Burnt Offerings". To hear these albums has they deserve to be heard, Dark Genesis has your ticket!

Finally, something completely new...Iced Earth's Tribute to the Gods, a collection of cover songs recorded in Jon Schaffer's own studio. Schaffer picked some of his most important influences and honors them with this great collection. The songs are:

1. Creatures of the Night - KISS
2. Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
3. Highway to Hell - AC/DC
4. Burnin' For You - Blue Oyster Cult
5. God of Thunder - KISS
6. Screaming For Vengeance - Judas Priest
7. Dead Babies - Alice Cooper
8. Cities On Flame - Blue Oyster Cult
9. It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock n' Roll) - AC/DC
10. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
11. Hallowed Be Thy Name - Iron Maiden

Disappointingly, there is no Metallica cover! Schaffer talks about James Hetfield as an influence often. How cool would it be to hear Iced Earth tackle "Master of Puppets" or "Battery"? (Barlow would kick azz on both.) Oh well, heh. This is a completely fun album. The songs are very faithful to the originals, but since Matt Barlow is such an awesome vocalist, they seem better here. It's too cool hearing Barlow sing, "I'm burnin' I'm burnin' I'm burnin' for you." I can't help but smile listening to this disc, just because it sounds like the band is having lots of fun. The high point for me is Maiden's "Hallowed By Thy Name", which is an unquestionable metal classic. Hearing Barlow sing this song is an awesome experience. His voice is much deeper than Bruce Dickinson's and it really heightens the tension in the song's opening section. Awesome take on BOC's "Cities on Flame" too.

And I guess that's all you need to know.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh, for newbies too., April 2, 2002

By 

Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Genesis (Audio CD)

I've written a pretty detailed review for this boxed set already, and though I said it was good for new fans of the band, I didn't really describe the music in any helpful way. That review was more for the fans.

If you haven't heard Iced Earth before, you can get remastered and remixed editions of their first three albums in this box. Given the big leaps in popularity Iced Earth has picked up over the past few years, their earlier music may have gone unnoticed. For this reason, Dark Genesis is a helpful release.

When describing Iced Earth, I like the description: "Melodic power thrash." To me, they blend fiercely heavy, fast, and muscular riffs like early Metallica with the melodic qualities of Iron Maiden. Progressive touches are explored here and there. I'd go as far as to call them the best heavy metal band ever, for (a) songwriting talent and (b) beautifully heavy guitar tone. Iced Earth's heaviness is thick and chunky (again, like Metallica), but the tone is very, very, VERY good. Plus, Jon Schaffer is an outstanding rhythm guitarist, whose intricate, fiendishly fast right-hand picking is becoming legendary in heavy metal circles.

Now, a brief discussion the boxed sets musical contents:

ENTER THE REALM: This is the band's original demo. Most of the songs (except for "Nightmares") are found on Iced Earth's self-titled disc. It's more of a novelty item for the fans.

ICED EARTH: This is the band's debut. Warning, the vocals are awful. Gene Adam sounds like a cartoon character when he's trying to scream. It's actually pretty funny, but he's definitely the weak link. It's not too bad though, because the music is quite excellent. Some progressive song structures, melorable melodies, and classic riffs.

NIGHT OF THE STORMRIDER: The European crowd worships this album. For thrashy songs, this is a classic. Relentless chugging riffs, some progressive elements, and the new vocalist John Greely is a big improvement. The songs are GREAT, but the _one_ problem is that they all follow roughly the same structure -- verse, chorus, instrumental section, verse, chorus. But since the songwriting is intense and addictive, it's no big deal really. By the way, it's a concept about a warrior who goes crazy and gets possessed by dark forces, then winds up in Hell. That's always fun.

BURNT OFFERINGS: This is the band's most progressive release to date. It's also their darkest and bloodiest. The songs are mostly pretty long, with the apogee being the hellish 16-minute epic "Dante's Inferno". The songs all follow progressive structures, sometimes completely abandoning verse-chorus approaches. It also features the band's first ballad, "The Pierced Spirit", which is short and even ::gasp:: pretty! Perhaps most notable is the recruitment of vocalist Matt Barlow. It would be fitting that the best metal band have the best metal vocalist...I think that's the arrangement here. Matt Barlow is a vocal monster, capable of tremendous diversity, emotion, and fierceness. He's got great baritone pipes, a deadly growl, and an mind-shattering scream. (Not much screaming on this disc, however...more later in the career.)

TRIBUTE TO THE GODS: On this disc of cover songs, Iced Earth pays homage to some of their heroes, including Kiss, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, and Black Sabbath (you can check my other review for all the tracks).

There's also a detailed history of the band, a message from Jon Schaffer, a bunch of pictures, and amazing artwork. Enjoy!