Customer Reviews

Dark Genesis

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

I've only been a fan of ICed Earth for a month, but I can say that they are certainly the best heavy metal band out there(Metallica has gone down in my eyes since they went mainstream).
The combination of heavy emotion and melodius rythm culminate in one of the greatest heavy metal efforts to date.

The boxed set Dark Genesis is a great buy for both old school fans and newbies like myself. The original three cds are remastered with technology the band couldn't afford to use when these albums were first released. The release of "Enter the Realm" gives fans the chance to hold on to history, the demo that started it all. Finally Tribute to the Gods opens the fans eyes to the fact that Iced Earth is a fan of its own genre, presenting to the world what the members of Iced Earth is great music and pays homage to some of th ebest bands to play(KISS, ACDC, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden.)

This set is a must have for true heavy metal fans!!

Since you're checking out the listing for the out of print, and fairly expensive Dark Genesis box set, I'll assume you're already familiar with Iced Earth, and are wondering whether this set is worth buying.

Well, here's what the box set has to offer:

Disc 1 - The ultra-rare Enter the Realm demos, remastered. This is the earliest recorded Iced Earth material, and unless you grabbed one of the initial 1,000 copies, the Dark Genesis box set is your only chance to hear them.

Disc 2 - Iced Earth's self-titled debut album, remastered. Sure the vocals are a bit weak, but this is still an important milestone in the band's history. The remastered sound is a big help.

Disc 3 - Night of the Stormrider, remastered. Still no Matt Barlow, but many Iced Earth fans call this one a favorite. It definitely helped the band get some much needed exposure.

Disc 4 - Burnt Offerings, remastered. Enter Matt Barlow. This album gets trashed a bit, but I consider it one of the band's best. Matt Barlow's distinctive voice adds so much power and intensity to the band that everyone else comes off as inferior. Plus, the epic track Dante's Inferno flat out rules.

Disc 5 - Tribute to the Gods. Sure you can buy this one everywhere now, but for a while, the only way to get it was to buy this box set. This set of covers pays tribute to KISS, AC/DC, Blue Oyster Cult, Iron Maiden, and others, and is the last Iced Earth album to feature Matt Barlow on vocals.

The box set also comes with a detailed booklet that covers the bands history. The book is written from a total fanboy perspective, so if you're looking for anything other than absolute Iced Earth/Jon Schaffer worship, you may want to skip it. If you're in the "Jon Schaffer is God" camp, it will no doubt reaffirm your beliefs. If you think he's something of an egomaniac, it will verify that opinion as well.

At the time it was released, Dark Genesis was the only way to get remastered Iced Earth albums, the only way to get Enter the Realm, and the only way to get Tribute to the Gods. As such, it was a must-have for all serious Iced Earth fans. Since you can get all but the Enter the Realm disc elsewhere now, Dark Genesis is only for the most die-hard Iced Earth fans.

I was casually cruising Iced Earth's website one day when I stumbled across a mention of the Dark Genesis Box Set. Inexplicably, neither it, nor Tribute to the Gods is featured on their discography page. So I scramble to find a copy and was pleased that it was not sold out.

I was even more pleased when it arrived. The artwork, as in Something Wicked..., is alone worth money, but it really shines in the cd player. I already had Burnt Offerings, but I was surprised at the improvement in quality, particularly in the title song. Now, more than ever, it is one of their best works.

I had never heard any of the other albums before. Initially, I was turned off by Gene Adam's vocals, but if you listen to it a few times, you can see, or hear, past the screachy voice and focus on the amazing guitar work that makes Iced Earth what it is. Now, I actually sometimes prefer some of the original songs (namely When the Night Falls) to the remakes in Days of Purgatory. Also, I have since heard the original release of Iced Earth, and it just doesnt compare.

Stormrider is very cool, and the vocals were a welcome relief from Gene Adams, though, they are definately not on par with Barlow.

Enter the Realm is, for me, more of a novelty item than anything, though it does include "Enter the Realm" and "Nightmares" which I had not heard before, and, I think, a better version of "Colors" than the Iced Earth release.

Tribute to the Gods is very cool. I think Matt Barlow sings AC/DC songs better than AC/DC themselves. I'm not wild about Kiss, but I cant say their songs sound bad here. And the cover of Hallowed Be Thy Name is absolutely increadible. I am now looking to get some Iron Maiden who, for some reason, I had ignored to this point. I was surprized to see that there were no Metallica covers on the cd. I can only imagine what Fade To Black or Unforgiven would sound like performed by Iced Earth. But even without Metallica, the cd is great.

Overall, this set is definately worth the money. Its a better value than buying them individually, and the remixes are, without a doubt, better than the originals. And I think there are a limited number, so get it now, and share the word of Iced Earth with the world!

The reason I say this is that, unlike most boxed sets, the songs on this have been totally remastered and reworked. So even if you already have all the albums that are on here you should buy this so you can see the differences, some of which are good, some not so good. I'll go down and give an album by album review.

Enter the Realm-I didn't think I would like this but I actually enjoyed listening to it. I like the song 'nightmares' although I have no idea what the singer is saying at one point during the song. I think the lyrics as written in the album liner are "I am the god of fear" but it sounds like he's saying "Me, me, the goblin beer" or something like that.

Iced Earth-This album sounds better than the original but the singer is still awful, though in a good way. No amount of remixing is going to fix that.

Night of the stormrider-My favorite Iced Earth album redone. I like the new intro to 'angels holocaust' but the remixed stormrider is not too high on my list. The echo effect is unintentionally hilarious. "Fight on, grab on, stormrider, stormrider...rider! That last 'rider' always cracks me up.
I like the version of 'pure evil'. They eliminated the goofy robotic voice at the end of the song and made it sound more natural.

Burnt Offerings-This album is probably the most improved of the three. The echo effects in the title track actually improve the song(at least to me) and the mixing seems to have given the album more balance. I also like the double bass at the end of 'Dante's inferno'.

Tribute to the gods-A good tribute album. I particularly enjoyed their rendition of 'dead babies' one of my favorite Alice Cooper songs. 'Creatures of the night' and 'hallowed be thy name' are pretty good too.

Another cool thing about this album is the artwork which is very flashy and grand(Though the artwork for Burnt Offerings seems a bit cheesy and cliche)It looks like something from a comic book or graphic novel. At any rate if you like Iced earth or even just like metal you should buy this set.

This boxed set kicks...that's all I can really say. Here's the scoop. It's Iced Earth's "Enter the Realm" demo tape, their first three albums completely remastered, and a CD of cover songs called "Tribute to the Gods." All I have to say is that everything is excellent. The demo tape is a nice addition, but is hard to listen to because the sound quality is so bad. But their first three albums sound completely different from their original releases, particularly Burnt Offerings and Iced Earth. Both sound so musch more thick and layered and hauntingly beautiful than in their original releases. And then there's the band's biography written in the book, which is also nice to have. All in all, this is a can't miss boxed set to own. It has everything that is necessary from Iced Earth and more. Iced Earth may be the one band that saves metal from the likes of Drowning Pool, Slipknot, and that kind of crap. A must-have for fans of heavy metal.

Iced Earth is one of THE dominant forces in metal. That is an irrefutable fact. This box set compiles the harder to find releases with the dynamite re-release of the horribly rare Enter The Realm demo. Every track on these albums is pure dynamite. Not a bum track or record in the bunch. If you ever have the chance to buy this, by all means, go for it.

This is the absolute must for not just Iced Earth completists, but for any and all aspiring fans. Now one might flinch at the price on this baby, but it's worth it for the Iced Earth completist. Three remasters (of 1991's ICED EARTH, 1992's NIGHT OF THE STORMRIDER, and 1995's BURNT OFFERINGS), a tribute album (TRIBUTE TO THE GODS), and a remastered copy of the legendary (and extremely hard-to-find) demo, ENTER THE REALM, all available to the public in this great boxed set!

ICED EARTH - WOW! The sound quality is so much better! The guitar crunches come ALIVE! Unfortunately, when this one was remixed, nothing could be done about the irritating screeches of Gene Adam, Iced Earth's first lead singer. But just like how the original fans of Iced Earth thought of this album when it first came out, who cares so much about the bad singing as much as the MUSIC! Awesome CD in itself, but in this remaster, the music has never been better.

NIGHT OF THE STORMRIDER - I had not had this album prior to getting this box set on Christmas Day, 2002. I had not known one song off of it at all...and then I listened to it one afternoon, and I was simply blown away. The plot behind this excellent concept album is chilling, and the singing is much better (a la John Greely, a much better vocalist than Gene Adam, no comparison to Matthew Barlow though), and the music...ooooh, I feel like those weird women in the Herbal Essance Shampoo commercials when I hear the guitar crunches in the beginning of "Stormrider". Well, maybe not...but I DO love this music! And then one day I bought an original copy of this CD, and...wha? Where's the guitars? Where's the singing? It's just faint buzzes compared to the loud crunches on this version. If you've ever underrated NIGHT OF THE STORMRIDER, then get this box set and listen to this version and I GUARANTEE that you'll love it.

BURNT OFFERINGS - WOW! Again, another Iced Earth CD that I didn't have to begin with, but now...I'm so in love with it! I'm listening to it as I type this review, and "Burning Oasis" is blaring out of my speakers in the much-deserved volume that has been granted via this remaster/remix. I won't be surprised to find the original copy to have (again like STORMRIDER) bad sound quality in comparison to this. And then there's "Dante's Inferno"...nothing can begin to describe how good that is.

TRIBUTE TO THE GODS - Wow! To quote fellow reviewer and friend the_Wickerman (and if you're reading this, e-mail me sometime, dude!), "The Gods Pay Tribute to the Gods". That's a fairly good description of this masterpiece. However, I have two small petpeeves about the song selections for this CD: where is the Megadeth? The Metallica? I mean, yeah, I guess I can see the influences from AC/DC and Alice Cooper, and of COURSE I see the Iron Maiden/Judas Priest covers being on here, but...Metallica at LEAST! The other thing is that I'm surprised that their rendition of Iron Maiden's "Transylvania" isn't on here. That instrumental was so amazing, and while it IS available in a limited, 2-disc version of HORROR SHOW, I'm surprised it's not here. It would have fit perfectly. But otherwise, TRIBUTE TO THE GODS is, quite simply, amazing.

ENTER THE REALM--some may recognize a few of the songs here (especially "Colors" and "Iced Earth"), others may not. Though raw, these versions are almost as good as the later ones (and on the aforementioned songs, Gene Adam actually sounds BETTER here!). Superb to finally have a copy of this.

And finally, there is the book that comes with this. Holding all the CDs in the inside covers, there are 32 pages of pure Iced Earth in here. 16 of them are a fairly complete biography of Iced Earth and its long history, with tons of rare, never-before-seen photos (my only complaint being that some of them should have mentioned the who's and where's), and some facts that you'd probably never find elsewhere. The other 16 pages are complete lyrics to all of the songs on each Iced Earth album, which is quite a good addition.

My major complaint is that the remasters of ICED EARTH, NIGHT OF THE STORMRIDER, and BURNT OFFERINGS, as well as the TRIBUTE TO THE GODS disc, are all now available on their own. Why? That de-values this boxed set to 1/5 of its wonders. I just pray that ENTER THE REALM doesn't become available on its own. But regardless, as I said earlier, just get this boxed set, and you'll be getting more for the money, and spending a little less than you would if you bought the remasters/tribute separately. This is, without a doubt, the BEST BOXED SET ANYONE WILL EVER FIND, AND THE BEST ADDITION TO ANY AND ALL ICED EARTH FANS, NEW OR OLD!

And some good news to all Iced Earth fans: Jon Schaffer has found a replacement for lead guitar--a former Death touring guitarist. And believe it or not, he's replaced Matthew Barlow with a new singer...TIM OWENS! Yes, the same Tim Owens, AKA "The Ripper," former singer for Judas Priest. The upcoming album, THE GLORIOUS BURDEN, has been recorded, and all too soon...it is coming! Be sure to check out their official site for sound clips of three of their songs...Owens sounds great!