Customer Reviews

Overture of the Wicked

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Looking at their latest work as a decade-long Iced Earth fan - and, I must boast, I managed to get this a few days before the official release date - I guess the first aspect to discuss is the vocal change from the trilogy's original form. (That was where my IE saga began - I picked up "Something Wicked" because the cover art looked cool.) Of course Tim Owens is an impressive singer but I really can't give him much more praise than that, except to say he was with them in Dallas when I saw them live for the first time. He was awesome on stage, maybe even better than his studio work because he could be a little more raw. But without any doubt, the band showed me for the second time that the sheer physical power and range and emotional fury of Matthew Barlow's voice have no equal. It's the same with "Overture," for there are times when Owens just sounds like he's not into what he's doing.

As for the music, it's much darker (less melodic) than the 1998 version of the band's first original epic. The rhythm guitar is down-tuned, and several of the lead harmonies are played at lower pitches to make the sound more ominous. Here we have a slightly extended remake - the trilogy clocks in at a minute or two shorter than the original - but the 4-minute "Ten Thousand Strong" kicks off the new edition as a prelude to the "Set vs. humanity" story. I don't want to give away much detail about the revisited material, so I'll mainly give a teaser about the opener. It's no big departure from most of their songs: it starts with an aggressive riff and pounding drums, eases up a bit between verses and during the chorus, and there's no guitar solo but Owens overlaps the background vocals with fragments of the chorus to create some interesting harmonies.

The drum work is particularly worth mentioning because Brent Smedley returns to execute stunning, machine-precision bass drum synchronization with Jon Schaffer's jackhammer-speed guitar riffs, very reminiscent of Fear Factory. This is done throughout the trilogy, whereas Smedley kept it simple in '98 with a steady (even monotonous) double-bass pattern of eighth notes. If you didn't check the liner notes, you'd think Richard Christy was still around for such perfect, beastly timekeeping. Also, the sound quality is much improved so the drums come through loud and clear this time.

The last thing to note is the addition of some exotic vocal lines (male and female) that give the final track a Middle-Eastern feel, replacing the Gregorian chant-style chorus that concludes the initial trilogy. This alteration certainly goes with the Egyptian artwork on the cover (Set's ankh), as well as that in the "Something Wicked" booklet (animal hieroglyphics, obelisks, pyramids, the Sphinx and so on).

Reflecting on the band's most advanced songwriting, "Dante's Inferno" condensed the literary masterpiece into 16 breathtaking minutes, with astonishing tempo and mood changes to signify the passage through each circle of Hell, not to mention vivid visual cues of a 185-page work (by my copy). I don't know if anything else they ever write can be as cool as that. "The Suffering" did a terrific job of scaling down the Spawn comic book a year before the movie was released, although "A Question of Heaven" is by far my favorite of that grouping. Then, after "Wicked," there was "Gettysburg," which, as an American and a major history buff, leaves me in stunned silence every time.

So while I await the completion of the two-part work Schaffer's been talking about, after hearing this three or four times I can't say I've been blown away, but (except vocally) it's leaner, meaner, tighter and pretty damn good - definitely something all IE fans should have to chart the band's evolution over the last 10 years.

I thought the mixing was horrible. The guitars in the 1st two parts of the trilogy were ok. Get to the Coming Curse and it's almost inaudible due to the kick drums. Also gone is the piano intro from the The Coming Curse.

I see only the most ardent IE fan being completely satisfied with this. Everyone else buy at your own risk.

Anyone familiar with Iced Earth already will know that "Overture of the Wicked" is basically a reworking of the acclaimed Something Wicked trilogy from "Something Wicked This Way Comes". This is an interesting version of those three songs, because Jon Schaffer did more then just re-record these songs, he re-envisioned them. Sure they are still basically the same songs, but the guitars have thinner sound to accommodate Ripper's voice, and they do have a couple fresh sounding twists and turns thrown in (as well as some things removed, such as the piano in Coming Curse) these are certainly not the same exact songs. Seeing as how this was an E.P. that was designed to just get fans excited for the concept album Jon Schaffer had planned on embarking with the themes from this trilogy, one can't be too hard on this, as it was just a nostalgic appetizer to serve to hungry fans.

I picked this up back when framing armageddon came out. I didn't pick that album up until part 2 came out. Anyway I like this however I just found out that the boxed set that suppose to come out will include this with Matt Barlow on vocals along with framing armageddon with matt vocals and four tracks that were not included on the new album.

I actually like this single. I am sorry to hear that Tim Owens is no longer part of the band. I like the way he sings.

Ok....... I've only heard Ten Thousand Strong and I liked it (even with Rippers vocals, who I STILL maintain was better with Judas Priest)

But that isn't the news:

MATT BARLOW IS BACK WITH ICED EARTH!!!!!!!!!!

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!

I have to weigh in here because of all the reviews that comment on the vocals on the new Iced Earth cd. First off, I'm not taking anything from Matt Barlow, who has a decent voice and left the band to become a Police Officer (a very patriotic response he said to the 9/11 attacks). Barlow's vocals fit well with the band, but there was not a great deal of range there. That being said, those of you putting down Tim "Ripper" Owens vocals, all I have to say is....do you have ears? Do you understand anything about vocals? Ripper Owens is by far, one of the premier metal vocalists right now. He has tremendous strength AND range. He's also very fan friendly. Did you folks forget that this man stepped in and sang for JUDAS PRIEST? Arguably, the greatest metal band of all time. He suffered the same criticism then from Prriest fans... He's not Rob Halfford. Now its, he's not Matt Barlow. Well, obviously not, he's Ripper Owens. I think you people are reviewing the vocals you prefer the style of rather than which are BETTER. That's fine, what you like is a matter of personal preference. What's better really is not. Owens is simply the more accomplished singer and that is a fact. Whether you think he fits in IE, that's also a matter of opinion. I saw him with Priest and with Iced Earth. I thought he was great each ttime. I do agree with some reviewers about the fit with IE. I think Owens singing the Barlow stuff seems a little, almost bored. Schaeffer and Co whsould write another album with Owens songs. Iced Earth is a good band, made better by the addition of a talented singer.

This cd features the single "Ten Thousand Strong" and a remake of the classic Something Wicked Trilogy with Tim "Ripper" Owens. I love the old version of the Trilogy but this one is just as good in a different way. It features better production, some new instrumentation, and Baritone Guitars. The trilogy introduces the storyline for the next two Iced Earth albums.

The Track "Ten Thousand Strong" is new Solid Material from Iced Earth's new Album Framing Armaggedon Something Wicked Part 1. This cd is only a little bit over 20 minutes in length but I have enjoyed listening to it and would reccomend it to any Metal or IE fan.

Although I did not see any sense in reinventing the wheel so to speak, it does not deserve the tongue lashing that The Jester give it. If you look at his reviews, it is clearly not his style of music...

With that said, I must say I was impressed with Tim Owens voice on this ep. He begins ten thousand strong with a piercing neverending scream that goes on for a very long time. I have seen him do this live and it is amazing. Simply put, this is the clear reason Judas Priest and Iced earth chose Tim over anyone else. Tim's voice is a breath of fresh air to Iced Earth (First Cd was Glorious Burden which showed his range and versatility and demonstrates why he is in the top 25 of metal singers). Nonetheless if you are an IE fan, you should add this ep to your collection or you can wait to add the entire cd. Either way, you get another good / great album from Schafer and Co.

Like some others have stated, Iced Earth is missing something and that something is Matt Barlow. Now, don't get me wrong here, Ripper is a fine vocalist in his own right, in fact the dude can belt it out without question. The problem here lies in the way it's delivered. Matt had so much feeling/expression in his delivery/style that it's next to impossibly for anyone including Ripper to duplicate that vibe. Tim does a fine job, but something's missing and I think we all know who that is!!

This cd is still a very good listen, it really rocks and I would recommend it. But every I hear I wonder what if and that is why I don't give it a 5 star review.