ICED EARTH
Incorruptible
Century Media Records
4/5
Ever since the release of the band’s lackluster last album Plagues Of Babylon, the Iced Earth camp has been going through many changes. At first, they had announced that they were going to leave Century Media to become an independent act and had discussed something that seemed to recall their early power/thrash years called The Judas Goat. A couple months go by without an update and all of the sudden I see an album cover, release date and two track premieres for something completely different called Incorruptible which features a title very similar to that of Disturbed’s Indestructible. That being said, this is still a very contemporary side of Iced Earth and very sparingly reaches the level of Burnt Offerings or Stormrider. Some might say that the band are far past their prime, but this album shows that they are still hanging on. That being said, I’m hoping that The Judas Goat is still a thing and perhaps they will eventually release a disc that revisits their old style at least once more before retirement.
The first cut, “Great Heathen Army” begins the listen on a delightfully fiery note, with Jon Schaeffer’s signature chug and Stu Block’s fierce Barlow-influenced howl. There are some slightly harsher falsettos utilized, which give the cut a decidedly mid-era feel. The chorus cuts quite deep, delivering exactly what we’d expect from the band at this level. There’s a slight solo section, but it isn’t really noteworthy. The track makes for a great singalong, which is what we’d expect from the band ever since The Dark Saga. The next track, “Black Flag” throws us right into the piracy of the high seas (no, not the digital high seas – that’s not the kind of piracy Iced Earth are referring to here) where a slightly progressive notion is explored and comes off quite mightily. Notable leads are heftily featured here making for an approach that I might consider to be that of an outlier from much of what listeners expect from the band. It surprised me just as much as it should surprise you. The way that Block approaches the vocal is also well-meant, making for an ultimately strong delivery and thankfully, a halfway decent solo to round it out. I don’t think the chorus is that memorable, but as a whole it’s relatively potent. “Raven Wing” takes on a more familiar approach, like something right out of Something Wicked… It is a bit cut and paste as a far as that formula is concerned though and feels like Barlow is still in the band, even though it’s still being fronted by Stu Block. The only difference is that they’re twisting it a little, adding more structure to the overall performance instead of opting for a straight-forward verse/chorus. A classic rock approach is also taken to the solo, which is backed by acoustics and feels slightly out of place, albeit in a refreshingly tasteful manner. Of course, such a solo heats up as the song continues, even venturing into more of the slight progression that we heard on “Black Flag.” It’s a bit long for a single, but it works. Next we have one of my personal favorites, which is “The Veil.” I have been trying to figure out what the song means at a lyrical level from the very first time I heard it on a promo stream. It’s a bit of a ballad, but has a very killer chorus that ended up getting itself lodged in my head for days. There’s a section where Block sings “My one and only, you won’t be lovely when it’s over?” Is this supposed to signify that the main character in the song was going to kill his betrothed? It would have really helped if I had gotten some liner notes with this record as I’m still a bit lost. Regardless, it’s my favorite song on the album and one of my favorite ballads from the band, regardless of the fact that it is a bit power/pop.
After that, we have the very unfortunate “Seven Headed Whore” which disgusts me more than anything else. Why? Because I’ve been a fan of this band for over a decade and I expected much more from a song about the whore of Babylon. For those of you who do not know, Iced Earth covered the antichrist extensively in the past. There was a three part “Something Wicked Saga” which was re-recorded as an EP followed by two full-albums on the concept and of course, the legendary “Damien” from fan favorite, Horror Show. So when finally get to the whore of Babylon riding on the dragon, we get no large epic, no massive storyline and frankly nothing quite as monumental as the antichrist himself (even though I feel that this concept is just as important). All we get is a less than three-minute thrash cast-off, which might be the heaviest song on the disc but feels out of place and doesn’t do much of anything. It feels like it’s just sort of there. They honored the concept of Cthulhu awesomely on the one with a piece that I still play very often. Yet when it finally came down to covering Holy Mother Babylon, this is all we got. They could have turned this into a ten minute masterpiece, something that could have been a real focal-point for the disc (even though to be honest, Incorruptible deals more with Native American concepts than anything else, so the cut does feel like it was ripped from something else – maybe that The Judas Goat album I was talking about?) but all we’re getting here is what seems like a rushed B-Side that shouldn’t have even been made a single. It shows the album as being several grades heavier than it actually is, which I think is very misleading since “Raven Wing” really describes this album much better. If they had only used “Seven Headed Whore” as a single, I would have definitely called that sort of thing out immediately, but since they did use the aforementioned as a descriptor, I feel that a fair sample of the disc was offered to the listener. I’m just letting you know now, that if you expect to hear more songs in the vein of “Seven Headed Whore” then you’re in for a rude awakening here. It’s just not that kind of album. I’m also aware that “Iced Earth doesn’t owe anything to anyone!” so I would simply love to form my own power/thrash act just to write and record one ten to twelve minute song in the same style and then disband shortly after it’s finished. I just feel that the concept needs better representation than this. Oh, well. Maybe next time?
Moving on, we have “The Relic Part 1” which obviously alludes to a sequel. I didn’t really feel it as much as I would’ve liked, but the chorus node is quite proficient. The added atmosphere was nice, allowing the disc some depth although I really hope this one isn’t about Damien, the antichrist or something similar again. They had a good concept with the whore of Babylon, but apparently threw that in the garbage. Following this, we have the unexpectedly awesome “Ghost Dance” which seems to go hand in hand with the concept of “Raven Wing” and continues the Native American spirit that seems to flow through this album. If you can’t feel something in the lead melodies here, you just might be dead. Native chants are also dispersed throughout this one to give it a mixture of spirituality and metal, although it sounds a bit odd. This very well might be one of Schaeffer’s best pieces to date, echoing that of Iron Maiden’s classic, “Transylvania” which the band also covered. “Ghost Dance” is the essential Iced Earth instrumental and even if you have no interest in buying this record and are only reading this review out of curiosity, I highly recommend that you give this track a listen.
“Brothers” comes next, which would have made a great single in it’s own right. It actually fits better than “Raven Wing” and is much shorter for radio play. It would be pretty easy to make a video for this, getting some Adult Swim animators to create a piece where two barbarian warriors stand side by side and slaughter demon armies in a great deal of gore. Hands down, it’s just a great song. Can someone please tell me why this wasn’t a single? Would have been much better a representation than “Seven Headed Whore.” The next one, “Defiance” is solid enough, as it generally emulates the basic power/thrash formula. Iced Earth have been writing this same song for years it seems, but I don’t find that I tire of it. It feels like a cast-off from Dystopia lyrically (and the last disc, which had very much in common with Dystopia as well) creating what feels like a one-two punch to the global elite. The very last cut here, “Clear The Way” actually goes all of the way back to The Glorious Burden and ends the disc on a nearly ten-minute epic, which is quite well-performed. Obviously, a song of such length will have to feature quite a bit of structure to keep fans entertained, which is what they’ve done successfully. Taking another cue from Iron Maiden, they’ve certainly pulled out all of the stops on this one as it features an incredible tour-de-force of instrumentation that certainly shows that these guys aren’t ready to bow out yet. Say what you want, but Schaeffer’s songwriting on this disc has been for the most part; some of his best in years. The fact of the matter is that Iced Earth explored more territory than just that of the simple verse/chorus mainstays that we’d expect from them.
Though I think that there are a few glaring issues here, I still feel that Incorruptible is a much stronger Iced Earth disc than people might think at first glance. Again, they really have taken the time to offer a more muscular release, presenting much longer and more vibrant songs than we’ve heard in the past. It may not be classic Iced Earth, but it is still Iced Earth. I still don’t know what the album title Incorruptible refers to, but oddly enough I feel that with an album of this caliber, Indestructible or perhaps even Unbreakable fit the performance I’ve heard superbly. If you’re even any semblance of Iced Earth fan, you’ll definitely want to pick it up. (The Grim Lord)