‘Eager anticipation’ is a conjunction
of words which utterly fail to describe how I felt
about ICED EARTH’s forthcoming album, “Framing
Armageddon”. My anticipation would’ve
been more accurately described as a ‘frenzied
burning desire’, as after hearing the single
for “Ten Thousand Strong” I was primed
for more and looked to the future, toward the release
of the full length album, with a glassy eyed gaze,
full of hope and worshipful expectation.
And here it is. Was it worth the wait? Does it live
up to the oh-so-high expectations I had built up?
As Paul Reiser would say: “Eh… not so
much.” Now don’t get me wrong here, it’s
not so much a “poor” album as it’s
a bit anticlimactic. The build-up towards this album
has just been immense, at least in my mind. I was
absolutely blown away by the band’s previous
album, “The Glorious Burden” which was
the first to feature Tim “Ripper” Owens
on vocals. That album stands in my mind as one of
the greatest metal albums of all time. I was in awe.
I wanted more. Then comes “Framing Armageddon”.
I don’t want to use the term “let down”
or “disappointment”, because that’s
far too harsh. The album really is all we’ve
come to expect from the band, just without any significant
punch or fervor. It all sounds slightly lackluster
to me, and lets face it, ICED EARTH is anything but
lackluster.
Admittedly I may not be giving the album a fair trial
here. After all, what do I want, *another* “Glorious
Burden”? No of course not. Nobody wants a repeat.
And perhaps my current opinion has been heavily influenced
by the fact that my review copy of the album is a
“voice over promo”. For those of you who
are unaware that’s when an album has a spoken
disclaimer strategically placed every 30 seconds or
so to hinder unauthorized copying, because who wants
to hear that? And that it exactly, who wants to? I
find it difficult to fully immerse myself into an
album when constantly reminded I’m listening
to a promo-copy. And that’s just the sort of
thing that ICED EARTH albums have always been good
for: total immersion. You can just lose yourself in
the depth of the material, lyrically and musically.
So yeah, I might be just a bit miffed. But I’m
going to make an effort here… a fair and unbiased
review, as any album crafted by such gifted musicians
merits. So here goes:
Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1) is the
continuation of a concept which guitarist and main
idea guy John Schaffer came up with nearly a decade
ago and introduced us to with the “Something
Wicked trilogy” on their 1998 release “Something
Wicked This Way Comes”. The series, to be concluded
in the next album due out sometime next year, revolves
around an epic sci-fi tale detailing mankind’s
invasion of earth, thereby displacing a wise and peaceful
race called the Setians, who are the direct descendents
of the “Grand Architect of the Universe”.
It appears that the Setians were present on earth
before man, we came along with our greed and violent
impulses and proceeded to wreak havoc on both planet
and Setians. The Setians await vindication for the
wrongs they’ve been subjected to. They await
the birth of a character by the name of Set Abominae,
who’s destiny appears to be mankind’s
downfall. That’s the story inasmuch as I can
tell, as not having a lyric sheet hinders the following
of the story being told, which Schaffer admits is
“extremely difficult to sum up in a few words.”
So the story is vast and complex, as is the music.
It’s rife with grandeur and metallic splendor,
complete with Schaffer’s unmistakable power-riffing
as well as Tim Owens’ trademark vocal chords
of steel. So what’s different? Well the line-up
with the exception of Schaffer and Owen’s has
changed since “Glorious Burdon”. The current
line up is Brent Smedley (drums), Troy Seelie (guitar),
and Dennis Hayes (bass). Granted that while through
the years ICED EARTH has been a continually changing
entity it was always with mastermind Schaffer holding
it together. So no matter who’s in the band,
it’s still going to sound like ICED EARTH thanks
to Schaffer.
So to wrap this long winded, indecisive review up:
Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1) incorporates
everything we’ve come to expect from ICED EATH;
bombastic assaults of melodic metal with an operatic
flair, as well as a story which is as deep and intricate
as any novel ever written. The band throws in couple
of surprises, most notably some tribal sounding drums
(congas & bongos, that sort of thing) as well
as what sounds like a Hammond organ on the track “The
Domino Decree”.
Bottom Line: I bet I’ll really enjoy this album
once I buy a voice over free copy. I still think it
pales to the level of intensity and skill displayed
with “The Glorious Burden”, but give it
a few more spins and I’ll likely change my mind.
Key Tracks: “Motivation of Man”; “Ten
Thousand Strong”; “The Domino Decree”;
“Framing Armageddon”
Reviewed by Farron Watson |
