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Iced Earth - Horror Show Audio CD

A fair review of the Iced Earth "Horror Show" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Iced Earth reviews here, or go back to the Iced Earth tabs.

Iced Earth Band: Iced Earth
Title: Horror Show
Rating:
Release Date: 2008-02-12
Media: Audio CD

Tracks:

Oh, the Horror!
Little did we know that it would be the last time we would hear Iced Earth with Matt Barlow on vocals. Horror Show, Iced Earth's 2001 follow-up to their career defining Something Wicked This Way Comes was originally viewed as a fun one-off project before the band got back to work making "serious" albums. Barlow's dynamic voice was every bit as important to Iced Earth's sound as Jon Schaffer's blazing riffs, so for many of us, Horror Show has to serve as his swansong.

I don't think anyone really expected Horror Show to be as good as its predecessor. Schaffer wanted to have a bit of fun and pay tribute to the classic movie monsters, and I think Iced Earth fans understood that. Horror Show is a fun album, but it is also a bit uneven. Some of the songs work very well. Album-opener Wolf is a perfect example. It is a pure Iced Earth song, complete with lightning fast riffs, powerful vocals, and supernatural subject matter. For obvious reasons it reminds me quite a bit of Metallica's ode to lycanthropy Of Wolf and Man. Dragon's Child and Frankenstein are also among the album's better songs, the latter stomping along just like the movie monster might. The real highlight is Dracula, which is easily the album's best song. It has great subject matter and lyrics, and a perfect song arrangement, starting slowly and building to a ferocious conclusion.
Other tracks, while decent, are not as noteworthy. Damien is packed full of the same cheesy pseudo-Satanism we've seen on other Iced Earth albums, and the Phantom Opera Ghost, while ambitious, seems just a bit too silly to be taken seriously.
The album's odd moment is the patriotic ballad Ghost of Freedom. It just seemed out of place on a "monster album", though it did serve as a preview of the direction Schaffer would take on the band's flag-waving follow-up album the Glorious Burden.

If Horror Show had turned out to be a "project" album like Tribute to the Gods, I would probably look at it more favorably. But since it served as the final Iced Earth album with Matt Barlow (I'm not counting the Tribute to the Gods compilation), I tend to judge it a bit harder than it probably deserves. I think I would have been happier if Something Wicked This Way Comes was his final album with the band. That way he could have gone out on a much higher note.

NOTE - Early pressings of Horror Show came with a bonus disc that featured a by-the-numbers cover of the Iron Maiden instrumental Transylvania (an appropriate addition to this album) and an audio interview with Iced Earth mainman Jon Schaffer. The interview is interesting enough. If you're in the "Jon Schaffer is God" camp, then it will probably reinforce your opinion. If you tend to think Schaffer is more than a little arrogant, the interview will reinforce that opinion as well.


This is the best forever
These two are the greatest metal songs i heard and only Iced Earth can update it . The Best metal musicians on earth are collected in this album , i can't even compare any songs expect the last two ( Dracula & The Phantom Opera Ghost ) . The limited version includes a cover of Iron Maiden 's instrumental classic , try it witt Schaffers fastt rhytyms . I admit i did't like the complete album at the first tries ( again except the last two , they are really perfect ) , i thought Iced Earth has been becoming a power metal band but then i realised they are better than ever . . . get thiss.


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