Iced Earth The Crucible Of Man: Something Wicked Part 2 SPV/ Riot
'The Crucible Of Man' sees the continuation of the Something Wicked storyline, which first started out on the 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' release and next on the 'Framing Armageddon' album. The final conclusion of this saga is certainly epic, but then again, nobody would expect any less from visionary main man, Jon Shaffer. And of course, older Iced Earth fans will be full of glee that ' The Crucible Of Man' also features retuned icon, Matt Barlow, even if at the loss of Ripper Owens. But just like Judas Priest could never really continue as Priest without Halford (who ironically enough was replaced by Ripper for two whole albums), Iced Earth could never really be Iced Earth without Barlow. And so Ripper has gone onto bigger and better things, namely Yngwie Malsteem, and Barlow has come back to back into the fold. Everybody happy then?
As for the music of 'The Crucible Of Man', there is certainly no shortage of fantastic songs, starting with the operatic opening track, In Sacred Flames, which promotes a promising start to the album. Another stand out track, A Gift Or A Curse, though being a ballad, also emphasizes the capacity of Barlow's vocal range, as does Harbinger Of Fate, which also starts out on a slower note.
Iced Earth has always been one of those bands that are just too hard to pigeonhole - too technical to be considered thrash, too heavy to be classed as power metal. But if you like your metal heavy, are a little open minded, and want something a little different then it would be more than worthwhile picking up a copy of 'The Crucible Of Man'.
'The Crucible Of Man' sees the continuation of the Something Wicked storyline, which first started out on the 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' release and next on the 'Framing Armageddon' album. The final conclusion of this saga is certainly epic, but then again, nobody would expect any less from visionary main man, Jon Shaffer. And of course, older Iced Earth fans will be full of glee that ' The Crucible Of Man' also features retuned icon, Matt Barlow, even if at the loss of Ripper Owens. But just like Judas Priest could never really continue as Priest without Halford (who ironically enough was replaced by Ripper for two whole albums), Iced Earth could never really be Iced Earth without Barlow. And so Ripper has gone onto bigger and better things, namely Yngwie Malsteem, and Barlow has come back to back into the fold. Everybody happy then?
