Review by Rexorcist for Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings (1995)

I understand that right now, Iced Earth is cool to hate for reasons every metalhead knows about.  I really don't want to get into that, because the music itself can still be really good.  In this album's case, the music is absolutely phenomenal.  It's unpredictable and includes a plethora of influences from the entire metal spectrum, such as the combination of death metal and symphonic metal in the title track.  And yet, this feels completely consistent with the obvious doom metal sound of "Diary," which includes surreal instrumentation in the background to make the aura more distressing and authentic before flat-out morphing into a heavy/power metal song.  Not only that, but this is the most melodic album they've done during their classic era, and it's full of dark and Gothic imagery that Cradle of Filth wishes they could achieve.  This is the kind of consistent genre-hopping that made Hell II so brilliant.  "Brainwashed" even begins with a Gothic low-toned solo reminiscent of some works of Metallica before emerging into an otherworldly extravaganza of symphonic keys and psychedelic riffage pairing with the death metal beautifully.  This track is thrash first and formost, but Iced Earth obviously didn't care about limits or status among a specific fanbase they way they clearly did on Night of the Stormrider.  It's also worth noting that this is one of their heaviest songs.

One thing that could potentially annoy people is the album's uncommon but noticeablehabit of changing genre and tempo instantaneously with little to no sense of buildup or transition, which might feel a little "cut and paste" in its behavior.  And yes, it has annoyed people before.  Then again, the segues on Nightfall in Middle-Earth annoyed people before, as well.  Honestly, the songs suffer only very so slightly that this oversight on Iced Earth's part is completely made up for by everything else.  Besides, the habit itself only happens occasionally.  It's practically no problem at all in the second act.  All things considered, this album does way to many things beyond right.  Iced Earth proved that they weren't just another metal band who popped out a great album with Night of the Stormrider.  Even for just one album, they evolved to a level of metal blackness that is hard to achieve without letting musicianship suffer.