Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings (1995)^{Release ID: 3588}

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.

After two strong releases and a firm standing as one of power metal's more prominent bands, 1995 saw Iced Earth unleash their third album, 'Burnt Offerings', which many fans consider a career highlight, thus making it all the more confusing that I just can't seem to get into it.

What makes this album notable is the debut of new vocalist (their third in three albums) Matthew Barlow, a man who would go on to become the voice of Iced Earth for years to come, and while his powerful, operatic vocals would certainly help define the band on later releases, here, they come across as rather uninspired, oftentimes feeling out of place or forced.

One of the biggest problems I have with this album is that there's so many time changes and riff transitions that just seem jarring. Like they're just thrown together with no real effort to make it feel organic. The musicianship itself is of a high quality, with incredibly tight guitar playing and atmospheric keyboards. But while 'Iced Earth' and 'Night of the Stormrider' are both fantastic records that have stood the test of time, 'Burnt Offerings' just feels so disjointed.

If I had to dig out any highlights, 'Last December' is a good song, and the title track has its moments, though it suffers from the aforementioned issues. It does have one hell of an intro though, arguably one of the bands heaviest songs. The rest of the album just doesn't work for me, though. The 15-minute 'Dante's Inferno', which is regarded by fans as one of the bands finest pieces, bores the hell out of me. Seriously... what am I missing???

Iced Earth are one of my favourite power metal bands, and while they've built up a solid discography over the years, countless attempts to get into this album have done nothing but made each listen more laborious. It's a shame, because the high reverence it gets from fans makes me feel like I'm missing out on something. But whatever that something is, I'm not hearing it.