### Iced Earth: Plagues of Babylon

#### 03/03/14 || Habakuk

I’ve got to say seeing a band advertised on a subway ad screen on my work commute kind of takes away said band’s rebellious metal appeal for me. And yes, it has happened with Iced Earth. Good thing I never was their biggest fan to begin with. Admittedly though, I have found some enjoyment in “Horror Show” for example, which also receives a nostalgia bonus having been released close to my metal initiation. A few years have passed since and Iced Earth have gone through so many vocalist changes that I completely lost track at some point. Some dude that’s neither Matt Barlow nor Ripper Owens is singing, that’s all I know. Quite well at that, which makes the whole album enjoyable singlehandedly. I might leave it there already, but I should probably write a bit more if I want to call this a review.

Iced Earth still are a vehicle for Jon Schaffer’s comic book illustrations as well as his unconditional love for triplet riffs. For all I care though, we could apply the “never touch a running system” rule here. The main songwriter’s knack for writing catchy choruses and somewhat epic melodies remains untarnished, it seems to come at the cost of a constantly half-engaged handbrake these days though. Both the most prominent and the most memorable parts are kept in steady midtempo – the days of the “Stormrider” are over, to no-one’s surprise.

Fair enough, if you ask me, if I want speed and heaviness, there are plenty of other genres to turn to. Schaffer & gang however are simply a means to satisfy a need for a more or less cringe-less power/heavy metal fix, which is derived mainly from how well the cheese is hidden behind decent lyrics or at least covered with infectious sing-along choruses (“if I could see you now…”). And of course, Iced Earth are a completely falsetto-less band, which is a huge bonus in my book – so in the end, avoiding many a common power metal pitfall alone gains the band an advantage over basically the entire genre. Add a bit of undeniable skill in composing songs and using your vocals chords and we have ourselves a recommendation even for genre outsiders like me. Even though I’ll detract points for referring to “the Cthulhu” throughout that entire song.

And by the way: Forget about all these guest singers. I’ve listened to this album several times before I found out they took part – and I still have a hard time spotting them.

- Information
- Released: 2014
- Label: Century Media Records
- Website: www.icedearth.com
- Band
- Stu Block: vocals
- Jon Schaffer: guitars
- Troy Seele: guitars
- Luke Appleton: bass
- Raphael Saini: drums
- Hansi Kürsch: guest vocals
- Michael Poulsen: guest vocals
- Russell Allen: guest vocals

- Tracklist
- 1. Plagues of Babylon
- 2. Democide
- 3. The culling
- 4. Among the living dead
- 5. Resistance
- 6. The end?
- 7. If I could see you
- 8. Cthulhu
- 9. Peacemaker
- 10. Parasite
- 11. Spirit of the times
- 12. Highwayman
- 13. Outro