TMQ First Take: Iced Earth

ICED EARTH
Overture Of The Wicked
(SPV / Steamhammer Records)

Metal’s most incendiary outfit blasts right out of the gate with Overture Of The Wicked, a four-song EP that is the explosive prelude to this fall’s full-length Iced Earth LP, Framing Armageddon. Based on the storyline of 1998’s fan-favorite Something Wicked This Way Comes, the upcoming album release is the second volume of a planned trilogy that will expand and build upon songwriter/guitarist Jon Schaeffer’s original concept.

“Ten Thousand Strong” kicks off the EP with a shotgun blast of sound and fury aimed right at yer ol’ noggin, much like a raging freight train suddenly materializing in your living room. Returning IC drummer Brent Smedley hits the skins like a thugee on a three-day killing spree, solid-steel muscle and dynamic TNT-beats backing frontman Tim “Ripper” Owens’ hungry bird-of-prey vocals. The six-string chemistry of bandleader Schaeffer and (unfortunately departing) axeman Tim Mills is solid, Schaeffer carrying the load with industrial-strength riffing and Mills punctuating with lightning-strike solo shots that hit like the business end of a prizefighter’s fist.

The EP’s other three tunes are comprised of an imaginative remake of Something Wicked’s album-closing trilogy, each song re-recorded with a different slant for Overture Of The Wicked and the upcoming LP. “Prophecy” is an intricate, atmospheric song, Owens’ soaring vocals matched by martial rhythms, cheese-grater fretwork and ever-shifting signatures. Just when you think that you’ve got your thumb on the sucker, damn, here comes the buzz saw to change your mind! “Birth of the Wicked” is a galloping rocker out of the Priest/Maiden playbook – nuthin’ but blood and sweat – while “The Coming Curse” forewarns of the encroaching storm, dark clouds appearing on the horizon as Owens spits out his angriest, acid rain-drenched vocals in the middle of a veritable hellstorm of smashing blastbeats and stiletto-sharp leads.

As a taste of the feast to come, Overture Of The Wicked is a satisfying repast – chewy muscle meat served up raw and ungarnished, whetting one’s appetite for the main course of Framing Armageddon.

(Click on the CD cover to buy Overture Of The Wicked from Amazon.com)