Iced Earth
Alive In Athens

THE REVIEW

Surely, when it comes to live-recorded CDs, it is quite difficult to find one that even comes close to perfection. Difficult but not impossible, as we have been accustomed to encountering the cornerstones of metal such as "Live After Death," "Live Shit," and "Decade Of Aggression." However, I would like to add another live masterpiece to this list, namely "Alive In Athens" by the great Iced Earth, a very unique band that has managed to unite Thrash, Heavy, and Power into one, giving great satisfaction to the Metal scene. I do not want to go on for too long, so I will make one thing clear right away: this live is truly a blast!!! Perfect from every point of view, where the songs (taken from all the band’s works without underestimating any album) are played so well that the live seems like a fake studio recording, given also the excellent mixing by Jim Morris, who couldn’t have done any better. Another point of strength is the exceptional line-up, which, besides the leader John Schaffer on rhythm guitar and the incredible Matthew Barlow on vocals, included Larry Tarnowski on lead guitar, James McDonough on bass, Brent Smedley on drums, and Rick Risemberg on keyboards, capable of bringing to life three truly unforgettable hours of live performance.

The first CD opens with the screams of the Athenian fans who can’t contain themselves and are impatiently waiting for the concert to start, when at last the band takes the stage with "Burning Times", the opener from the latest album "Something Wicked This Way Comes", which indeed presents itself well as an opening song thanks to its monumental riffs, making way for "Vengeance Is Mine" from the other masterpiece "The Dark Saga", very compelling like the following "Pure Evil", taken from "Night Of The Stormrider".
It seems the head-banging period is not yet over, as "My Own Saviour" still keeps the fans on their toes, but it’s only for almost four minutes since finally comes the sensational "Melancholy (Holy Martyr)", a ballad where the audience sings along with Barlow...Unmissable! Unmissable like the next song, in fact, from "Burnt Offerings" comes the great "Dante's Inferno", massive in all its 16 and a half minutes, played really very well. "The Hunter" and the sensational "Travel in Stygian" increase the number of monumental songs on the first disc, which closes very well with "Slave to The Dark" and "A Question Of Heaven"...

Unfortunately, the first CD has concluded, but we still have two more to explore for a total of another two hours that surely will not disappoint our demanding expectations. "Dark Saga" opens the second disc, a very nice song that serves as a prelude to the powerful "Last Laugh" and "Last December" but which are overshadowed by the next song, that poignant ballad-masterpiece that is "Watching Over Me", written by Schaffer for a dear friend who died in a car accident... Our boys perform it excellently, so much that the Athenian audience sings the whole song at the top of their lungs with Barlow... Once this splendid interlude is closed, our friends return to playing hard with three tracks from "Night Of The Stormrider", namely "Angels Holocaust", "Stormrider", and "Path I Choose" which keep the level of the live performance high.
We now return to calm with "I Died For You", which does nothing but pass the baton to the monumental "Something Wicked Trilogy", formed by the trio "Prophecy"-"Birth Of The Wicked"-"The Coming Course", which however leaves the honor of closing the disc to "Iced Earth", somewhat the band's anthem, which is the only one presented a bit differently from the studio version, but still turns out to be very beautiful.

We continue with our review by describing the last CD, opened with the powerful "Stand Alone" which makes way for the downpour of sixteenth notes in "Cast In Stone" and then another heavyweight like "Desert Rain", true gems. We could probably say that the last disc presents itself as the most violent of the three, since we subsequently find other uncontrollable songs like "Brainwashed", the great "Disciples Of The Lie", "When The Night Falls", and "Diary", which only serve to confirm the good technical skills of Iced Earth.
Finally, with "Blessed Are You" the waters are calmed again, although the closing of the CD and the live performance is entrusted to another rocky song which is "Violate", a great song to end a splendid concert and, as the cherry on top, at the end of the song our guys offer as an outro the first riff of "The Trooper" (do I need to say whose it is?)...

Unfortunately, the live performance has ended, and I must admit that after its 180 minutes of duration, it is always tough to return to real life, knowing you are lying on a bed instead of being among the crowd of mad fans near the Athenian stage, moshing under the notes of a great band! Finally, I repeat my convictions: in my opinion, this is one of the best metal live performances of all time, capable of competing with many more well-known ones and maybe emerging victorious, but these are personal opinions. Three hours of intense, compelling, and captivating music that have brought Iced Earth to the Olympus of metal...