Iced Earth
Days of Purgatory

THE REVIEW

After spending the 2000s rather quietly, with albums considered less impactful and excellent singers underappreciated (read: Tim Owens), for some time now it seems that Iced Earth are not exactly experiencing a second youth, but at least have returned to enjoy a certain popularity, especially thanks to a stability behind the microphone finally achieved with the arrival of Stu Block in the lineup, which had been missing for far too long.

If the latest albums by the Tampa combo seem to show a group still vibrant and far from wanting to throw in the towel, it is useless to deny that Jon Schaffer and company’s best performances were offered in the 1990s, a period during which Iced Earth were among the protagonists of the resurgence of classic heavy metal, which at the time was prematurely declared obsolete after the advent of alternative metal and nu metal.

Certainly, the turning point was the arrival, on the occasion of the third CD, of singer Matt Barlow, who for years, with his stentorian and recognizable singing, would represent the added value of a group now ready for the big breakthrough. Of the same opinion must have been, in 1997, the “big boss” Jon Schaffer when it was time to deliver to Century Media the new Iced Earth album, an anthology of various pieces written in the previous ten years, re-recorded, remixed but, most importantly, all re-sung by the good Matt.

The guitarist, in the notes present within the album, is keen to make its “philosophy” clear to the listener: to recover the most representative tracks and offer a new, possibly “definitive” version, leaving behind questionable recordings and singers not always up to par. They worked meticulously, it must be said: for some tracks, only the vocal parts were re-recorded, for others only the guitars, and for yet others, the mixing was revised, going to “correct” what, with ten years of career hindsight, no longer seemed satisfactory.

Is “Days of Purgatory” a fundamental album? No, absolutely not, but it is an excellent compendium of the first part of Iced Earth's career, resulting in a valid product both for those who already have everything from the group but can’t stand to have a “gap” in their collection, and for those who are just now approaching the discography of the Americans.

The power/thrash of the Iced Earth has always been recognizable at first listen: “square” tracks and good guitar work, all seasoned with a vocal capable of shifting between soft passages and priest-like screaming.

A good part of the tracks recovered here comes from the first two albums, “Iced Earth” of '91 and “Night of the Stormrider” of the following year, with the debut LP almost entirely revisited, while for the tracks of “Burnt Offerings,” they limited themselves to a pure remix. The overall result is convincing, making it all very enjoyable.

Iced Earth's proposal may not be the most immediate, as it is a power metal very different from the European style of Helloween or Stratovarius: there are good melodies but don't expect choruses to be sung at the top of your lungs, and while the pace is sustained, it's nothing to do with the "helicopter" drums of the Germans and Swedes. Maybe at a superficial listen, Jon Schaffer and company might not seem like much, but if you give yourself the pleasure of dedicating time to them, you will discover an evocative metal full of nuances.

The tracks not to be missed? “Angels Holocaust,” “Stormrider,” and “When the Night Falls.” A separate discussion deserves the pair “Travel in Stygian/Dante's Inferno,” an authentic twenty-five-minute tour de force amid demonic visions and Dantean circles.

Ready to start the journey on the river Styx?

1. Enter the Realm

2. Colors

3. Angels Holocaust

4. Stormrider

5. Winter Nights

6. Nightmares

7. Before the Vision

8. Pure Evil

9. Solitude

10. Funeral

11. When the Night Falls

12. Burnt Offerings

13. Cast in Stone

14. Desert Rain

15. Brainwashed

16. Life and Death

17. Creator Failure

18. Reaching the End

19. Travel in Stygian

20. Dante's Inferno

21. Iced Earth