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| It's true that is too soft but I liked it anyway. I'd give it an 8. |
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I share you hopes for the future (last?) album to be more like old school, fast Iced Earth sound. That is the Iced Earth for me, and I can smell it from 15 km away  |
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great album as usual  I think we get used to listening great music from this band. Each album is a different style, different music, and at the same time totally kick ass.
Both something wicked part I and II are great.
9/10 for me |
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Yes, I was also lucky enough to get to see this band twice this summer (and I saw them with Tim last summer, so I can compare) and the band really do own the stage now - but this is not a stage performance.
This album really disappointed in my opinion. The only good things about this album are:
- the cover art, and
- "Divide And Devour"
The rest is mediocre/boring, nonsense that was probably written with Tim's voice in mind.
Jon can still do it, he can still write the heavy tracks, so hopefully next time we will be listening to a stomper of an album and not something so weak as this. |
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| All i can say is meh, Pyramaze's new release shits all over Crucible of Man |
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| Dammit, I had a feeling that the return of Matt would mean more ballads. I don't like ballads. |
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| Ive only listened to the album once. The first listen, I thought it was pretty good....7/10. Im just glad that Matt is back! |
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| When I first listened to this album I felt like "climaxless" and just when I thought "Divide and Devour" was the grand finale, It just finished like nothing, then just came the end, just like that (hey, where is my heavy metal orgasm?). I love Iced Earth early releases, so I hope now that Jon finally made his story about epic/egiptian/alien stuff he focuses on writing something more wicked (yeah, wicked like the album I was expecting this time), by the way, the cover art is kickass. |
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| I Gotta Get This Release Quickly, Im very Curious about it |
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| gonna listen to it now, just waiting to finish downloading |
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oki ive been listning to this album for the past 2 weeks (yes i downloaded an ILLIGEAL MP3 RIP) and i must say, as much as i loved Matt to be back to my favorite band of all time, as much as i have been dissapointed by this new release.
fist, Framming Armageddon is ONE HELL OF A RELEASE, the whole album plays like one masterpiece, nothing is missing there and YES tim did a fantastic job there (even though i hated the FRAAAAAAMING ARRRRMAGEDDDDOOON scream). but the album has stuck with me like the classics (pre-horror show) full albums, and not just a few songs. Framming is the best album after the last flop.
Crucible of man.. hmm ... where to start, the album has NOTHING to do with the previous, there is no way in hell you can hear both albums back to back and say this is one piece or work. they are different in every way. i got bored from the music, and shocked by many lyrics, job has never made mediocre lyrical contents as such, and has never made bad judgement (in my mind) from a music perspective.
how hard would it have been to continue on the level of framming armageddon and produce an album which is an extension rather than an album only ?? i dont getit ...... Metallica did it with Load and Reload.
i dont know why, but every time i start hearing cruicible of man, i end up changing my ipod to framming armageddon and after that album ends, and cruicible starts again, yet again i go back to the begining, hoping that the next time framming ends, cruicible (in my mind) would start.
as a summary: Tim and JON did one hell of job on framming, Matt and JON did a terrible attempt at crucible.
but iam overjoyed that the best metal voice is back to the best metal band. ill try and get into cucible and hoefully within a couple of more tries itll end up close to Horror show (i just hope it doesnt end up close to the decleration day)  |
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| it's a pretty fuckin' good album, i only listened to it once, but it re-ignited my interest in them |
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| The band been disapointing since they made Horror Show, that and everything after that in my opinion was medicore at best. However I'm hoping this album will bring back the sound of Night of the Stormrider |
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The only album of Iced Earth i didnt get into was Framing Armageddon. It lacked a 'defining sound' that all other IE albums had. With maybe two decent songs, it was quite disappointing. Ive heard one song from this new album, and i must say, i feel neither disappointed nor amazed.
I think i agree with Jeffs review in saying that IE will be come back strong next album. Ripper i think did a fantastic job (on everything ive heard), i just think Schaffer is the weak link atm, in his songwriting. However, he will fire back up!
Never know yet, might love the rest of the new album when i hear it! |
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| I think this band is good, just not my type of band. |
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Written by Baz Anderson on 05.09.2008 at 20:01
The only good things about this album are:
- the cover art, and
- "Divide And Devour"
The rest is mediocre/boring, nonsense that was probably written with Tim's voice in mind.
Jon can still do it, he can still write the heavy tracks, so hopefully next time we will be listening to a stomper of an album and not something so weak as this.
Yes, this is exactly my thoughts as well. I'm still waiting for the magic the band is more than capable of. It has been a long while now though, that they have released a song that really changed my thoughts on metal.... so I hope they can deliver - but the more time that goes on, the more I wonder when it will happen! |
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Time to face some facts kids. Iced Earth are never going to do another Alive in Athens type show nor will they ever do albums like The Dark Saga or songs like Dante's Inferno again. You may get a glimmer here and there of what once was, but for the most part they are maturing musically which unfortunately means mellowing out a bit. Have they sold out? Of course not. Iced Earth are still heavy in every sense, but they are exploring the music a bit more now.
First of all, a huge shout out to Tim Owens for his work on Framing Armageddon. Epic stuff that one. I was pretty bored with Glorious Burden, but Framing Armageddon proved that Tim has what it takes to fill Matt Barlow's shoes. Secondly, a huge shout out to Matt Barlow on his return. Although Crucible is a bit on the mellower side, it's hardly a copout. Who knows what Jon has in store next? Jon and the boys in Iced Earth do for sure. Speculation is unwise at this juncture considering the fact that Matt has just returned and Tim left on a high note (literally). If the next cd is anything like this one, I think we can all assume Iced Earth's heaviest days are behind them., until then, lets enjoy what we've got in the here and now.
Welcome back Matt! |
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Emerencios - 09.09.2008 at 14:26
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| What new Iced Earth album? Didn't they die after relishing "Burnt Offerings" and were replaced by alien pop clones? OK, seriously, they wrote masterpieces in their first three albums and descent heavy metal up to "Horror Show". Everything that followed it, was one disappointment after another. |
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I have to admid i like the more heavy fast riffs like on Night Of The Stormrider BUT The Crucible Of Man is Great in every way, its just not as "heavy" as night of the stormrider...is that neccessary? Some Releases consists of more heavy songs...other releases consist of more slower songs....so what? Its still Iced Earth in every way.
I cant see why the hell everyone is comparing every new album to Night Of The Stormrider. This album has some good Heavy Songs on it (The Revealing, The Dimension Gauntlet, Divide and Devour) . You should listen it some few times more and see the whole picture of it. I Think its great the way the songs are different in tempo and heaviness. Its very intressting to listen.
Jon Schaffer is telling an epic story and it is working on me. Every song has his own passing through the time of the Wicked Story Line. And Mathew Barlows voice brings the music to a higher level as a whole, again. (thank god he is back!).
Iced Earth will always do it their own way, so dont expect that EVERY album is filled with Only Heavy Fast Songs, like the most Metal bands do. The music is Pure and never boring, the people who say its boring dont know what they talk about.
And " hailsatan" claims Iced Earth will NEVER again make albums like the old ones?.....you just watch the Upcoming future release. If i know Iced Earth, then it will be f*cking heavy....Jon Schaffer is not known to make the same line of music every next album. And considering that this was the closing of the something wicked story...the next one will be made fully with barlows voice in mind and the old days are reborn.
Barlow and Schaffer together again, makes The best and purest Heavy Metal band on Earth.
The Review is a good one, Except i do disagree with some of the scroring. The Songwriting and Orginality only gets a 7 ?
Considering that Jon Schaffer wrote and thought an entire epic story line out......how is it NOT original?
Bands who can only sing about "fuck" and "depressive" are not original.....but come on man we are talking Iced Earth here, you wont hear this from other bands. |
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Sorry but they will never do anything as heavy as they've done in the past, but I'm more than willing to be proven wrong by the band. Dream Theater dropped a bomb on everyone with Systematic Chaos which was easily their darkest and heaviest offering to date so anything is possible. Nevermore and Symphony X also pulled the same stunt with their last 2 releases as well. I thought for sure Symphony X had peaked with The Divine Wings of Tragedy, and was completely surprised and blown away by Paradise Lost.
My point is that it's not very common for a band to drop a bomb like Night of the Stormrider or Burnt Offerings or even a show like Alive in Athens, and then come back years later and do something as heavy if not even heavier. I have been proven wrong in the past and may be again (I hope).
I think the guy who wrote that review needed a few more listenings before writing it though. Dropping a review on release day says you've given the cd maybe 2 or 3 listenings which is hardly enough. Watershed took me a good week or so to really get into and understand. Crucible is plenty heavy and way more mature musically than some of their other offerings. |
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 Jeff - 09.09.2008 at 22:58
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Written by ponderer on 09.09.2008 at 21:10
Sorry but they will never do anything as heavy as they've done in the past, but I'm more than willing to be proven wrong by the band. Dream Theater dropped a bomb on everyone with Systematic Chaos which was easily their darkest and heaviest offering to date so anything is possible. Nevermore and Symphony X also pulled the same stunt with their last 2 releases as well. I thought for sure Symphony X had peaked with The Divine Wings of Tragedy, and was completely surprised and blown away by Paradise Lost.
My point is that it's not very common for a band to drop a bomb like Night of the Stormrider or Burnt Offerings or even a show like Alive in Athens, and then come back years later and do something as heavy if not even heavier. I have been proven wrong in the past and may be again (I hope).
I think the guy who wrote that review needed a few more listenings before writing it though. Dropping a review on release day says you've given the cd maybe 2 or 3 listenings which is hardly enough. Watershed took me a good week or so to really get into and understand. Crucible is plenty heavy and way more mature musically than some of their other offerings.
I think that the "it cannot be heavier now" debate is not right. I mean, "Framing Armageddon" was heavier (and a lot better) than the "Horror Show"... so it's not right to say that Iced Earth is not able to do better releases than past ones. Of course I agree on the fact that it's really hard to do something better than classics albums like "Night of the Stormrider" etc but is it an excuse? No way and I will not say that the new album is perfect because some other few ones are untouchables (and if you read my review, you'll see that I'm cool with this album. The rating 7,3 is not = to 10 but this is NOT a bad rating.) But I think that we agree more or less here right?
One other thing, sorry dude but with SPV (their label) we got the promo CDs two or three months before the release date. So I had a lot of time for me (more than a single week ), and since that I really like the band and listen to them since a LOT of time, I perfectly know what I'm saying here. But hey, I'm not God, I'm not saying that I'm the only one who is right and you can disagree with my statement, don't worry but I don't want to be the only one who don't understand anything too... you see what I mean, this is just a matter of opinion, this is a review not the holy bible.
Don't take it for you, but I really try to be professional so your comment was just wrong and unfair. But you didn't know how it works apparently so it's ok |
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The main problem with this album is not that its soft, or that the lyrics are below par (they are), or that matt doesn't fit the songs. its simply that the album is boring. the soft songs are soft throughout, the faster songs are fast throughout, the heavier songs are heavier throughout. there are no ballads, there are no heavy songs, just every song is a mix between the two FOR THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE PIECE. one of the greatest strengths of matt as a vocalist, and he is my favorite vocalist, is his incredible range, and how quickly he can change a song. he added extra dimensions to each piece jon wrote with him in the band, yet it seems like he was extremely limited on this release.
this album also suffered from schaffer's attempts to expand musically. the timing and the style of singing were not classic iced earth, but some sort of new, overlapping style. it was like horror show gone wrong, with one style of singing being repeated over and over and over again.
i am more than confident that on the next album, matt will be able to expand his style. he has the incredible ability to be brutal one moment and then so melodic the next, like on "a question of heaven" or his version of "angels holocaust". i think on the next album, jon will realize that he has to use matts talents like he used to. schaffer was far to singular in focus on this album, as he has been working on this for years. the fact that there was a change of singer didn't help. yet iced earth is back with it's golden age duo, so i expect great, great things from the next release. and they're still iced earth live. this may be an average release, but the future is bright for this group. just some better lyrics and a little more imaginative songwriting. |
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Quote:
Don't take it for you, but I really try to be professional so your comment was just wrong and unfair. But you didn't know how it works apparently so it's ok
I don't think my comment was unfair at all since I had no idea people here were getting advanced copies of the cds. If you had stated that before, I never would have said anything. I was assuming you were like the rest of us peasants who get the releases either leaked or wait until retail.
Again, you guys seem to think I'm dead set on this opinion that Iced Earth will never do anything heavy again which is totally untrue. One more time for the slower kids...
If you read everything I've written you'll see I've clearly stated that I've been proven wrong in the past by bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X and Nevermore who continually surprise everyone by bringing something even heavier to the table with their latest releases. I'm hoping Iced Earth does the same which they haven't done yet. I'll agree with you Jeff that Framing Armageddon is probably the heaviest thing Iced Earth has done in a while, but it still doesn't hold a candle to some of the earlier stuff which could lead one (such as myself) to speculate that Iced Earth have given up the ghost. Maybe they have, maybe they haven't. Bands have a tendency to mellow with age which may be the case here. I have no problem with that at all, but the kids who are expecting Iced Earth to drop Dante's Inferno type tracks every cd are going to bitterly disappointed.
I'm not ripping on your review at all, but I did find it curious that this review came on almost the same day the cd retailed. You could have included a small bit about getting an advanced copy and how you've thoroughly listened to the cd. I'm pretty good at spotting bullshit from a distance and I think your review is genuinely good, but a 7? I'd go 8.5 on this one just because it has a special flavor. There are some deceptively heavy tracks on this which seem to have been overlooked. |
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Written by ponderer on 10.09.2008 at 11:31
I'm not ripping on your review at all, but I did find it curious that this review came on almost the same day the cd retailed. You could have included a small bit about getting an advanced copy and how you've thoroughly listened to the cd. I'm pretty good at spotting bullshit from a distance and I think your review is genuinely good, but a 7? I'd go 8.5 on this one just because it has a special flavor. There are some deceptively heavy tracks on this which seem to have been overlooked.
What? Come on.. Jeff does and I also get promo albums (very) early from labels before their release. A few other reviews probably do too. But when else are we supposed to post the review of an album? I was sat on Equilibrium's "Sagas" for about FOUR MONTHS, way before it had leaked - if I had posted the review for that as soon as I had got it, what would the point in that have been? I have some promos here that come out in November, but no one will care to read about them now.
We make the choice to put reviews on as they are released for a reason; simply that is when most people are going to be interested in reading about it, deciding if they will purchase it or not. |
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| That's cool and all, but I had no idea you guys got advanced copies of stuff so I feel bad for giving Jeff a bad time. It wasn't intended to be mean at all, I just thought it was odd that the review came so quick. Now I know you guys are hoarding music and reviews |
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Written by ponderer on 10.09.2008 at 12:12
That's cool and all, but I had no idea you guys got advanced copies of stuff so I feel bad for giving Jeff a bad time. It wasn't intended to be mean at all, I just thought it was odd that the review came so quick. Now I know you guys are hoarding music and reviews
Don't worry about it! We're used to getting all kinds of comments all the time in our reviews. Hahaha!
For future reference, you can generally see what reviews are coming here. |
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Still....a 7.3 is to low man  |
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Jeff - 11.09.2008 at 20:37
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Hailsatan: Don't worry I know that it was not a bad message, it's ok really!
About the rating, well I wrote so many reviews that I don't give a lot of 10 and 9 now... I don't know if it comes from experience or something else but now I'm convinced that a 7 is not a bad rating. |
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konstans - 12.09.2008 at 06:48
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| Iced Earth - Framing Armageddon I think 7.3 it's a little bit low to me 9 points as the place to be everybody says it's a soft you know what guys I listen every day black or death metal and I listen and very high volume sometimes I need to listen something soft I found this album very enjoyable and that's my opinion |
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Well, Iced EArth Did a really Good Job in this ALbum, in my opinion
First of All, It fits The Epica (Something Wicked)
and I like The Middle-eastern Melodies, Special Vibe
The Vocals are awesome, cause MAtt BArlow is Back!!
The Music are FAntastic, The Songs are Epic (Except 1 or 2 songs), The Production is nice
About the songs, well, I Love the Intro track
and there are Great songs like "Behold the Wicked Child" "The Dimension Gauntlet" "I WAlk Alone" "Harbringer OF Fate" "Divide & Devour" and ofc "Something Wicked Pt. 3"
The Review is good, But I think The rate is too low
My RAte is 9 |
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common guys ... give this album at least a 9 !!
It doesn't have to be HEAVY !! it's great ... pure melodic.
However, I liked the first part better |
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| i need this album...NEED I TELL YOU!!! |
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Written by CyGuy6587 on 05.09.2008 at 21:34
All i can say is meh, Pyramaze's new release shits all over Crucible of Man
Ya, that's exactly what I was thinking. : / |
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| I've actually decided that after a few listens the new album is actually very good, not really a bad song on it, I take back what I said before |
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Written by Jeff on 11.09.2008 at 20:37
Hailsatan: Don't worry I know that it was not a bad message, it's ok really!
About the rating, well I wrote so many reviews that I don't give a lot of 10 and 9 now... I don't know if it comes from experience or something else but now I'm convinced that a 7 is not a bad rating.
Sure, a 7 is NOT a bad rating ....but a 7 is just average for me. On the Scale from 1 to 10, a 6 is " O.K"......and a 7 is average.
In my opinion we are not talking about an average album. So an 8 would better fit this album atleast, which means"Good".
Im not trying to push you to change the rating in any way ofcourse, dear jeff....  |
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konstans - 25.09.2008 at 03:48
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Iced Earth I saw them last night live in monreal they gave unbelievable show ICED EARTH ROCK anybody would like them my suggestion go see them live you will never regret  |
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yeah saw them live in june, awesome show!! i like the new album very much, i just cant handle tim's voice, so im glad there is gonna be a box set containing both parts sung by Matt  |
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Great album an 8.5 for me but i preferd "Framing Armageddon" i'm sure many of you think i must be crazy but i also preferred tim's voice  |
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Hourglass - 25.10.2008 at 20:58
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I agree with Icon Maiden, because we can't say the problem is that it's too soft that's not a good reason to rate it 7, but the thing is that most of this songs don't change much through out the only songs that kind of stood out for me at least were "A Gift or A Course" and "Divide or Devour" but I only listened to it 3 times now but in my defense I'll say that previous Iced earth albums have gotten stuck in my head on the first listen. But this isn't bad but there is definitely room for improvement here.
I'm glad for Barlow's return he fits better in Iced Earth than Tim. (I like Tim as well but he doesn't sound evil enough for Iced Earth) |
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| This Album is not a letdown in anyways, maybe its different from other IE albums, is slower and less Heavy but still kick ass. Barlow vocals are Epic as always and even when the album is less fast and Heavy it still sounds really Evil and Obscure. IMO it deserves at least an 8.3 |
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Written by Angel_Lament on 12.09.2008 at 23:03
Well, Iced EArth Did a really Good Job in this ALbum, in my opinion
First of All, It fits The Epica (Something Wicked)
and I like The Middle-eastern Melodies, Special Vibe
The Vocals are awesome, cause MAtt BArlow is Back!!
The Music are FAntastic, The Songs are Epic (Except 1 or 2 songs), The Production is nice
About the songs, well, I Love the Intro track
and there are Great songs like "Behold the Wicked Child" "The Dimension Gauntlet" "I WAlk Alone" "Harbringer OF Fate" "Divide & Devour" and ofc "Something Wicked Pt. 3"
The Review is good, But I think The rate is too low
My RAte is 9
That's what im talking about. you explained all the reasons why this album really rocks and deserve a higher rate  |
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Written by Metalbound7 on 16.11.2008 at 15:20
Written by Angel_Lament on 12.09.2008 at 23:03
Well, Iced EArth Did a really Good Job in this ALbum, in my opinion
First of All, It fits The Epica (Something Wicked)
and I like The Middle-eastern Melodies, Special Vibe
The Vocals are awesome, cause MAtt BArlow is Back!!
The Music are FAntastic, The Songs are Epic (Except 1 or 2 songs), The Production is nice
About the songs, well, I Love the Intro track
and there are Great songs like "Behold the Wicked Child" "The Dimension Gauntlet" "I WAlk Alone" "Harbringer OF Fate" "Divide & Devour" and ofc "Something Wicked Pt. 3"
The Review is good, But I think The rate is too low
My RAte is 9
That's what im talking about. you explained all the reasons why this album really rocks and deserve a higher rate
I do really love this album & listened to it many & many times....
Nice to see someone who has the same opinion |
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This is a pretty good album, nothing amazing, but a solid album. Divide and Devour has become one of my favorite Iced Earth songs, and I really enjoy Behold the Wicked Child and Crucify the King too. I still think the story should have been condensed to 1 CD instead of 2, but thats just me.
Now that Matt is back, Schaffer is going to finally have someone helping him write songs again, so I have a good feeling the next album will be much stronger. |
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| Well, I asked this album for Christmas, but now, I'm not sure if I still want it so much... Half comments are negative, while the other half are critical acclaim... Anyway, I guess I'll make my own opinion after listening to it (well, if I do have it for X-mas...) |
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| This album continus the last one very well.....more melodies.....great feeling songs....and good ending.like others im happy that matt has returned to band.....like it....like it so much |
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| Well I bought it before x-mas since I kinda found out I was gonna have Framing Armageddon as a gift... Anyway, after listening twice to The Crucible of Man, I must admit there's a huge lack of heavy tracks on that album. I hope the first part will be faster... The album is not so bad, but when I listen to US Power Metal, I expect speed and epic feel, but these two things are almost absent in the Crucible. Barlow's voice is good enough on slow ballads, but much more efficient in the only fast song, Divide Devour, which is the one highlight of the album IMO. The strong points of the album are the concept and lyrics, though I don't entirely understand the story since I don't have the first part yet. The cover art and the CD itself are real cool and the booklet is cartoonish but is a good support to the story and lyrics. 7/10 |
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I felt at some point i had to reply to what most are saying in reference to this Album "not as heavy" or wishing it were "another night of the stormrider". I do agree to some extent, but you cant look at change as a negative thing either, especially with this album. Hell dragonforce made 4 albums that all sound that same. Great band, great talennt, yet proof enough that some bands need to get experimental and try something new.
After listening to this album for some time, I'd have to give it an 8.5/10. it's still Iced Earth all the way!
Though Tim did a fantastic job, Welcome back Matt!  |
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I dislike this album. Generic and totally uninspired. It's only boring chugga-chug track after track. By the way, many songs are ridiculously short. It's a matter of tastes, of course, but it's one of the most boring album I heard in 2008.
And Barlow sucks on many parts. Anyway, I always found him quite overrated. He's a decent singer, no more. |
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| Good review. This album is pretty enjoyable.. but not remarkable. |
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Iced-Guardian - 11.08.2009 at 06:26
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Written by CyGuy6587 on 05.09.2008 at 21:34
All i can say is meh, Pyramaze's new release shits all over Crucible of Man
ive listened to this album its ok sum songs are good others id rather just not listen to...and the new pyramaze album wasnt all that great either to be truthful... |
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