Review of The Dark Saga by Iced Earth ***

Just What the World Needs: A Metallica Copy Cat.  No Really!

If Iced Earth doesn’t make you think of Metallica’s first 4 albums, then I have no understanding of you.  Iced Earth is a Metallica clone, in the vein of Kill Em’ All, And Justice for All, Ride the Lightning, and Master of Puppets.  Though those 4 albums are all very different from each other, Iced Earth is a lot like a hybrid of all them.  For example, the vocalist has the same range, and sings in the same way.  The production on the guitars is almost identical the production used on the early Metallica albums.  You know what I mean?  I mean the band Metallica, before they sold their souls!  That Metallica sold their souls was a real disappointment for a lot of folk, including myself, Iced Earth turned out to be an excellent replacement for them.  The Dark Saga is a very solid album.  Like Metallica, you don’t need a lyric sheet to follow along.  I almost never follow along with lyric sheets.  If I can’t understand the lyrics without a lyric sheet, then the lyrics weren’t meant to be understood, but the enunciation of the words from Iced Earth’s vocalist are impeccably understandable.  And, the words are not only audible, but also powerful, emotional, and well written.  Because several of the best songs on this album are all on later packages, what was created with the Dark Saga is a really awesome album that there is not so much of a need for because parts of it are available elsewhere.  The other thing Iced Earth suffers from is a lack of diversity in its music.  Even if one of these song doesn’t reappear on a later album, Iced Earth is not diverse enough for me to feel like I am actually missing someone after I have heard about 30 Iced Earth songs.  Why not just release the other goodies on The Dark Saga, and have something like a Days of Purgatory Pt.2?  Some people think that the lack of diversity in Iced Earth’s sound is a strength, but in my opinion, all Iced Earth songs are just a little too similar for my taste.  Take almost any one song by itself, and I love it though.  That is why it is just a 3 star album instead of a 4 star album.  Also, I am totally into the mystical sounds of this album that make me think of playing the game Magic The Gathering.