Iced Earth - Plagues of Babylon

General Zod said:
This is definitely my favorite Iced Earth disc since The Glorious Burden. And although nothing here (and few things ever do) reaches the heights of "The Gettysburg Trilogy", this is a damn fine album. Stu has clearly been coached to approach his vocals in a very Barlowesque manner, but I have no issue with it. He's very convincing in his role and is a damn fine vocalist in his own right. Ultimately, he's a great fit for the band. I'll be surprised if this doesn't wind up in my Top 5 of 2014. It seems to grow on me more with each listen. Make sure you get the Limited Edition. It includes a cover song with Stu, Russel Allen and Michael from Volbeat. It's an amazing song.
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I agree 100%. I can not wait to catch them on tour. Stu was such a great move to get him in the band. Into Eternity still rocks, but Stu with IE is legendary!!!!!
 
I kinda get a generic feel from the album as well. Nothing really has grabbed me after the first 3 listens, except "The Highwayman" That song is really great.

Is anyone else as tired as I am of the something wicked timeline? I think it's time to kill it off... I end up skipping these songs.
 
TwizstedJesus said:
Horror Show???? That's the reason why I gave up on Iced Earth!

Seriously though, the new disc is pretty damn good!


Horror Show??? Really?
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Horror Show rules ... I love the whole damn thing . except for the misplaced Ghost Of Freedom.

As for this new IE .. it's really good. I've liked both of these Stu discs quite a bit. I hated the Crucible of Man, and the one before that.

Britt
 
I think this is literally the quintessential IE album. It's got by far the best production of any IE album hands down, really catchy songs, some interesting soft bits, but it's also extremely heavy as well.

I had NO idea Schaffer had this in him. This record is rekindling my love for the band, which I haven't really given that much thought about in many many years.

Cthulhu might just be one of my favorite all time metal songs.
 
Apparently they recorded the album in Germany and Schaffer produced the whole thing himself. That's so weird to think he did a better job than what another actual engineer could do.
 
Weird indeed. Given what a control freak he is, it's also weird that if he wanted a different sound, he simply didn't push Jim to give him a different sound. Either way, I'm totally loving the sound of the record.
 
labarum said:
I kinda get a generic feel from the album as well. Nothing really has grabbed me after the first 3 listens, except "The Highwayman" That song is really great.

Is anyone else as tired as I am of the something wicked timeline? I think it's time to kill it off... I end up skipping these songs.
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I agree. I listened to it while it streamed online and I won't be purchasing it.
 
On the topic of production, I like how darker it is. Or, well, sort of sloppier I guess? I don't know how to describe it but I agree it's the best he's sounded. I love it more with every listen, though I get somewhat disappointed with how front-end loaded the disc is. Still, for the North American tour they can open with the first 6 songs on this record and I'd be happy. As long as they play Cthulhu too.
 
testofwills said:
oh yeah--such a live sounding in your face record...how about them drums..they stick way out in the production..its like holy cow,,,,,i bought some new Paradigm speakers for my turntable and it sounds massive
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Agreed. I've recently been testing out new headphones. I've been using the title track as one of my test songs, just because I absolutely love the snare sound on this record.
 
Interesting... somehow I never even thought to take a look at the production credits... but it actually should have been pretty clear to me that Jim Morris did not produce this album. I've always found Jim Morris' production to be excellent, but I can definitely hear differences on this disc. It's all good though, the production and engineering on Plagues Of Babylon is still excellent.
 
Wow, you all weren't kidding about the how great the sound is on this cd. Music and production are awesome.....
 
Taking a look at the writing credits surprises me as well. I'm so used to seeing every song written by Jon with a few lyrics from whoever the singer is this week. Plagues has songwriting from every member, with only three songs written entirely by Jon, with one being a cover. I'm shocked honestly.
 
Very thorough interview here at BWBK where Jon discusses his role as producer on this disc and what he was wanting it to sound like (like a live band that's been touring it's ass off). I didn't see Morrrisound mentioned at all in the production credits.

http://www.bravewords.com/news/216928

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Credits listed at: http://icedearth.com/discography/plagues-of-babylon-0

PRODUCED BY JON SCHAFFER

MIXED BY KEVIN PAUL AND JON SCHAFFER

MASTERED BY SASCHA “BUSY” BÜHREN

ARTWORK BY ELIRAN KANTOR

LAYOUT BY CARSTEN DRESCHER FOR MEDIALOGISTICS

RECORDED AT PRINCIPAL STUDIOS, SENDEN, GERMANY

ENGINEERED BY JÖRG UMBREIT & VINCENT SORG

ASSISTANTS: TONI LOITSCH & HANNO LOHSE
 
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