Stu Block Singing On New Iced Earth Album Dystopia

[CantoX]

The only song I liked off the last album with Barlow was Come What May. The other songs were so boring.

Dystopia has great songs. I'm really liking Iron Will, V, and Equilibrium, along with the other songs I mentioned before. Days of Rage is an instant-skip for me.

Iced Earth has always had emotional style lyrics with that heavy metal feel!

 

[Phanto]

Iced Earth has a few really good songs. Here are a couple.

 

[Kenneth R.]

The first one you posted is probably one of their best songs. And it's not really all that interesting once the listener discovers that all the other songs use the same formula. It's just too emo for me. I guess this is kind of a single dude living in the basement fan kind of band? I gotta say too, the dude on the cover of every album just smacks of Eddie/Iron Maiden, along with the galloping riffs in every song - just about seals any doubt they're huge fans of NWOBHM and would love to be as successful. Unfortunately, only Maiden can pull off the same trick a bunch of times without sounding stale.

Second song: Didn't I just say it's the same trick? Shame too, cause the belted-out vocals would be awesome with better lyrics and music.

 

[donKyle]

Well Iron Maiden is their biggest musical influence, and it does show in the music and album art, even the font for the letters.

 

[Zook]

None lately, since I think they're boring. Average, generic almost-doom metal with emo lyrics. Seriously? How can people get excited about this band? zzz

This describes Evergrey, not Iced Earth. How is Iced Earth emo? Most of their songs are fantasy based.

Also, Jon is a huge Iron Maiden fan, and I'm sure Eddie was the inspiration for Set Abominae, but I hope you aren't implying he's a rip off. They look nothing alike.


How the fuck is Iced Earth emo????

 

[_Gentleman of_the Snow_]

I'm not too familiar with Iced Earth, but from what I have heard, I am not a fan.

That being said, I find Iron Maiden to be atrocious, and highly repetitive (as mentioned).

 

[CantoX]

How the fuck is Iced Earth emo????

Last December
Watching Over Me
I Died For You
Melancholy
My Own Savior
End of Innocence

Those songs are totally emo!

 

[Kenneth R.]

This describes Evergrey, not Iced Earth. How is Iced Earth emo? Most of their songs are fantasy based.

Also, Jon is a huge Iron Maiden fan, and I'm sure Eddie was the inspiration for Set Abominae, but I hope you aren't implying he's a rip off. They look nothing alike.


How the fuck is Iced Earth emo????

Really?

My only comfort is in death
My only solace, my dying breath
For release, I have prayed
Thrown past life, not afraid

Life's a bitch, life's a whore
Nothing less, nothing more
There is nothing she would do for me
I will end this suffering

Emptiness, consuming me
Head in hands, I can hardly speak
Looking for solitude
Lost in humanity
True knowledge leads to suffering
A constant quest an endless dream
Searching for inner peace
Hidden so deep in me

Don't wanna be a hollow man
Ain't gonna be the hollow man

Sadness comes knocking constantly
Filling up my eyes, for all to see
Peace will come someday
I pray that it finds a way
Darkness caressing my mind and soul
My spirits rejecting, I'm feeling whole
Emptiness goes away

When the Eagle Cries (blood will flow)
When the Eagle Cries they made us stronger (for freedoms fight)
When the Eagle Cries we'll sacrifice (we love us all)
When the Eagle Cries for freedom's fight (we'll sacrifice)
When the Eagle Cries

Shall I continue? uke:

 

[donKyle]

Yes, I agree with End of Innocence and Last December. The one from Dark Saga just goes with the story of Spawn right? Watching over me is supposed to be a tribute to one of Jon's friends who died. And is there anything wrong with a song about 9/11? Ok, it was kind of lame. But still, that's like what, 10 songs? It's not like they're some crappy screamo band haha

 

[Kenneth R.]

Only 10 songs. Lol.

 

[Zook]

Really?

My Own Savior

Shall I continue? uke:

The only song that can remotely be "emo", and even then, there are no whiny or screamo vocals.

Hollow Man (while a really shitty song) is a song about the invisible man. The track was originally intended for Horror Show. Doesn't make sense? You're not alone, but Ghost Of Freedom and Hollow Man should be swapped.

When The Eagle Cries is about 9/11. How is that emo? Maybe you just don't like emotional songs in general, but that doesn't mean every emotional song is emo, because while emo derives from the term "emotion", the term "emo" is totally different nowadays.

Last December
Watching Over Me
I Died For You
Melancholy
My Own Savior
End of Innocence

Those songs are totally emo!

Last December - About Romeo And Juliet or something similar. Not emo.
Watching Over Me - a ballad about Jon's friend who died in a motorcycle accident. Not emo.
I Died For You - A song about Al Simmons from Spawn being tricked by the devil into selling his soul to see WAAAANNNNDAAAAAA again. This song isn't emo either...
Meloncholy - A song about Jesus. Not sure how this is emo either.
My Own Savior - The only one that comes close to a song an emo band would write, but come on now.
End Of Innocence - About Stu's mom who died of cancer. Not emo.

You fellas seem to be confused about what "emo" is. All those songs minus My Own Savior are emotional ballads. If you want emo, here it is:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0U0AlLVqpk&ob=av2n[/ame]

uke:

 

[iceandfire84]

Iced Earth used to be one of my favorite bands (pre-Glorious Burden) although there are one or two decent tracks in the newer albums i like (i.e. Gettysburg trio, Come What May). I still think the Alive in Athens disc and DVD are among the top performances of all time for a metal band. I have yet to listen to the new album but I'm hopeful for Stu and future of this band. Definitely agree that Jon Schaffer's more recent compositions lack real weight and do tend to be pretty bland.

On a side note - Ken, stereotyping fans of a band by calling them single, basement dwellers is pretty lame. I would think that someone that seems to consider himself a "refined" music listener would have more class than that.

 

[CantoX]

@ Zook

Those songs still have emo type lyrics. I didn't literally mean it's emo style music, but it's still emotional if you know what I'm saying.

Dude the song you posted is not emo. That's pop music. If you want real emo check this shiz:

 

[Zook]

How is that Simple Plan song not emo?

Here's a summary of the lyrics:

"boo hoo, everyone gets what they want and I have to work for everything, boo hoo, people are mean to me, boo hoo"

That song was written by emo losers for emo losers.

AND THEY PLAY TWO VERSIONS OF THAT SHIT EVERYDAY AT MY JOB!!!!!

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

I still think the Alive in Athens disc and DVD are among the top performances of all time for a metal band.

I agree. There's so much raw power on that album. Three discs of awesomeness.

Also, I can't stop laughing about Iced Earth supposedly being "emo." There is absolutely nothing about them that could be considered emo. Just because a song is about suicide does not mean it is emo. Consider the song My Own Savior, which was written before the huge emo craze happened:

My only comfort is in death
My only solace, my dying breath
For release, I have prayed
Thrown past life, not afraid

Life's a bitch, life's a whore
Nothing less, nothing more
There is nothing she would do for me
I will end this suffering

Existence of one man
Hatred with no end
My madness, my sadness
I am my own savior

The voices are calling
Out of this life, I'm falling
There is one choice, that I see
In raging flames, The Dark One awaits

The fact that the lyrics state "I am my own savior" indicates that only the main character of the song can save himself, unlike emo, where suicidal thoughts are merely pathetic attempts to get others' attention. Besides, the music in this song is straight-up heavy metal; it doesn't matter how supposedly "emo" the lyrics are, since emo music doesn't sound like that.

The lighter Iced Earth songs that are supposedly emo aren't, either. Just because a song is somewhat depressing does not make it emo.

Iced Earth could wear eyeliner, cut their wrists, and have highlights in their swoop haircuts and they still wouldn't be emo if their music still sounded the way it always has.

 

[Zook]

I agree. There's so much raw power on that album. Three discs of awesomeness.

Also, I can't stop laughing about Iced Earth supposedly being "emo." There is absolutely nothing about them that could be considered emo. Just because a song is about suicide does not mean it is emo. Consider the song My Own Savior, which was written before the huge emo craze happened:

My only comfort is in death
My only solace, my dying breath
For release, I have prayed
Thrown past life, not afraid

Life's a bitch, life's a whore
Nothing less, nothing more
There is nothing she would do for me
I will end this suffering

Existence of one man
Hatred with no end
My madness, my sadness
I am my own savior

The voices are calling
Out of this life, I'm falling
There is one choice, that I see
In raging flames, The Dark One awaits

The fact that the lyrics state "I am my own savior" indicates that only the main character of the song can save himself, unlike emo, where suicidal thoughts are merely pathetic attempts to get others' attention. Besides, the music in this song is straight-up heavy metal; it doesn't matter how supposedly "emo" the lyrics are, since emo music doesn't sound like that.

The lighter Iced Earth songs that are supposedly emo aren't, either. Just because a song is somewhat depressing does not make it emo.

Iced Earth could wear eyeliner, cut their wrists, and have highlights in their swoop haircuts and they still wouldn't be emo if their music still sounded the way it always has.

Zook likes this.

 

[Kenneth R.]

The Alive in Athens disc (I made a condensed version cutting out half the tracks) is the only Iced Earth I can listen to.

Zook, whether you acknowledge it or not, there's just a lot of shit lyric writing going around, and a lot of it is emo. Your apologetics for some of the songs are in the form of "It's about _____ tragedy". Picking that as a topic and writing about it is just as emo as making up a story about it, especially when one focuses on the "tragic" and "painful suffering" elements.

I haven't even started on how massively lame it is to write a song about random topics of interest and just tell the story verbatim with lyrics a 15 year old would be ashamed of. That's a whole other can of worms. A lot of bands do it, and a lot of songs suffer for it. A few can pull it off by turning the story with a new perspective or implied allegory. Verbatim however, is always boring as drying paint.

 

[donKyle]

I think if Iced Earth were emo, they'd be more mainstream. So, what is considered a cool thing to write a song about?

 

[CantoX]

Iced Earth could wear eyeliner, cut their wrists, and have highlights in their swoop haircuts and they still wouldn't be emo if their music still sounded the way it always has.

So Misfits are emo?

And oh yeah Alive In Athens is so so so so good! Best live metal performance period! By the way, did I ever tell you guys that I think the video shown on the Alive In Athens DVD is not actually the performance of the recorded music. There's tons of parts where you can see Barlow singing something but you don't hear anything, and lots of places where the solos being played are not matching up with what we're seeing, and a lot of times the video is not in sync with the audio but that could just be bad editing, and not all the songs performed are not on the DVD. Not to mention the DVD came out in 2006 when it was actually performed in 1999. Its all too sketchy and doesn't add up.

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

I haven't even started on how massively lame it is to write a song about random topics of interest and just tell the story verbatim with lyrics a 15 year old would be ashamed of. That's a whole other can of worms. A lot of bands do it, and a lot of songs suffer for it. A few can pull it off by turning the story with a new perspective or implied allegory. Verbatim however, is always boring as drying paint.

Haha, this made me think of this Iced Earth gem:

The son of a major, Prussian nobleman
His name bestowed by a holy Roman
The war broke out, so he looked to the air
24 hours of training and he was there

100 miles an hour, top speed his plane would fly
And if he flew behind you, you know you're sure to die
Eighty kills that are confirmed
While other pilots have so much more to learn

Red Baron... Blue Max
The albatross flies high
Red Baron... Blue Max
He's got you in his sights

The Red Battle Flyer, red like fire
He sees no faces, he's the ace of aces

His British quarry flew a reckless flight
A shot from the ground took the Red Baron's life
He flew with honor, he flew with pride
In 1918, the battle flyer died

Interesting topic, terrible lyrics.

By the way, did I ever tell you guys that I think the video shown on the Alive In Athens DVD is not actually the performance of the recorded music. There's tons of parts where you can see Barlow singing something but you don't hear anything, and lots of places where the solos being played are not matching up with what we're seeing, and a lot of times the video is not in sync with the audio but that could just be bad editing, and not all the songs performed are not on the DVD. Not to mention the DVD came out in 2006 when it was actually performed in 1999. Its all too sketchy and doesn't add up.

I wasn't even aware there was an Alive In Athens DVD until now, so it's news to me!