ICED EARTH

The year is 1995. Century Media releases a new ICED EARTH record that surpasses the band's previous releases in every respect. Having finally forged their signature style — a cold, icicle-sharp guitar sound wrapped in frosty acoustic landscapes — the band staked their claim on the thrash-adjacent clearing of the power metal summit, which at the time was already teeming with big names, mostly of German origin. "Burnt Offerings" turned out considerably lighter and far more varied than "Night Of The Stormrider." New vocalist Matthew Barlow alternates between wolf-like barking and stretching out notes that come surprisingly close to Mark Boals territory... The Eastern inflections that appeared sporadically on the two previous records received proper development here, and biblical references began popping up in the lyrics. Looking at the cover, one can't help but recall "Don't Break The Oath" by MERCYFUL FATE. And indeed, the 16-minute epic Dante Inferno resonates quite palpably with Satan's Fall by the renowned proto-black metallers. I'd single out the title track Burnt Offerings, the speedy Brainwashed, and the short interlude The Pierced Spirit — which sounds strictly in the vein of a swashbuckling d'Artagnan soundtrack — as the album's finest moments.