Band: Iced Earth Album: Overture of the Wicked Label: SPV Rating: 8.5/10 Website: http://www.icedearth.com BUY NOW!

"Overture" of the Wicked is the new single/EP from Heavy Metal stalwart's, Iced Earth. Featuring not only a new track from the forthcoming album "Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1)", it also includes a complete reworking of the "Something Wicked" trilogy compromising of the songs "Prophecy", "Birth of the Wicked", and "The Coming Curse" which of course featured on the phenominal "Something Wicked This Way Comes". The new track, "Ten Thousand Strong", is a great song that could easily have been on the "Glorious Burden". It does actually sound similar to "Declaration Day", but a bit more melodic and catchy. Next, is the "Something Wicked" trilogy, vocally not as good as the Matthew Barlow version, but overall it is much darker and aggressive than the original. Although there are some that haven't taken to Tim Owens, he does sound fantastic on here and he has definitely stamped his own mark on the Trilogy songs. The new track provides a great and promising insight into the new album, and, if the rest of the album is anything like this track, then we're sure to have a monster of an album on our hands. Chris Rogers Back to Reviews