ICED EARTH 'Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1)' (SPV) RATING: 9/10

By RYAN MAVITY

Now here’s how you do some power metal. Iced Earth doesn’t just flirt with the bombastic, larger than life trappings of the genre; they fully embrace them, revel in them and take power metal to another level.

Pretentious? Ridiculous? Whatever. Who cares, Framing Armageddon is above all things an awesome metal album. Full of big guitars, big ideas, big choruses and big vocals, Framing Armageddon, the first of two concept albums coming from the brain of Iced Earth mastermind Jon Schaffer, above all else kicks some serious ass. For evidence of that, I point to "Setian Massacre" and the album’s best track and first single, "Ten Thousand Strong." The latter song shows off Iced Earth at their best: the galloping rhythms of drummer Brent Smedley and bassist Dennis Hayes, the fierce guitar lines of Schaffer and Troy Seelie, and most of all, the powerhouse pipes of Tim "Ripper" Owens.

The album touches on themes of war, religion and power. The story is told through a bizarre science fiction scenario involving a race of omniscient beings called the Setians who live on Earth and are massacred by the invading humans, who seek universal power and knowledge, leaving only 10,000 Setians alive. The Setians hide out in the mountains and plot revenge on the humans by using a plan called "The Clouding" to brainwash the humans and make them forget their origins. Once the humans are sufficiently brainwashed--Oh, fuck it, does it really matter once you hear Owens unleash his trademark scream on "Execution"? Schaffer’s story is interesting and fairly clear to follow as far as these kinds of albums go. The scenario sounds complicated, but it's fairly straightforward, and the song titles and Owens’s mostly clean vocals keep us in the story.

But like I said, all of that is background noise the minute Owens lets the scream loose. Next to Halford, is there anybody who screams higher, louder or more consistently? Owens’s addition to Iced Earth has enabled Schaffer to pull off concepts like this because the songwriter’s ambition is matched by the vocalist’s capabilities. Throw in versatile guitar work by Seelie and Schaffer ,and the album takes on many dimensions. Seelie’s work on "The Clouding" in particular is, dare I say it, moving.

The album isn’t perfect. Many of the songs are joined by segues that are supposed to advance the story and provide a mood, but many end up being filler that takes away from the album a little. Then again, the excess defines the album, so maybe I’m nitpicking a bit.

All told, Framing Armageddon is as hard-hitting, operatic and over-the-top as power metal gets. It’s how this style of music was meant to be done and further confirms Iced Earth as one of the genre’s leading lights.