Kingcrimsonprog Matt Barlow was the American Heavy Metal band Iced Earth’s singer for six years between 1995 and 2001, he wasn’t the band’s first ever singer but he was arguably their most popular. After he left the band to join the police force following 9/11 Iced Earth recruited Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens for the superb The Glorious Burden album as well as the concept album, Something Wicked Part 1: Framing Armageddon, which was one part of a two album set.

For the second part of this two album set however, rather than stick with Ripper, Iced Earth welcomed back former singer Matt Barlow which feels a little untidy to me, first of all because Ripper was a great vocalist and the albums he sang on weren’t even considered failures (like what had happened with Iron Maiden in a similar situation) and secondly, if you’re going to do a two part story it feels odd to switch singers. Even more untidily, this would then be Matt’s final album with the band as he would leave once again straight afterward. Its almost so untidy as to be off-putting, luckily however, Matt Barlow is a superb talent and a natural fit for the band and everything he touches is top quality.

Regardless; of who is singing, this is an interesting album for the band. It is quite a progressive album for the band, focusing less on classic Thrash Metal and Power Metal sounds like those which made the band famous, and concentrating more on rhythms and textures than ever before. There’s also quite a bit of background percussion every so often. Its also a slower and more mid-paced record than a lot of the band’s previous work. It shows the band exploring a different side of things and is definitely interesting for the long term fan. The 2008 record was produced by the legendary Jim Morris and sounds terrific.

The story about the ‘wicked child’ called Set and his messianic relationship to the Setian race (of Aliens) versus his destructive relationship with human kind makes for interesting listening. If you focus on this side of things you get a little bit extra and if you’re not interested you still have a great Heavy Metal album to listen to.

Highlights include the fun doomy ‘Crucify The King,’ as well as ‘Divide Devour’ which is the albums heaviest hardest track (yet features choral chanting and a catchy Sabaton-esque chorus) and the seven-minute ‘Come What May’ which has flutes, violins and extra percussion to spice things up.

Overall; this is an interesting transition between the Stu Block era of the band and the previous Tim Owens era. Musically it isn’t exactly the album you expect when you say Iced Earth but it is a very interesting addition to their discography and a strong album in its own right and so adds a little something extra to their sound. If you like the band, don’t miss out.

UMUR "The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked, Part 2" is the 10th full-length studio album by US power metal act Iced Earth. The album was released in September 2008 by SPV GmbH. "The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked, Part 2" is the 3rd album Iced Earth's concept of the "Something Wicked" Saga which started with "Something Wicked This Way Comes (1998)".

Former lead vocalist Matthew Barlow, who was a member of Iced Earth in the period 1995 - 2003 (and who is band founder/guitarist Jon Schaffer´s brother-in-law), has returned to the fold and replaces Tim "Ripper" Owens who sang on the last two studio albums by the band: "The Glorious Burden (2004)" and "Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked, Part 1 (2007)".

Matthew Barlow´s vocals fit like a glove with Iced Earth´s music but his performance here isn´t necessarily the triumphant return many had hoped for. That is in large part due to the quality of the material though but unfortunately also the sound production. Most tracks on the album are around 3 to 4 minutes long and and while the basic mid-paced US power metal sound is beefed up by epic keyboards and lead guitar themes the formula seems a bit tried at this point. It took me several listens before I could pick out some semi-highlights (a track like "Harbinger of Fate" comes to mind) and the material is generally not that catchy even though it´s very melodic. The playing is of course faultless but that´s to be expected from a prolific act like Iced Earth. As mentioned the sound production isn´t very successful to my ears either. Especially the horribly triggered bass drums sound artificial and weak. They bother me. The epic lyrical theme, which could have turned out pretty great, also comes off a bit too pompous.

So while "The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked, Part 2" features excellent musicianship as it´s greatest asset it fails to truly engage me in the songwriting department and bearing the artificial sounding production in mind too, this is a pretty mediocre Iced Earth album. I´d definitely recommend newcomers to start somewhere else in the band´s discography. Still I´d say a 2.5 - 3 star rating is warranted.

Time Signature Behold the wicked metal...

Genre: power metal

With a release by power metal legends Iced Earth, called "The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked, Part II" and with songs titles such as "Behold the Wicked Child", "Minions of the Watch", "The Crown of the Fallen", "Harbinger of Fate" and "Crucify the King", you almost know what you get, dont you?

You get fine tuned and well-balanced power metal.

It is larger than life but not pompous. It is melodic but not cheesy. It is powerful but not brutal. It is epic but not longwinded. It is symphonic but not grandiose. It is elegant but not ball-less. It is complex but not mindboggling. It is rock but not roll. It is power metal. It is Iced Earth.

(apologies for sounding like a French perfume advertisement, or rather a Lee Mack parody on a French perfume advertisement)

This album should appeal to power metal fans who like their music epic and sweeping but not too corny.