this was the first Iced Earth album i heard! so its apt that its the first one i review...

actually, i only heard 4 songs off it - Damien, Ghost of Freedom, Dracula and The Phantom Opera Ghost. these 4 alone are enough to justify the 4 stars that i've given the album overall.

Damien, with its intriguing chorus intro takes you back to the days of "The Omen" with perfect, uncanny ease...the slow, almost prog-like interlude ends with a haunting narration from the "Dark One"'s perspective and the final 4-5 minutes is up there amongst the best pieces of metal music i've heard. Ghost of Freedom is my other favourite song on this album. in spite of its almost ballad-like feel, it fits the Iced Earth style quite well with the soft, inviting intro leading to a strong verse and topped off with an incredible chorus with everyone chanting...i love the way the last couple of minutes is a repeat of the words:

Don't tread on me...live free or die!!! To our fallen brothers You died to keep us free To our fallen brothers Who gave us liberty!!!

...and i'll leave it at that for you to discover the rest.

here i am reviewing the first album i've managed to get before its official release in my 20+ years of collecting music! being a big fan of SX, i did pick the 2-CD "special edition" which is only "special" because it has all the songs meant to be on the record...

"Iconoclast" for me would have been a 5-rater if it were by a band called "X" but i docked them the 1 star because its "Symphony X". let me explain why:

Romeo says when asked about the band's style "We are a metal band, we have progressive tendencies and incorporate classical ideas into the music." but "Iconoclast" is almost purely a metal album with a few twists thrown in for good measure.

dont get me wrong, the stuff is great - the songs Iconoclast, Dehumanized, Heretic, Children of a Faceless God, Electric Messiah, Prometheus, Reign in Madness are all fantastic and full of super riffs, powerful instrumentation and excellent vocals and When All Is Lost is a great "ballad" along the lines of The Accolade and Candlelight Fantasia but where is the symphonic brilliance of "V" and "The Odyssey" or even "Paradise Lost" (check out the songs The Walls of Babylon and Revelation (Divus Pennae ex Tragoedia)" ?

i would say 3.5 stars but give it ehe extra .5 simply because they are one of my favourite bands and i would like them to come back in a couple of years with something even better...