ICED EARTH: ICED EARTH Remixed and Remastered 
To mark the 30th anniversary of the release of their widely acclaimed debut album, Heavy Metal legends Iced Earth have released a remixed and remastered version of their self titled first outing that finally, 30 years later, gives this collection of excellent songs the justice it deserves. Originally released in 1990, Iced Earth is a very solid piece of work, containing some truly spectacular material that is certainly way ahead of it's time. However, suffering from poor original mixing and mastering, Iced Earth failed to make the impact that it could have made if it sounded as clean and crisp as is it does in its 30th Anniversary Edition.
Of course hindsight is a wonderful thing and the technology for musical engineering and recording that exists today would look like pure fantasy or science fiction three decades ago. Given an extensive face-lift by renowned recording ico Zuess, these songs sound better than ever. In fact, the album sounds absolutely face-meltingly brilliant.
As a whole, the album now sounds far grander and clearer, eerily reminiscent of how Metallica sounded in the mid to late 1980's. The instruments are all very clearly distinguishable here, unlike in the original mix, they are presented here in a beautifully layered and textured style. Benefiting from prominent bass notes, towering crunchy riffs and a far bolder and louder drum sound, these songs come to life in a way previously unheard. Even Gene Adam's somewhat questionable vocals are notably more tolerable on this 30th Anniversary Edition, however remixing and remastering his singing here still leaves his performance a little sloppy and uninspiring.
For anyone unfamiliar with the album, Iced Earth, presented now in all its reworked glory is a remarkably strong album which contains some of Iced Earth's heaviest and rawest material. Opening title track "Iced Earth" still remains a live favourite to this day, boasting now disgraced guitarist and founding member Jon Schaffer's immensely crunchy thrashing riffs, blistering solo and lead work from Randy Shawver and powerful low percussions.
Galloping heavy riffs and intricate guitar work accompanies masterful acoustic melodies in "Written On The Walls", a song which is let down slightly by Gene's lazy sounding vocal work. Possible Metallica inspiration can be heard on Thrashy number "Colors", where as "Curse The Sky" is an Iron Maiden-esque Heavy Metal rager, prominently displaying the young bands musical influences. The beautifully atmospheric and melancholic "Life And Death", complete with a powerful intro and an ominously tolling bell, is another fine example of soaring guitar work and amazing shredding riffs.
Chilling acoustic instrumental piece "Solitude" presceeds a second instrumental and spoken word epic Heavy Metal musical journey "Funeral", but it is closing track "When The Night Falls" that steals the show. This massively atmospheric and melodic track, with it's haunting backing synths, titanic riffs and performed in Iron Maiden style grandeur is a chilling triumph of masterfully written and composed Heavy Metal.
Overall, Iced Earth's debut release sounds incredible on this 30th Anniversary Edition. Whereas originally the album fell short of expectation and sounded noticeably flat and underwhelming in places, now it has been brought to life in all of its headbanging glory. It is bittersweet that this remastered and remixed version of Iced Earth is quite possibly the last release we will be getting from the band following Jon Schaffer's very public poor decisions and actions. However, that being said, this offering is a fitting finale to a legendary and massively influential Heavy Metal institute, serving justice to where it all began.
You can watch the video review here;
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