Tribute to the Gods

The name Iced Earth has become synonymous with American Metal. The band has become one of the biggest names in underground metal through their efforts of almost two decades. This perseverance to their metal roots had garnered the admiration of more than a few fans around the world (myself included).

This album is as Jon Schaffer put it in an interview with Billboard Magazine "These are the bands that influenced me the most as a songwriter, and the ones that are responsible for the sound of Iced Earth." Although I just received this promo I have actually had this album since the beginning of the year when I purchased the Dark Genesis Box Set. Now it is being released on its own and for those that haven’t gotten it yet this is well worth the purchase price. Hell the versions of Iron Maiden classics "Number of the Beast" and "Hallowed be thy Name" are worth the purchase on their own. Add to these two incredible songs with others like Priest’s "Screaming for Vengeance" and AC/DC’s "Highway to Hell" and the album just gets better and better.

The thing I enjoyed the most about this cover album is simply that the band didn’t try to make the songs their own. It showed that they have a great deal of respect for the music and the bands that worked so hard to create some of these classic songs. In my opinion songs like "Hallowed be thy Name" are perfect the way they are so there is no need to change things (See Cradle of Filth’s version of "Hallowed be thy Name" to see how to fuck things up).

Overall an album that is definitely worth purchasing if you are a fan of Iced Earth as well as fans of some of the best metal songs ever written. Highly Recommended.