| Framing Armageddon Something Wicked Part 1 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Iced Earth | ||||
| Released | September 11, 2007[1] | |||
| Recorded | 2007 | |||
| Genre | Power metal, thrash metal, heavy metal | |||
| Length | 1:08:56 | |||
| Label | SPV GmbH | |||
| Iced Earth chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [2] |
| Jukebox:Metal | [3] |
Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked Part 1 is the eighth studio album from Iced Earth, released on September 11, 2007. It is part one of two concept albums based on a trilogy of songs from Iced Earth's fifth studio album, Something Wicked This Way Comes. The saga, aptly titled the Something Wicked Saga, tells the fictional history of mankind, from its creation to its destruction.
Contents |
Framing Armageddon is the band's first studio album featuring lead guitarist Troy Seele, and drummer Brent Smedley, who never played on an Iced Earth studio album during his previous stints with the group. Tim "Ripper" Owens makes his final appearance as lead singer on this record, as well. Also, this was bassist Dennis Hayes' first appearance on an Iced Earth album, though he only appears on two songs. Former Iced Earth lead guitarist Tim Mills is featured on "Reflections", and co-wrote both that song and "Infiltrate and Assimilate".
In December 2006, Jon Schaffer posted a journal announcing that Iced Earth's new album, then titled Something Wicked - Part 1, would be released in September/October 2007. The followup album, then titled Something Wicked - Part 2, would be released in January/February 2008. On March 17, Schaffer announced the final tracklist, and that the album would be renamed to Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1), with a new target release of August or September. On June 25, Schaffer uploaded the cover of the album on icedearth.com. Audio samples of all the tracks have been posted at spv.de, the official site of the band's record label.
A music video for "Ten Thousand Strong" was released, though lead guitarist Troy Seele was not yet with the band when it was filmed. The video features rotoscoping.
The Japanese release of Framing Armageddon featurs the album's single, "Overture of the Wicked," as a bonus disc.
Jon Schaffer intends to release both of the Something Wicked albums in one boxed set, with Matt Barlow contributing the vocals on both albums for the sake of continuity, adding at least four songs to The Crucible of Man and remixing Framing Armageddon.[4]
Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked Part 1 tells the story of the Setians, who were the original inhabitants of Earth, and are directly descended from the "Great Architect". They are said to have nearly omniscient knowledge. Humans, who have developed space travel, invade Earth in a bid for "ultimate power and ultimate knowledge", killing all but ten thousand Setians (Invasion, Motivation of Man, Setian Massacre).
The remaining ten thousand go into hiding in the mountains in the east (A Charge To Keep). The Setian High Council, which consists of the twelve Elders and the High Priest, make a plan to get revenge on the invading human race (Reflections, Ten Thousand Strong, Order of the Rose). They plan to initiate "The Clouding", which involves brainwashing all the humans and making them forget their origins (Cataclysm, The Clouding). Once completed, the Setians will manipulate history by creating religions (Judaism, Islam, Christianity, etc.) to further divide the humans (Infiltrate and Assimilate, Retribution Through the Ages, The Domino Decree, Framing Armageddon). Once human kind is sufficiently divided, after ten thousand years, the Setians will await, as the prophecy told millennia ago, the birth of the Antichrist, Set Abominae (When Stars Collide, The Awakening). Set Abominae will destroy all of the human race and execute the revenge the Setians have long awaited.
Framing Armageddon tells the story from the prophecy to the events right before the birth of Set Abominae.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Overture" | (instrumental) | Jon Schaffer | 2:24 |
| 2. | "Something Wicked (Part 1)" | Schaffer | Schaffer | 5:03 |
| 3. | "Invasion" | (instrumental) | Schaffer | 1:00 |
| 4. | "Motivation of Man" | Schaffer | Schaffer | 1:34 |
| 5. | "Setian Massacre" | Schaffer | Schaffer | 3:49 |
| 6. | "A Charge to Keep" | Schaffer | Schaffer | 4:24 |
| 7. | "Reflections" | Schaffer | Tim Mills, Schaffer | 1:50 |
| 8. | "Ten Thousand Strong" | Schaffer | Schaffer | 3:54 |
| 9. | "Execution" | (instrumental) | Schaffer | 1:27 |
| 10. | "Order of the Rose" | Schaffer | Schaffer | 4:52 |
| 11. | "Cataclysm" | (instrumental) | Schaffer | 1:30 |
| 12. | "The Clouding" | Schaffer | Schaffer | 9:19 |
| 13. | "Infiltrate and Assimilate" | Schaffer | Mills, Schaffer | 3:48 |
| 14. | "Retribution Through the Ages" | Schaffer | Schaffer | 4:32 |
| 15. | "Something Wicked (Part 2)" | (instrumental) | Schaffer | 2:59 |
| 16. | "The Domino Decree" | Schaffer | Tim Owens, Schaffer | 6:36 |
| 17. | "Framing Armageddon" | Schaffer | Schaffer | 3:41 |
| 18. | "When Stars Collide (Born Is He)" | Schaffer | Schaffer | 4:18 |
| 19. | "The Awakening" | (instrumental) | Schaffer | 2:01 |
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Total length:
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1:08:56 | |||
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