Iced Earth (album)

Iced Earth is the eponymous debut album by American heavy metal band Iced Earth. It was released in November 1990 internationally and February 1991 in North America. The original release of this album had three different covers (a worldwide cover, a European cover and a Japanese cover). This album was Mike McGill's only album with Iced Earth, as well as the last for singer Gene Adam. Like the album's successor Night of the Stormrider, Iced Earth follows a more traditional thrash metal sound, rather than the power metal direction the band would follow after Matt Barlow had joined. Iced Earth would stick to the power metal formula until Barlow left the band, with his replacement Tim Owens singing in a style reminiscent of both genres.

Iced Earth's first three albums (this album, Night of the Stormrider, and Burnt Offerings) were remastered in 2001, and each had a new cover.

Track listing

Credits

• Gene Adam − lead vocals
• Randall Shawver − lead guitar
• Jon Schaffer − rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Dave Abell − bass
• Mike McGill − drums

Info

• "Colors" is based on the 1979 film The Warriors.
• Every song on this album except "Curse the Sky" was redone for 1997's Days of Purgatory. For that release, "Written on the Walls" was given new lyrics and renamed "Cast in Stone". Despite not being re-recorded, Iced Earth continued playing "Curse the Sky" in future concerts.
• "The Funeral", though listed as an instrumental, includes a spoken passage, reading "Once again you have lain another loved one to rest. And as we fight the grief in our hearts, we must realize that the fate of death is inevitable. And thus we turn and find that through our trials and tribulations, death may be the only real peace of mind." The passage was cut for the Days of Purgatory release, but was retained when the album was remixed and remastered for the Dark Genesis box set in 2001.
• The song "When the Night Falls" appears in the 2009 video game game Brütal Legend.