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The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked Vol.2 | 
| Artist: Iced Earth
Label: Spv
Category: Music
List Price: £15.99
Buy New: £10.98
You Save: £5.01 (31%)
New (41) Used (8) from £7.00
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 21522
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.7 x 0.5
MPN: 91592
UPC: 693723915920
EAN: 0693723915920
ASIN: B00151A6TS
Release Date: September 8, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | In Sacred Flames | | • | Behold The Wicked Child | | • | Minions Of The Watch | | • | Revealing | | • | Gift Or A Curse | | • | Crown Of The Fallen | | • | Dimension Gauntlet | | • | I Walk Alone | | • | Harbinger Of Fate | | • | Crucify The King | | • | Sacrificial Kingdoms | | • | Something Wicked | | • | Divide And Devour | | • | Come What May | | • | Epilogue |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Weak concept conclusion. Good but not mindblowing music. November 15, 2008
I guess the main thing I want to say about this is that the story to Something Wicked Part 2, which hasn't been mentioned in much detail by any of the other reviewers so far, was really disappointing for me after the first part. There was quite a lot of detail in the first part of the story, with thousands of years passing, the idea that Man are in fact aliens who invaded the planet but were brainwashed by the otherwise-defeated native Setians in preparation for the coming of a chosen one, Set Abominae, who would exact the revenge of the Setians on Man. Basically, a lot happened. The lyrics themselves, when read from the CD booklet to the music as you listen, provided an interesting experience where, rarely for concept albums, it was detailed enough to follow the plot without having to really try hard, but fast paced enough to actually fit in a very intersting plot, or so I thought at the time. Of course, the music on the first part had its downsides, not incredibly memorable riffs and the fact that so many long term fans pined for Barlow to return and a more aggressive thrash-style selection of riffs, but after two or three goes through grasping the storyline and attempting to relive it to catch the extra details you missed the first time, most of the first part became memorable and I ended up loving it.
The second part's story on the other hand is slow and unimaginative. Roughly half the album's songs appear to be about exactly the same thing and their order appears completely interchangeable. Aside from the first few tracks documenting Set Abominae's youth and the final two tracks which form the rather abrupt, unpredictable and unsatisfying (in my opinion) ending, the whole album seems to be interchangeable songs from Set's point of view that all say the same thing, essentially "I am the fall of mankind, they will all fear me and I will serve the Setian's revenge." From a story point of view, I grasped the concept of each song very quickly and found myself waiting for the next track and the progression of the story which never really went anywhere.
Obviously though, I can't judge the album entirely on its lacklustre storyline. The thing is though, musically, there isn't a huge difference from Framing Armaggeddon. Existing fans of Schaffer and/or Barlow will clearly get on with the music very well, and I'm sure it has the potential to grow on me like the first album did since, objectively, it is similar. The bigest difference, clearly, is that Barlow is back. Great news for Barlow fans, though personally I find Ripper sounds more energetic, and I loved the harmonies in "Infiltrate & Assimilate" last year. Don't go assuming I have a grudge against Barlow though, his performance on Crucible of Man is actually surprisingly similar to Ripper's in some places, though I also noticed that Barlow is sounding increasingly Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian, (who has also collaborated with Schaffer in the band Demon's and Wizards). In many ways Barlow's vocals are the best thing about the album, and in some ways he even has the edge on Ripper in even my opinion. Schaffer's vocals on "A Gift or a Curse?" are also not bad, and in fact surprisingly good. But the supporting music is somewhat unimaginative and ocassionally also overly repetitive by Iced Earth standards. The ocassional blast of double bass drumming picks the pace up to give a much needed shot of adrenaline to proceedings, and there are tracks and moments throughout that I think will become favourites in the future, but there's a large chunk in the middle of the album that is really quite bland and many of the better tracks are under 3 minutes. The word 'filler' then springs to mind when acknowledging the slow moving story in the middle section of the album and some of the unimaginative passages.
3 stars from me is, in my mind, still a good rating, but from a concept album viewpoint it was a let down, and from a music only point of view it's still not the strongest album ever. Fans of Schaffer and Barlow will of course enjoy the album as other reviewers have already made obvious, but if you're a casual fan you can do better.
Concept: 1/5 (that's for just this part)
Music: 3.5/5
Overall: 3/5 (not an average)
 What an improvement! October 24, 2008
After noticing this new album was released i was hesitant at first to buy it. The previous album IMO was a bit of a dissapointment. Dont get me wrong, i love Tim Owens in other bands he's been in, but the sound just wasn't right for Iced Earth. I can't quite put my finger on what was wrong in the previous iced earth album, maybe it's the fact that i also dont know what was right about it that does it. I honestly couldnt sit here and name a few songs from it that were outstanding.
This new album however is something different from that entirely.
Now i hate writing reviews after recently purchasing an album, i usually leave it a month or so, but with only 6 reviews i thought i should add an opinion.
As a 'die hard' (all albums and seen them live) fan, i reccomend this album to any iced earth fan out there. Personally i much prefer their earlier work, but this is definately a step in a good direction, and for those that love the band but are unsure due to their last release BUY THIS and you wont be left wishing you hadnt.
For new fans, this probably isnt the best place to start, but it certainly wont be the worst! if you like this album you'll be hooked. This band should have always been so much bigger than they are/were, but they;v stuck to it and sure as hell know what they're doing!
Jon Schaffer is just so unstoppable in his brilliance. September 30, 2008
This cd was no disapointment as i knew it wasnt going to be.
To start with you got two formidable forces involved in making sure that it does not disapoint and that is the amazing vocals of the ultimate rock vocalist; Pray silent for the god of rock MATT BARLOW.
And secondly and more importantly the greatest songwriter of the last 16 years and that is Jon Schaffer , his involvement in everything he touches is such a powerful force to be reckoned with that everyone else is just left in his wake. This cd is awesome and i cannot stop playing it , BUY IT YOU WONT BE DISAPPOINTED.
 Relentless September 26, 2008
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
As you can see from other reviews, this band has some committed fans, and as is the way of these things, they will have their favourite musician/vocalist which tempers their enjoyment or otherwise of an album. And for me, an uncommitted listener to this album, this can be more curse then blessing.
When fans invest so much in a band that they quibble about such things, or sare I say it provide track by track reviews, their love shines through, but is it at the expense of objectivity?
In this case, probably not because I agree with most of what has been said before but if I could just offer a few words from an unjaundiced viewpoint, no (war)axes to grind as it were.
Firstly the lyrics. They would make a great science fiction story for sure, buton many occasions here are just clumsy and forced.
The music is relentless, powerful, well played and sung, but by the end of the first listen totally unmemorable. Two or three listens later however, and patterns begin to emerge and the album begins to take shape.
And therein lies the problem, that as in so many cases this album will be welcomed by current fans but unlikely to bring in new ones. This may be enough for now but the band have to move on from this.
Still worth 4 stars though as for all these quibbles I enjoyed it. Definitely a grower.
Good but maybe not Great September 11, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
For me, this album had a lot to live up to. Framing Armegeddon was a fantastic album and this first Iced Earth album I listened to after seeing them support Heaven & Hell last November. Therefore, Tim Owens was the first singer that I heard with them and, for me, is my favourite IE singer and when I heard that he had been 'fired' and replaced by old singer Matt Barlow I was quite shocked but also quite excited as most people say that Matt is THE singer for IE. Since then I have heard many of the tracks that Matt has done with the IE and liked most of them. However, I still prefer the screams and velocity of The Ripper's voice. Anyway, now for a track by track runthrough:
In Sacred Flames - A album opener/intro so nothing special 5/10
Behold the Wicked Child - This song does not really have the power that 'Something Wicked (Part 1)' has on Framing Armegeddon and I think the album gets off to a slightly tame start. 6/10
Minions of the Watch - Much better than the previos song. It has a nice, catchy chorus and good lyrics. 7/10
The Revealing - On my first listen I didn't realise the track had changed. Sounds much like the 'Minions of the Watch'. 7/10
A Gift or a Curse? - This song features Jon Schaffer on vocals and he does a good job in my opinion. This is a nice mid-paced track and one of my favourites on the album. 8/10
Crown of the Fallen - Another mid-paced track but this one is slightly boring and samey. 6/10
The Dimention Gauntlet - Picks up the pace again from the last two track. Quite a classic IE sounding song. Nothing special though. 6/10
I Walk Alone - My favourite track on the album. Great riff, drums and vocals. An awesome song. 9/10
Harbinger of Fate - The intro to this track sounds a bit like 'The Clouding' from Framing Armegeddon. Infact, it sounds a lot like 'The Clouding' generally. Nice song. 8/10
Crucify the King - Another heavy one. A good riff and double bass drumming. 7/10
Sacrificial Kingdoms - This is a pretty speedy one with nice high pitched backing vocals that make it sound very 'Ripper-ish'. 7/10
Something Wicket (Part 3) - A fairly standard metal song. Nothing special. 6/10
Divide and Devour - A very pacey metal song with good, catchy vocal harmonies. 7/10
Come What May - This song clocks in at 7:24 making it the longest on the album. This is a good song that sums up the concept over the the album and on Framing Armegeddon. 8/10
Epilogue - Basically a reprise of 'Overture' on Framing Armegeddon but a lot slower. 5/10
Overall, this is a good album but I wouldn't say it was great. For me, the Barlow-era was over and as great as he was, his time with IE has passed. Tim Owens did such a great job on Framing Armegeddon it seemed a shame to 'fire' him. I don't think that bringing Barlow back was a very good move as it will only disapoint a lot of fans when they find this albm is not as good as the other Barlow albums. I would still remcomend buying this though as it fnishes the story started in Framing Armegeddon.
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