Venue: The Scala, London                  Date: 20th January 2002

This date, the debut UK show by Florida power metallers Iced Earth, was originally scheduled in September at the more intimate (and generally more metal-orientated) Underworld venue; however due to rescheduling bought about by the show's postponement (so IE could tour with Judas Priest in the States - which didn't happen due to the terrorist attacks) the organisers managed to move the new date to a bigger venue in order to meet ticket demand.  Arriving at the venue it was clear that this was a wise move - initially we thought they'd oversold the venue, the queue to get in was so long.  Thankfully, it didn't actually seem too bad inside, and there was some room to get a good vantage point.

For anyone not in the know, Iced Earth have been in existence for around a decade, and have got an enviably large following in mainland Europe - particularly Greece, where apparently they have played to a crowd of 120,000 and outsell Iron Maiden! The latter band are a good reference point as to what Iced Earth sound like, although they could also be compared to Black-album era Metallica and, in general, are a heavier proposition than many of the European power metal outfits - in fact they are not dissimilar to fellow American outfit Nevermore.

Tonight's set was presented in three 'acts' (complete with short intervals); the first concentrating on their early albums, the second on the two mid to late 90's releases, and the last on their latest effort 'Horror Show'. Due to the aforementioned queues, the band were already into the first set when we arrived. The material presented here was noticeably faster and more primitive than their later material, but is packed with crunching riffs, break-neck solos, and was topped off with singer Matt Barlow's strong and controlled vocal delivery. They behave like a classic live metal outfit throughout - long hair flying, feet on monitors and lots of posturing (particularly on a ledge behind the drum kit) all adding to the heavy metal ambience.  I wasn't familiar with any of this material, but was reliably informed that the majority was culled from 1992's 'Night Of The Stormrider'.

Following the 'interval' (complete with a curtain which closed on the band as the last number of the first set faded out - very theatrical!), the band appear for the second set with the backdrop now consisting of some Egyptian hieroglyphics. This section concentrated on 1996's 'The Dark Saga' and 1998's 'Something Wicked This Way Comes', with the former probably providing the lion's share of the tracks.  Given that 'The Dark Saga' is the release with which I was most familiar, this was no bad thing, and the likes of 'The Hunter' and the power-ballad 'I'd Die For You' went down a storm, the audience singing more parts on the latter song than Barlow!  The highlight of this set was the trilogy of tracks which ends 'The Dark Saga', which build to an almost operatic crescendo.

The final set showcased songs from the band's latest CD 'Horror Show'. The backdrops for this part of the show were large 'paintings' of the various horror characters who form the subjects of the songs on the album (a werewolf , Dracula, Frankenstein etc.), done in the gothic comic style which the band use for the artwork on most of their albums.  The band also changed outfits for this part of the set, resplendent in black to add a suitably dark tone to proceedings.  I'm not yet sure if 'Horror Show' is their best release to date, but its certainly a strong and consistent work, and most of the fans here seemed very familiar with the material, even though it only came out a few months ago. Most of the album is aired, with highlights being the majestic 'Damien' (based on 'The Omen' trilogy) and final track 'Dracula', which is certainly the track which went down best with the crowd, who screamed for it throughout the set.

Following the final curtain, the band reappear for a break-neck dash through 'Stand Alone' before disappearing for good, vowing to be back soon - and given the audience response to this gig, these probably weren't idle words.

This gig really was a showcase of all that's good about power metal - well-structured songs, a fine balance of melody and heaviness, razor-sharp riffs and anthemic choruses all topped with the band's fine sense of showmanship.

My only complaint is nothing to do with the band's own perfomance but with the sound mix; specifically the vocals - Matt Barlow has an excellent voice, but throughout the night it was a struggle to hear it and many times I was left guessing what he was actually singing!  With a ropey singer this would have been OK (especially as the rest of the band, particularly the guitars, sound fine) but in this case it took a bit of the edge away from the gig.

However, it's not enough to spoil the enjoyment of a great gig by a great band - if you're into traditional metal at all, I'd check out Iced Earth ASAP!

Tom