As many of you wait patiently or impatiently for the new Metallica and Metallica Jr… er I mean Trivium, other bands are releasing stuff for the autumn. Below find some of the better releases of the last few weeks.

CD Reviews

Iced Earth: The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked Part 2

Jon Schaffer and the lads release, as you can tell from the title, the second part of their epic retelling of their “Something Wicked” storyline. Now back with singer Matt Barlow, original Iced Earth singer, the band have come full circle. Some will be a bit disappointed that Ripper Owens is no longer singing, but that does not seem to bother the mastermind behind Iced Earth, Schaffer. To be fair to him, despite their line-up changes, they never release rubbish. Love or loath the American interpretation of Iron Maiden as filtered via European power metal, no one can fault their attention to detail.

Rather than attempt to explain the storyline I will Jon handle it. The main character in this modern legend, Set Abominae, savior to the Setian culture and Anti-Christ to mankind, has come to take revenge on the horrors of the past and to protect everything sacred, and finally to restore Setian life on Earth. "Basically humanity has not really changed", says Jon Schaffer. "In some cases we have become a bit more clever, for example we have managed to set up the internet and have extended our knowledge of physics, chemistry and biology. But one thing has remained static: We continue to deceive ourselves while manipulating and dominating others."

Got that? It doesn’t really matter if you don’t. To be honest, this is damn good power metal played full of all the pomp, passion, and precision that is needed to pull it off. And hey if Iron Maiden can pull off a concept album, then why can’t Iced Earth. There is enough here to sink your teeth into, far less intimidating a prospect than say Judas Priest’s latest effort. However that still does not mean there are tracks that necessarily stand out on their own. There is no single that is for certain. Iced Earth fans will eat this up, as will the legions of power metal fans worldwide. Probably not the best album to start your IE experience but quality nonetheless.

Blackmore’s Night - Secret Voyage

Okay, this might be changing gears quite a bit from the Iced Earth epic above, but bear with me. Say what you want at former Deep Purple/guitar god Richie Blackmore’s foray into medieval minstrel music, but you cannot fault the quality of their releases. Whether an original composition, one of Henry VII’s tunes or a re-interpretation of a modern song (represented on here by “Can’t Help Falling in Love”) it's fairly easy to see why oodles of people turn out to see them live whether they are playing a Castle or a more normal venue. The fact that Mater likes this does not even put me off.

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