Iced Earth - The Glorious Burden (2004)

After the release of TRIBUTE TO THE GODS, Matt Barlow left Iced Earth, and Ripper Owens came in as vocalist, having recently finished his stint with Judas Priest (talk about a professional reserve grade player), to scream out the lyrics of this extensive album, one that reflects the passion main man Jon Schaffer has for historical wars, as it concentrates on various battles of the past. 
 The first eight songs are, perhaps surprisingly, quite straight forward, though still good, even if the lyrics are a bit clunky at times (included is "When The Eagle Cries", which is about the 2001 terrorist attacks), but then comes the three-part "Gettysburg (1863)", which covers the three fatal days of the American Civil War. This is an exceptional segment, and what's even more impressive is that, despite the fact it comes after a pretty much full-length album already, this half-hour piece doesn't drag in the slightest.
The whole record was obviously a labor of love for Schaffer, which is made even more clear in the  liner notes which, relievingly, are actually easy to read. My eyes give a shout of thanks. 
I've come to respect Iced Earth over time, more than love them, but this album is as good as anything they've done, and stands as one of the more impressive musical-projects-about-all -things-warlike releases in the annals of heavy metal.

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