Iced Earth - Live In Ancient Kourion

Published April 15 2013

*=Staff's pick

CD 1:
Intro
Dystopia
Burning Times
Angels Holocaust
Slave To The Dark
V*
When The Night Falls
I Died For You
Invasion/Motivation Of Man
Setian Massacre
Stormrider
Pure Evil
Wolf
Dark City
Dracula
Ten Thousand Strong*

CD 2:
Anthem*
Declaration Day
Days Of Rage
Melancholy (Holy Martyr)*
In Sacred Flames
Boiling Point
Damien
Watching Over Me
Dante's Inferno
Iced Earth
The Hunter

Genre	Heavy Metal	Stu Block	Vocals
Tracks	27	Jon Schaffer	Guitar
Running time	144 Min.	Troy Seele	Guitar
Label	Century Media	Luke Appleton	Bass
Release	14 April 2013	Brent Smedley	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboard
Producer	-
Similar artists	---

Release formats: DVD, DVD incl. Blu-Ray & 2 CD, 2 CD, 3 LP, digital download.

Another live release from Jon Schaffer and his crew, recorded and filmed in August 2012 in Limassol, Cyprus. This effort pretty much go through the entire Iced Earth discography with at least one track from every album and six songs from their latest studio release, Dystopia. I have no access to the DVD material yet, so this review is based solely on the two audio CDs containing almost two and a half hours of live music. What strikes me is that Iced Earth has a thing for playing very long sets when they're recording. I wish they could play these immense sets on their tours as well.

Stu Block is probably the best that has happened to Iced Earth in the last decade. They finally get to tour extensively and with long time members or touring members, drummer Brent Smedley respectively guitarist Troy Seele, they now function as a solid unit, which is apparent in the intensity and the drive in the songs. Stu doesn't always sing the former vocalists songs with outstanding brilliance and passion, but as you probably will see on the DVD, he is one hell of a heavy metal frontman, which I think is equally as important as standing like a statue and hitting every tone.

The sound quality isn't top notch, making this album feel more genuine than many heavy mixed live recordings. Naturally, I don't know how much that have been redone in the studio, but I'll live. I think this is a pretty good live album and if you're a fan to the band, you very likely won't be disappointed if you buy this product.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	6	6	7	7

Summary
6 chalices of 10 - Tobbe