I heard the new album. It's not yet the great comeback that Iced Earth needs, IMHO, but a step in a good direction. I ned more listens, but this might be their best material with Stu. As of now, i put it definetely above Plagues, but i don't know if beats Dystopia.
The pros:
- Good Production
- Probably the best solos on an IE album, ever.
- Stu is sounding very good.
- Clear The Way kicks major ass and it is, IMHO, the best track they've written with Stu.
The cons:
- Still find the songwriting a bit too simplistic at most times. Jon can write much more sophisticated stuff than this (Clear The Way is proof).
- Too many ballads/slow paced songs. It gets kind of boring at times.
All things considered, it's a fairly standard current IE record, repeating some of the not so good stuff from the last records, but it also shows that they can still write some pretty cool heavy/epic stuff when they want it. I think Jon could use a little more ambition, he has a good enough band right now to try something more bold.