ITPOE was probably not the best example of JLB being out of his comfort zone as most of that is quite melodic, thinking more of the Dark Master stuff in there which I didn't like.
I just think JLB is a melodic singer, he's not good doing James Hetfield tough guy vocals and not a screamer so I am happier when he is not pushed into doing that stuff.
Fair enough in the case of CM/TDEN (CM is one of maybe two times that JLB has legitimately channeled pure undiluted Hetfield, and TDEN was clearly a challenging one for him and experimental for DT in general, so I applaud them trying something different, and loved the outcome), but not ITPOE. The "Dark Master" stuff was all still quite melodic too, not "tough guy" vocals or "Hetfield" (I'd be happy if we banned both of these vague metal derogatory terms from DTF altogether tbh). In fact I think the whole song contains some of his best vocals of the RR era, even as good as much of TA (not all of it, TA undeniably has some amazing sections vocally), and had a lot of emotion and variety, especially given it was DT's first and only venture into that kind of fantasy lyric.
Those soaring pre-chorus vocals in pt 2 still give me chills like few things have since. The vocals in that second verse are so underrated, with the first half being light and airy with the nice falsetto usage, moving into the full voice with so much energy so powah. The Reckoning section is the only minor letdown, slightly bland, but even they're inoffensive enough. The outro again still gives me chills with that wonderful raspiness. HE KNOWS AND HEEEE WAAAAAAITS. Gets me every time. Every single time!
There are definitely particular moments on the album that I get aren't to everyone's tastes, and I understand many feel weren't fitting for JLB, but I think for the most part the album gets an undeserved bad rap vocally speaking. Overall JLB gives one heck of a performance on SC, and I think being pushed slightly outside of his comfort zone has helped him becoming a more diverse and impressive vocalist to this day.