Artist: Iced Earth
Title: “The Glorious Burden”
Label: SPV Records
Release Date: 1/13/2004
Genre: Heavy Metal
Rating: 8/10

The new Iced Earth CD has just made its appearance on the shelves. The most visible change for the band has been the addition of new Lead Singer Tim “Ripper” Owens. As all metal fans probably know by now, Ripper was the replacement for Rob Halford in Judas Priest. When Halford returned Tim was free to pursue other bands. While I liked him as a fill in when Rob was not there to play, I feel he is better suited to Iced Earth. Given Ripper’s voice is so “Halford-like” there are many times when one listens to this CD and would think it is Judas Priest or Fight for that matter. This is unavoidable when your singer has this style to his vocals. Whether or not Ripper has just recorded the vocals on this album as a fill in guy, or whether he is a new fulltime member remains to be seen. It is my hope that he does stay, and given that I see some tour dates for my immediate area over the next couple of months, I am thinking this is a new step for him.
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