Iced Earth--Days of Purgatory (1997)
Rating--9.6
This double CD set (well, the import version, at least---it has since been released as a one-disc compilation here in the States) is absolutely amazing. The band has gone back and reworked older songs with Matt Barlow singing on all, and every one of them is an improvement. The drumwork has been touched up as well, but these changes are for the most part not as noticable. Songs on this set are drawn from: the band's first trip into a 24-track studio in late 1988; its 'Enter the Realm' demo session in 1988; the first 'Iced Earth' CD; the 'Stormrider' CD; and the 'Burnt Offerings' CD from '94. Again, I'm really not sure what I can say about this collection to fully express my satisfaction with it. I ordered it from Dream Disc for only $25 plus shipping, and after hearing it I would have paid twice that. This is essential for all IE fans, and for any fan of power/thrash metal, for that matter. Splendid, amazing work, as it's thrashing power metal at its finest moment.
Highlights? Again, just about everything. I suppose the true gems for Iced Earth fans are the tracks from the first two discs, which now feature Barlow on vocals. "Angels Holocaust," "Stormrider," "Pure Evil," "Travel in Stygian," "Iced Earth"... the list goes on.

TRACK LIST -- DISC ONE:

  1. Enter the Realm
  2. Colors
  3. Angels Holocaust
  4. Stormrider
  5. Winter Nights
  6. Nightmares
  7. Before the Vision
  8. Pure Evil
  9. Solitude
  10. The Funeral
  11. When the Night Falls

DISC TWO:

  1. Burnt Offerings
  2. Cast in Stone
  3. Desert Rain
  4. Brainwashed
  5. Life and Death
  6. Creator Failure
  7. Reaching the End
  8. Travel in Stygian
  9. Dante's Inferno
  10. Iced Earth
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