Review by Luka on July 26, 2001.

It’s only after listening to these three godly discs that I understood and embraced the true power of Iced Earth. From start to finish, the boys continuously pound you with the very best of their 9 year-old career and put considerable effort into every song. I don’t know how much dubbing was done but I didn’t notice a single mistake, which is hard to believe of a live show this long, and so I think they must have cleaned a few things up in a studio but the power and energy that emanated from the stage has not been compromised at all.

Played on two nights, recorded on three discs (only two on the American version, I once again curse the treachery!) Iced Earth have proven to the world that they can sure as hell cut it live and are not just one of the many studio bands out there. And to take the show a step further and show their boldness, they bravely unleashed upon the crowd the monstrous, 16 minute, 'Dante’s Inferno', which they performed with the utmost skill and power!

Jon Schaffer’s shredding is as good live as on any album and he’s got killer and, according to him, custom-made amps. The guest drummer, Brent Smedley, doesn’t let up for a second! Be that as it may, the vocalist Matt Barlow, however, is the main driving force in the whole show. This man’s energy and presence is amazing! He puts 100% effort and emotion into every song and correctly invokes every song’s true feeling. The second disc concludes in the fiery climax of the three godly epics of the "Something Wicked" trilogy, and then, for the killing blow, they treat the fans with a favorite; 'Iced Earth'. You’re left stunned and blown away.

Bottom Line: They’re better live!!

Ratting: 9 out of 10

Review by Luka on July 26, 2001.

It’s only after listening to these three godly discs that I understood and embraced the true power of Iced Earth. From start to finish, the boys continuously pound you with the very best of their 9 year-old career and put considerable effort into every song. I don’t know how much dubbing was done but I didn’t notice a single mistake, which is hard to believe of a live show this long, and so I think they must have cleaned a few things up in a studio but the power and energy that emanated from the stage has not been compromised at all.

Played on two nights, recorded on three discs (only two on the American version, I once again curse the treachery!) Iced Earth have proven to the world that they can sure as hell cut it live and are not just one of the many studio bands out there. And to take the show a step further and show their boldness, they bravely unleashed upon the crowd the monstrous, 16 minute, 'Dante’s Inferno', which they performed with the utmost skill and power!

Jon Schaffer’s shredding is as good live as on any album and he’s got killer and, according to him, custom-made amps. The guest drummer, Brent Smedley, doesn’t let up for a second! Be that as it may, the vocalist Matt Barlow, however, is the main driving force in the whole show. This man’s energy and presence is amazing! He puts 100% effort and emotion into every song and correctly invokes every song’s true feeling. The second disc concludes in the fiery climax of the three godly epics of the "Something Wicked" trilogy, and then, for the killing blow, they treat the fans with a favorite; 'Iced Earth'. You’re left stunned and blown away.

Bottom Line: They’re better live!!

Ratting: 9 out of 10

Review by Maciek on March 23, 2013.

I really wanted to hear this album after what I've heard from some teaser. And now I cannot believe how brilliant this album is. It's like a Death Metal version of ...And Oceans "a.m.g.o.d.". And it's the same excitement I feel now listening to this album as when listening to ...And Oceans album.

It has great riffs, amazing production, mixture of all kinds of vocals, from harsh shrieks, through deep growls to melodic vocal harmonies and at some point it is similar to some metalcore bands as well. 'Forging Towards The Sunset' has great melodic chorus, 'To Spite The Face' has great melody played in chorus. These two are probably my favourite tracks on the album. And the whole album has those electronic elements which once made bands like ...And Oceans or The Project Hate MCMXCIX stand out from other metal bands. Although the elements on ...And Oceans album were closer to techno, these are harder to categorize, although they circle around the similar atmosphere. But definitely if you can imagine a mixture of ...And Oceans (I'm talking about their last two albums before becoming Havoc Unit) and The Project.., add catchy tunes, melodic vocals and vocals similar to The Kovenant you get Anaal Nathrakh's last album.
You get a lot of blast beats as well, no female vocals though, just make it clear.

Overall brilliant album and I'm happy that I finally could hear that. The only poor choice in my opinion is the use of fragment from 'Pagliacci' by Leoncavallo in the last track, but apart from that it is a great, unique, original attempt to make interesting, varied album.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 10
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 10
Originality:9
Overall: 10

Rating: 9.8 out of 10