Dark Genesis

Artist: Iced Earth
Label: Century Media
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Box set
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 5

UPC: 727701809724
EAN: 0727701809724
ASIN: B000062TAF

Release Date: 2002-03-05

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Listmania:

Recent Iced Earth & Blind Guardian Releases
Iced Earth - The Complete Discography
Best of Iced Earth
Legacy of Thrash Metal Greatness: The Iced Earth Chronology
5 Favorite Bands, 20 Albums
Best Speed Metal Avialble
Killer Metal albums of all time!
When Hell Freezes Over: Everything Iced Earth
Metal Masterpieces

Tracks:

Enter The Realm (Demo)
Colors (Demo)
Nightmares (Demo)
Curse The Sky (Demo)
Solitude (Demo)
Iced Earth (Demo)

Tracks:

Iced Earth
Written On The Walls
Colors
Curse The Sky
Life And Death
Solitude
Funeral
When The Night Falls

Tracks:

Angels Holocaust
Stormrider
The Path I Choose
Before The Vision
Mystical End
Desert Rain
Pure Evil
Reaching The End
Travel In Stygian

Tracks:

Burnt Offerings
Last December
Diary
Brainwashed
Burning Oasis
Creator Failure
The Pierced Spirit
Dante's Inferno

Tracks:

Creatures Of The Night
Number Of The Beast
Highway To Hell
Burnin' For You
God Of Thunder
Screaming For Vengeance
Dead Babies
Cities On Flame
It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock N' Roll)
Black Sabbath
Hallowed Be Thy Name

Customer Reviews:

Once essential, now only for die-hards.......2006-07-19

Since you're checking out the listing for the out of print, and fairly expensive Dark Genesis box set, I'll assume you're already familiar with Iced Earth, and are wondering whether this set is worth buying.

Well, here's what the box set has to offer:

Disc 1 - The ultra-rare Enter the Realm demos, remastered. This is the earliest recorded Iced Earth material, and unless you grabbed one of the initial 1,000 copies, the Dark Genesis box set is your only chance to hear them.

Disc 2 - Iced Earth's self-titled debut album, remastered. Sure the vocals are a bit weak, but this is still an important milestone in the band's history. The remastered sound is a big help.

Disc 3 - Night of the Stormrider, remastered. Still no Matt Barlow, but many Iced Earth fans call this one a favorite. It definitely helped the band get some much needed exposure.

Disc 4 - Burnt Offerings, remastered. Enter Matt Barlow. This album gets trashed a bit, but I consider it one of the band's best. Matt Barlow's distinctive voice adds so much power and intensity to the band that everyone else comes off as inferior. Plus, the epic track Dante's Inferno flat out rules.

Disc 5 - Tribute to the Gods. Sure you can buy this one everywhere now, but for a while, the only way to get it was to buy this box set. This set of covers pays tribute to KISS, AC/DC, Blue Oyster Cult, Iron Maiden, and others, and is the last Iced Earth album to feature Matt Barlow on vocals.

The box set also comes with a detailed booklet that covers the bands history. The book is written from a total fanboy perspective, so if you're looking for anything other than absolute Iced Earth/Jon Schaffer worship, you may want to skip it. If you're in the "Jon Schaffer is God" camp, it will no doubt reaffirm your beliefs. If you think he's something of an egomaniac, it will verify that opinion as well.

At the time it was released, Dark Genesis was the only way to get remastered Iced Earth albums, the only way to get Enter the Realm, and the only way to get Tribute to the Gods. As such, it was a must-have for all serious Iced Earth fans. Since you can get all but the Enter the Realm disc elsewhere now, Dark Genesis is only for the most die-hard Iced Earth fans.

Essential for any Iced Earth fan.......2004-04-15

In recent years, classic metal has all but died out. Well, for the most part, that is. There is still one classic-style metal group that is rocking hard and still winning fans over on a regular basis - Iced Earth. These guys may not be as popular as some of the so-called "classic" metal bands out there, but their music is no less excellent. At long last, the band has released a five-disc box set. Read on for my review of Dark Genesis.

PROS:
-In this box set, you get three of the band's classic albums - their self-titled debut, Night of the Stormrider, and Burnt Offerings.
-The previously released albums have been remixed. Normally remixing a classic albums kills the sound - but here it improves it greatly!
-You also get Tribute to the Gods, an album featuring nothing but cover tunes. The band gets to pay homage to all their favorite artists, like ACDC, Blue Oyster Cult, KISS, and Iron Maiden.
-The fifth and final disc of this set is Enter The Realm, a very early set of demos not available outside this set. This disc alone makes the set to any Iced Earth die-hard.
-The set is a better value than buying albums separately. This makes the set a good place to start if you're just getting into the band.

CONS:
-Rather obviously, the set doesn't cover the band's complete discography. For example, the band's 2003 release, Glorious Burden, isn't here.
-The set is out of print and difficult to find. This is a real shame, because this set is great. And, of course, the Enter The Realm demo disc isn't available anywhere outside this set.
-Fans who already own the original CD releases of the albums may not want to buy them again. Although these remixed versions sound better than the originals (much better, actually), they're not good enough to merit buying the albums again.

OVERALL:
Overall this is an excellent set, and I strongly recommend it to ANYONE who likes the band, whether you're a casual or a die-hard fan. Iced Earth is one hell of a band, and this set will prove it.

******************** 20 STAR ESSENTIAL ICED RATING!!!.......2003-01-29

Has all original CD artowrk that was meant to be on the releases but wasn't, the very RARE Enter The Realm demo which got them signed and cannot be bought anywhere else, a full color book containing the entire history of Iced Earth, all discs remastered with the sound they were meant to have, and the KILLER cover CD, Tribute To The Gods, containing the best covers I've heard in years. Oh yeah ... IT'S ICED EARTH! Need I say more? * 20 STAR ESSENTIAL RATING FROM SCRAGGY'S TOMB! THE BEST BOX SET SINCE AC/DC'S BONFIRE! Cheers.

One of the best boxed sets of all time!.......2002-11-10

The reason I say this is that, unlike most boxed sets, the songs on this have been totally remastered and reworked. So even if you already have all the albums that are on here you should buy this so you can see the differences, some of which are good, some not so good. I'll go down and give an album by album review.

Enter the Realm-I didn't think I would like this but I actually enjoyed listening to it. I like the song 'nightmares' although I have no idea what the singer is saying at one point during the song. I think the lyrics as written in the album liner are "I am the god of fear" but it sounds like he's saying "Me, me, the goblin beer" or something like that.

Iced Earth-This album sounds better than the original but the singer is still awful, though in a good way. No amount of remixing is going to fix that.

Night of the stormrider-My favorite Iced Earth album redone. I like the new intro to 'angels holocaust' but the remixed stormrider is not too high on my list. The echo effect is unintentionally hilarious. "Fight on, grab on, stormrider, stormrider...rider! That last 'rider' always cracks me up.
I like the version of 'pure evil'. They eliminated the goofy robotic voice at the end of the song and made it sound more natural.

Burnt Offerings-This album is probably the most improved of the three. The echo effects in the title track actually improve the song(at least to me) and the mixing seems to have given the album more balance. I also like the double bass at the end of 'Dante's inferno'.

Tribute to the gods-A good tribute album. I particularly enjoyed their rendition of 'dead babies' one of my favorite Alice Cooper songs. 'Creatures of the night' and 'hallowed be thy name' are pretty good too.

Another cool thing about this album is the artwork which is very flashy and grand(Though the artwork for Burnt Offerings seems a bit cheesy and cliche)It looks like something from a comic book or graphic novel. At any rate if you like Iced earth or even just like metal you should buy this set.

Iced Earth: Titans of The Metal World.......2002-07-11

Wow, is this box set good. Probably the best one out there, probably beaten only by 'Live Sh!t: Binge and Purge.' It includes everything: The demo that got Iced Earth started in the first place ('Enter The Realm'), the mighty debut album ('s/t')
the awe-inspiring sophmore offering ('Night of the Stormrider'), the brooding third release ('Burnt Offerings'), AND a tribute CD filled with amazing covers by Blue Oyster Cult, Black Sabbath, Kiss, Iron Maiden, and Alice Cooper ('Tribute To The Gods'). This box set is jam-packed with everything a new fan of IE needs. It's even worth it for seasoned old fans too. I must complain about a few things first.
My biggest complaint the lack of CD booklets. None whatsoever. Grr. My only other complaint is that Jon Schaffer, in addition to putting his name down as 'rhythm guitars' states in a huge sentence 'Jon Schaffer does all rhythm guitars.' on all CD descriptions...Why would you put that? Useless info, is what it is. Jon is an excellent guitarist, and excuse me saying so, but I think he's getting a little full of himself. No offense to you, though, Jon.
*I can't give band member descriptions due to lack of CD booklets and I'm writing this at work, so I'm not near that huge book that come with the box set.*

This box set is a somewhat cheap and great introductory for new fans. I'm now in the process of buying the original 3 CDs, because of, again, lack of booklets, and Century Media will stop selling the original copies of those CD's too.

Music CD:

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

The Last Man on Earth ~ Loudon Wainwright III

Tribute to the Four Horsemen: Tribute Metallica

Barely Evil ~ Sketch

Sitar Power #2 ~ Ashwin Batish

Three ~ Hands On'Semble

Alles Gute Von Badesalz ~ Badesalz

Nocturnal Opera ~ Moi Dix Mois

Mexico and Mariachis: Music From and Inspired by Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi Trilogy ~ Various Ar

Saiyuki Nothing to Give: Kamisama-Hen Part 2 ~ Japanimation

Hardcorps: Ultimate in Gabber & Hardcore Techno ~ Various Artists