Before there was Iced Earth, there was its forebear Purgatory. It’s easy
to lump the two groups together due to their shared songwriting tropes and
emphasis on Jon Schaffer’s signature rhythm guitar, but Purgatory stood out for
its horror aesthetic and rather “street” approach to power metal. In a
fascinating twist of fate, the group’s core members reunited in 2018 to record
this EP. The five songs on here had previously only existed in mid-80s demo
form, leading one to wonder how well the combination of Iron Maiden and slasher
films will work over thirty years later.
For the most part, Purgatory’s material holds up surprisingly well in the
modern age. There are some inevitable tweaks wrought by the passage of time and
the grit of the band’s demo days has largely been washed away. Arrangements
have been spruced up and a clean production job highlights an epic side that’s
right in line with classic Iced Earth. This is somewhat at odds with the sleazy
aspects of “Jack” and “In Jason’s Mind,” but “Dracula” and “Burning Oasis”
fully realize the potential that was merely hinted at back in the day.
But the real shocker comes with vocalist Gene Adam. He possesses the shrill
character of his early days but there’s much more control behind it, resulting
in a legitimately good performance even if it doesn’t have that manic character.
Whether he learned some proper techniques in his time away from metal or the
years were just inordinarily kind to him, he’s come a long way from the
infamously… niche vocals on Iced Earth’s debut.
The track order may be the only real nitpick I have with this EP. The
Freddy Krueger-inspired “In Your Dreams” wasn’t a great choice for an opener.
While it’s not a bad track, it’s easily the weakest of the lot with a mid-tempo
structure that doesn’t hit as hard as it should. It probably would’ve worked
better in the middle with “Dracula” or “In Jason’s Mind” serving as a more
ominously climactic opener.
Overall, Purgatory’s EP probably won’t have much reach beyond hardcore Iced
Earth fans but I don’t think they’re too worried about that. This is the
product of old friends waxing nostalgia and updating songs that never got the
chance to shine when they were first written. As somebody who’s listened to the
old Purgatory demos, I can say that it does a good job of catching that old
school metal spirit. Considering the catalog of songs that were written back
then, it wouldn’t surprise me to see more releases like this in the future.
Highlights:
“Dracula”
“Dracula”
“In Jason’s Mind”
“Burning Oasis”
Final Grade:B+
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