Iced Earth

Gettysburg 1863 - limited edition DVD set

Steamhammer

Iced Earth. Such a tricky, confusing, talented little enigma - one minute I love 'em & the next I hate 'em! Lately, I have been on a 'love 'em' kick since the brilliant 'The Glorious Burden' released last year. The only problem I had with said release, was that I really couldn't grasp what the hell Jon Schaffer & Co. were talking about, not being a Civil War buff and all. Well, shiver me timbers, along comes this 'instructional' DVD to set me right straight!

Ok, what we have here is a 2 disc limited edition set. The first disc contains a promotional video for the epic 3 part song 'Gettysburg 1863' - well, I guess it's not really a video per-se, but more of a collage of Civil War imagery. It really is quite boring, but it does do a great job of familiarizing the viewer with some of the leading figures of the Civil War. The highlight of disc 1 has to be the tour of Gettysburg, whereby Jon Schaffer & some officially licensed Civil War historian named Ted, take us on a educational romp around the actual battlefield. In fact, it was so intriguing, that I actually went out and purchased a couple of books on the subject. Disc 1 ends with a yawn of an interview with Jon Schaffer about his Civil War memorabilia store The Spirit of '76. Disc 2 is chock full of all the obligatory promo vid's from 'The Glorious Burden' including an unplugged version of 'When the Eagle Cries' and a photo-gallery for your viewing pleasure.

Not a heck ov'a lotta bang for the buck, but nonetheless it does do its job of explaining the epic 'The Glorious Burden'. A much needed edition to the collection of any Iced Earth fan or Civil War buff.

Jason Deaville