Heaven And Hell, Iced Earth
Manchester MEN Arena
11th November, 2007

View: stage-right tier, front

With Iced Earth on ridiculously early (billed below teen-friendly noise merchants Lamb Of God), Jon Shaffer’s crew, led by wailer Tim Owens, were limited to a half-hour assault topped by their closing double-whammy of Burning Times and the belting, Maiden-esque Ten Thousand Strong. The audience might not have been, but latecomers missed out. As for H&H, the quartet with a combined age approaching Noah’s cranked out 95 minutes of majestic, melodic metal, the black-attired Iommi’s riffs complementing Dio’s pomp vocals over a surging rhythm base. Opener Mob Rules, with apt gothic backdrop, led into a series of classics including the magnetically strident Children Of The Sea, chugging Dehumanizer, bass-led Sign Of The Southern Cross and the rabble-rousing Voodoo (with minor drum solo). The sludge of Falling Off The Edge Of The World and storming Die Young prefaced the singalong Heaven And Hell (wheel-crosses and lightning effects), before an encore of the arms-aloft newy, Shadow Of The Wind, and doomy, uptempo closer Neon Knights.

Reviewed by Tim Jones
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