835. Iced Earth / The Melancholy E.P. 2001. 3.5/5

This EP was initially only meant to be handed out to radio stations as a promotion. Then at one stage there was a limited number pressed for fans to purchase. Two years later in 2001, it was eventually reissued with two further tracks for the general masses to get their hands on, and it is this version which I possess

Listen to "Melancholy (Holy Martyr)", "Watching Over Me" and "I Died For You" and can you hear the similarities in the tracks? I swear if you switched the lyric sheets on these two songs that you could pretty much make them fit within the framework of each song. That's not having a dig at the songs in question, it just never fails to surprise me as to how similar these songs are, and that I never really noticed it before I got this EP and started listening to it. I have always been a little disappointed in these tracks, as when they reach the parts of the songs where the riffs really cut in they sound great, but there is too much soft and slower parts of them to make them really great songs. A small footnote that I still enjoy the songs, but that slower starts feel unnecessary.
There are three cover songs here on this extended EP. The cover of Bad Company's "Shooting Star" is difficult for me to judge, because I really don't have any feelings for Bad Company's music at all. Thusly, this song may or may not be a great cover of the original, but it sounds boring and uninteresting compared to Iced Earth's normal output, which probably doesn't say much for the material they had to work with. The cover of Black Sabbath's "Electric Funeral" is an interesting take, certainly given the different direction Matt Barlow takes with the vocals from the original which was sung by Ozzy Osbourne. not a bad cover given they gave it a real Iced earth sound rather than the Black Sabbath sound. This the band has done again with their cover of Judas Priest's "The Ripper", which originally appeared on the tribute album A Tribute to Judas Priest: Legends of Metal Vol. II. Barlow again gives it his own interpretation and doesn't try to mimic Rob Halford's vocals, a very sensible option.
The EP concludes with a live version of "Colours" that was recorded during the session for Alive in Athens but didn't make the final cut for the album. It's a cracking version of this song, and is worthy of its position here rather than being lost in the mists.

EP's are generally hit and miss, depending on what content they have. They can be superfluous or they can be essential. The Melancholy E.P. is an essential item for Iced Earth fans, given the rarity of many parts of this album, and the enjoyment you will get from it when you put it on your CD player.

Rating:  I feel it once again, it's overwhelming me.  3.5/5