The cover artwork for ICED EARTH's upcoming EP, "Overture of the Wicked", has been posted online at IcedEarth.com. The art was created by Felipe Machado of Final Frontier Digital Art and Nathan Perry. Due on June 5 via SPV (one day earlier internationally), the CD will feature the following track listing:
01. Ten Thousand Strong 02. Prophecy 03. Birth of the Wicked 04. The Coming Curse
Regarding the songs that appear on the "Overture of the Wicked" EP, ICED EARTH mainman Jon Schaffer recently stated, "First, the song "Ten Thousand Strong" is the single track, and it will appear on [the upcoming full-length album] "Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1)", albeit a bit different than the single version. Second, the "Something Wicked" trilogy that is comprised of the songs "Prophecy", "Birth of the Wicked", and "The Coming Curse" has been completely re-recorded. From the ground up this is a more vicious and more atmospheric version of the epic piece. I played all of the guitar tracks with a baritone guitar and Brent [Smedley, drums] and I are locked up like a machine gun with the double kicks following many of the detailed picking patterns. This makes for a more intense- and wicked-sounding rhythm section. All of the vocals have been redone, obviously by Tim Owens, who did a masterful job at retaining the passion and honesty of the original, and still put his stamp on it and made it his own. We also put in some teaser atmospheric things that will give you a hint of things to come on Part 1. But just a hint... we don't want to spoil any surprises."