"The Reckoning" is a single by American heavy metal band

Iced Earth Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band formed in Tampa, Florida and currently based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer and original drummer ...

. The single was released in October 2003, but originally the band had planned to release the album ''

The Glorious Burden ''The Glorious Burden'' is the seventh studio album by the American power metal band Iced Earth. It is a concept album, which explores various moments in military history, such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Revol ...

'' (from which the tracks on "The Reckoning" are taken from) in October 2003, but after the band was forced to move the album's release date due to singer Matt Barlow's departure from the band, record company released "The Reckoning" in order to fill in the gap. "The Reckoning" was also the first Iced Earth release from to feature lead vocalist

Tim "Ripper" Owens Timothy S. "Ripper" Owens (born September 13, 1967) is an American heavy metal singer who currently performs with KK's Priest, Spirits of Fire, the Three Tremors and A New Revenge. He first gained attention as the lead singer of Judas Priest ...

. The single contains three tracks: "The Reckoning (Don't Tread on Me)", an unplugged version of "When the Eagle Cries", "Valley Forge" and "Hollow Man". The last three songs were included because they were considered the "softest" tracks from ''The Glorious Burden'' and were the most likely to get radio airplay. The title-track was included in order to show fans that band was still as intense as ever. A music video was also filmed for the title-track. The unplugged version of "When the Eagle Cries" was only released on "The Reckoning" and the limited edition of ''The Glorious Burden''. A music video was also shot for the track.

Track listing

Personnel

; Iced Earth *

Jon Schaffer Jon Ryan Schaffer (born March 15, 1968) is an American heavy metal musician. He is the rhythm guitarist and principal songwriter of the Indiana-based heavy metal band Iced Earth, which he formed in 1985 under the name Purgatory. He is also the ...

- rhythm guitar, backing vocals, co-producer * Tim 'Ripper' Owens - lead vocals *

James MacDonough James MacDonough (born April 3, 1970) is an American bass guitarist. He has played with heavy metal bands Iced Earth, Nevermore, and Megadeth. Career MacDonough was part of Iced Earth's line up from 1996–2000 and again from 2001–2004. W ...

- bass guitar *

Richard Christy Thomas Richard Christy Jr. (born April 1, 1974) is an American drummer and radio personality, best known for being the former drummer for several heavy metal bands since the early 1990s, most notably Death, and his tenure on ''The Howard Stern ...

- drums ; Other personnel * Jim Morris - lead guitar, co-producer *

Ralph Santolla Ralph Santolla (December 8, 1966 – June 7, 2018) was an Italian-American heavy metal guitarist. He played in many bands, most recently Deicide, but also including Eyewitness, Death (he never recorded any of their albums, but toured with them in ...

- lead guitar *

Matt Barlow Matthew Barlow (born March 10, 1971) is an American heavy metal singer. He is the lead singer for Ashes of Ares and former lead singer of Iced Earth and Pyramaze. He is Jon Schaffer's brother-in-law. History Barlow joined Iced Earth after the ' ...

- backing vocals * Howard Helm - piano * Sam King - backing vocals * Jeff Day - backing vocals *

Leo Hao Alexey Mikhailovich Shamrovsky (russian: Алексей Михайлович Шамровский) better known as Leo Hao is a Russian fantasy artist. He is famous for painting cover art and illustrations for fantasy books and metal albums. Works ...

- cover art

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reckoning 2003 singles Iced Earth songs 2003 songs Songs written by Jon Schaffer American patriotic songs