This album is absolutely metal to the bone. I'm not talking Metallica or Judas Priest here. I am talking about a real, hard, heavy, dark yet so so epic metal masterpiece. This is considered one of Iced Earth's best albums and it is heavily debated whether this is their best album or not. Hard and heavy and dark this album is literally one of a kind. Superb male operatic vocals which are so melodious deep and rich bellow out as if calling from hell. This album could scare away a potential listeners by coming off as too satanic but with little research of Iced Earth it's not hard to see that IE is not about this and it is simply a themed cd. Dante's Inferno is in my opinion (and many many others) one of the best metal songs ever written. 16 minutes long it takes you through a journey in hell and is probably one of the heaviest metal songs ever written. There are no death vocals only deep male opera and clean style vocals. Prepare yourself for a journey like no other. You will not be Disappointed and remember just because a band has not hit the absolute mainstream they can still achieve an absolute massive following like IE. They have toured the world many times and played Wacken and that should tell you a lot. There are "death style" vocals but it's not screaming and un-understandable. Very understandable yet hard. Enjoy