Gene Adam was originally going to perform on "Night of the Stormrider". Jon Schaffer was concerned that Adam wouldn't be able to handle the vocal melodies for the new material and asked him to take singing lessons. Adam refused and as a result he was replaced by John Greely. Greely was later ejected from the band too.
Shortly after the release of "Night of the Stormrider", Jon Schaffer went on strike against Century Media Records, refusing to provide them with new recordings (as expected based on their contract), as allegedly they had not paid him any royalties from the first two albums.
The situation was eventually resolved and after a three-year hiatus the band returned with Matthew Barlow as the new vocalist. Schaffer and Barlow are brothers-in-law. Matt is married to Jon's sister.
Although Keith Menser is listed as having played bass on "The Dark Saga", he did not actually record a note on the album. When Dave Abell left the band and Mark Prator's friend Menser was recruited, the album had already been recorded and so Menser was to play bass on the tour. When it came time to shoot the photos in the liner notes Century Media wanted the touring line-up to be featured on the back cover, so Menser appeared instead of Abell. While rehearsing for the tour, it became apparent that Menser did not know any of the songs and had to be fired. Abell then quickly returned to the band.
Steve DiGiorgio is listed as a guest musician on "Horror Show". He had actually agreed to join the band permanently and tour the album, but cut off communications after the album was finished and later informed Schaffer (through his management) that he would be unable to do the tour. He was fired and edited out of the photoshoot for the album, and bumped to the bottom of the list of guest musicians.
His predecessor James MacDonough had left for publicly unknown reasons after "Alive in Athens" but returned after DiGiorgio's departure. He left again after "The Glorious Burden" to join Megadeth as a touring musician.
Deluxe slipcase, Remastered.
-Tracklist:
01. Enter the Realm (Demo) 21:43
1. Enter the Realm
2. Colors
3. Nightmares
4. Curse the Sky
5. Solitude
6. Iced Earth
2. Colors
3. Nightmares
4. Curse the Sky
5. Solitude
6. Iced Earth
02. Iced Earth 44:01
1. Iced Earth
2. Written on the Walls
3. Colors
4. Curse the Sky
5. Life and Death
6. Solitude
7. Funeral
8. When the Night Falls
2. Written on the Walls
3. Colors
4. Curse the Sky
5. Life and Death
6. Solitude
7. Funeral
8. When the Night Falls
03. Night of the Stormrider 45:46
1. Angels Holocaust
2. Stormrider
3. The Path I Choose
4. Before the Vision
5. Mystical End
6. Desert Rain
7. Pure Evil
8. Reaching the End
9. Travel in Stygian
1. Angels Holocaust
2. Stormrider
3. The Path I Choose
4. Before the Vision
5. Mystical End
6. Desert Rain
7. Pure Evil
8. Reaching the End
9. Travel in Stygian
04. Burnt Offerings 52:44
1. Burn Offerings
2. Last December
3. Diary
4. Brainwashed
5. Burning Oasis
6. Creator Failure
7. The Pierced Spirit
8. Dante's Inferno
1. Burn Offerings
2. Last December
3. Diary
4. Brainwashed
5. Burning Oasis
6. Creator Failure
7. The Pierced Spirit
8. Dante's Inferno
05. Tribute to the Gods 51:59
1. Creatures of the Night (Kiss cover)
2. Number of the Beast (Iron Maiden cover)
3. Highway to Hell (AC/DC cover)
4. Burnin' for You (Blue Öyster Cult cover)
5. God of Thunder (Kiss cover)
6. Screaming for Vengeance (Judas Priest cover)
7. Dead Babies (Alice Cooper cover)
8. Cities on Flame (Blue Öyster Cult cover)
9. It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock n' Roll) (AC/DC cover)
10. Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath cover)
11. Hallowed Be Thy Name (Iron Maiden cover)
1. Creatures of the Night (Kiss cover)
2. Number of the Beast (Iron Maiden cover)
3. Highway to Hell (AC/DC cover)
4. Burnin' for You (Blue Öyster Cult cover)
5. God of Thunder (Kiss cover)
6. Screaming for Vengeance (Judas Priest cover)
7. Dead Babies (Alice Cooper cover)
8. Cities on Flame (Blue Öyster Cult cover)
9. It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock n' Roll) (AC/DC cover)
10. Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath cover)
11. Hallowed Be Thy Name (Iron Maiden cover)
Label: Century Media Records.
Limited to 3000 copies.
Issued in a tall digipak with a slipcase.
First editions of the release contain some printing errors:
- The CD with the "Night of the Stormrider" artwork plays "Enter the Realm".
- The CD with the "Burnt Offerings" artwork plays "Iced Earth".
- The CD with the "Enter the Realm" artwork plays "Night of the Stormrider".
- The CD with the "Iced Earth" artwork plays "Burnt Offerings".
- The "Tribute to the Gods" CD is the only one with the correct artwork printed on the disc.
Contains remixed/remastered versions of their first 3 albums, the cover album "Tribute to the Gods", and their old demo for the first time on CD.
First editions of the release contain some printing errors:
- The CD with the "Night of the Stormrider" artwork plays "Enter the Realm".
- The CD with the "Burnt Offerings" artwork plays "Iced Earth".
- The CD with the "Enter the Realm" artwork plays "Night of the Stormrider".
- The CD with the "Iced Earth" artwork plays "Burnt Offerings".
- The "Tribute to the Gods" CD is the only one with the correct artwork printed on the disc.
Contains remixed/remastered versions of their first 3 albums, the cover album "Tribute to the Gods", and their old demo for the first time on CD.
