The Dark Saga - Writing and Recording

Writing and Recording

Musically The Dark Saga is much more melodic and simplified compared to Iced Earth's previous albums (majority of the songs on The Dark Saga are under four minutes long). According to Schaffer, the shift in musical style was due to a much more positive feeling going into the writing, as opposed to the band's previous album Burnt Offerings, which had much more negative feeling going into it. Schaffer has stated that, Burnt Offerings was not the direction he wanted to take the band musically, which is why The Dark Saga is much more keen on melody and vocals.

The Dark Saga was the last Iced Earth album to feature longtime bassist Dave Abell, who left the group after finishing recording. Although Abell was credited for playing on the album, bassist Keith Menser appears on the back cover, because the band's label, Century Media Records, wanted the touring line-up to appear on the cover. Incidentally, Keith Menser was fired after he did not learn any of the band's songs for the supporting tour, and was replaced by James MacDonough. Drummer Mark Prator was also let go from the band, following the recording process, and was subsequently replaced by Brent Smedley. For this reason, Mark Prator also doesn't appear on the album's back cover. Recorded between January and February, 1996, The Dark Saga was the first Iced Earth albums not to be co-produced by Tom Morris. Instead, Morris' brother Jim Morris co-produced the album, along with Jon Schaffer.