Iced Earth's music has evolved and shifted several times during the band's history. On the group's 1990 self-titled debut album, the band's sound was characterized by time changes, acoustic passages and Iron Maiden-type galloping rhythms. Many of these elements carried over to the follow-up album "Night of the Stormrider", which added keyboards and piano, as well as some choral arrangements. 1995's "Burnt Offerings" has been heralded as Iced Earth's heaviest album, and included the band's longest song to date, "Dante's Inferno." As a counter measure to "Burnt Offerings", 1996's "The Dark Saga" featured a much more subdued sound compared to previous releases. The focus was less on technical musicianship, but on emotion and melody. "Something Wicked This Way Comes" combined elements found on previous albums with brand new ideas. The "Something Wicked Trilogy," which closes the album, took many cues from the "Night of the Stormrider" album. Iced Earth continued to expand their sound throughout the 2000s, like adding a full-piece orchestra to the song "Gettysburg" from 2004's "The Glorious Burden".