Country of origin:
United States
Location:
Tampa, Florida
Status:
Active
Formed in:
1988
Genre:
Power/Thrash Metal
Lyrical themes:
Horror, Fantasy, Literature, Mythology, History, War
Current label:
Unsigned/independent
Years active:
1984-1985 (as The Rose), 1985-1988 (as Purgatory), 1988-present
The original name of the band formed in 1985 was Purgatory but was later changed to Iced Earth before they released their last demo.
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.
Long time vocalist Matt Barlow left the band in 2003 to work at the Department of Homeland Security. Tim “Ripper” Owens re-recorded all the vocal lines for “The Glorious Burden” as a session member, and joined full-time when he was kicked out of Judas Priest.
Matt Barlow went on to become a police officer for the Georgetown Police Department and perform vocals in the “First State Force Band”, which is completely formed by policemen (including a detective and a sergeant) that go around schools promoting slogans such as “Say No To Drugs” and “Stay In School”.
Drummer Richard Christy left Iced Earth in 2004 to work on Howard Stern’s radio show.
Ernie Carletti was hired as the new lead player in 2006 but was released after only a few months (without recording or playing with the band) when he was brought to court on rape charges – he was later sentenced to 33 years in prison. At the same time Brent Smedley was brought back into the fold to replace Bobby Jarzombek, who had been touring in place of Richard Christy.
Tim Mills and Bo Wallace were brought in in 2006 as the new lead and bass players, respectively, but both left in early 2007 due to external commitments. Mills played on the “Overture of the Wicked” single but Wallace did not.
Matt Barlow re-entered the metal scene when he was persuaded to join Pyramaze in early 2007. This promted Jon Schaffer to ask him to rejoin Iced Earth, and he sung on “The Crucible of Man” (he then left Pyramaze after only one album due to his continuing duties as a police officer). Bassist Dennis Hayes left the band along with Tim Owens.
In 2012, Century Media Records filed one single lawsuit against 7000 internet users who had shared Iced Earth’s “Dystopia” and Lacuna Coil’s “Dark Adrenalin” online. Jon Schaffer released a statement on Iced Earth’s Facebook page stating that he was not consulted, nor would he have given permission if he was. A judge later denied 943 subpoenas pertaining to Lacuna Coil’s case.
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