ICED EARTH BIOG
Few emotions register
as deeply in the human subconscious as fear. Few historical events are
meaningful enough to enter the collective memory of a nation. Merging
the recollection of your first-known terror with the significance of
a sociological phenomenon, Iced Earth's Horror Show is destined to become
a landmark album in the consciousness of a world hungry for something
musically extraordinary.
Briefly known as Purgatory and founded by the burning ambition of a
16-year-old runaway in Indiana, Jon Schaffer's vision has remained unadulterated
since day one because of the obvious: nothing is more important to him
than the music he writes and the fans who support Iced Earth. Remaining
faithful and dedicated to defiant, non-commercial heavy metal, Iced
Earth have indisputably established themselves as one of the most dynamic
and musically multi-dimensional bands in the world. Terrorizer Magazine
aptly describes their characteristic sound this way: "Take the best
bits off [Metallica's] Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets, combine
them with equally classic Priest and a healthy shot of vintage Maiden
and you're about halfway there."
Iced Earth's self-titled debut spread steadily throughout the European
underground in 1991, while in North America the metal market was soon
to undergo a drastic change. Through their persistence of vision and
in spite of the U.S. trend-laden music scene, Iced Earth never succumbed
to the pressure of going mainstream. Songwriter and guitarist Jon Schaffer
added vocalist Matthew Barlow to the band's nucleus in 1995, which strengthened
the band's writing and solidified its forceful delivery. The incredible
praise Barlow earned for his work on Iced Earth's third studio album,
Burnt Offerings, brought only a hint of the powerful things to come.
The Dark Saga, with its trademarked orchestral elements, was released
in 1996 and heralded the band's breakthrough in the United States. Sales
of Iced Earth's back catalog increased with every newfound fan. Band
members frequently faced inquiries about their demo recordings and unreleased
rarities. Using the benefit of updated recording technology for their
1997 offering Days Of Purgatory, they meticulously reconstructed all
of the material from their infamous Enter The Realm demo tape and reworked
selected songs from their first two classics, Iced Earth and Night Of
The Stormrider, so fans could enjoy classic Iced Earth material written
between 1986-1994. Now, with the legacy of seven albums, they have built
an unwavering legion of loyal-to-the-death followers around the world.
In turn, they have returned that loyalty ten-fold to their fans. In
1999, they embarked on a successful six-week national U.S. tour in support
of Something Wicked This Way Comes. In Europe, they dominated stages
at the Gods Of Metal festival in Italy, the Dynamo festival in The Netherlands,
and the legendary Wacken Open Air festival in Germany. Words often fail
the attempts to describe first-hand accounts of the raw power felt at
an Iced Earth concert.
Jon Schaffer has returned for the first studio album in three years
with lead singer Matthew Barlow, fellow guitar player Larry Tarnowski,
and new drummer Richard Christy (Control Denied, Death, Incantation,
touring drummer for Demons & Wizards). Using the trusted production
skills of Jim Morris at Morrisound Studios in Florida where Iced Earth
have recorded all of their studio work, they have unquestionably harnessed
their collective professional talents to create a monumental contribution
to the genre of heavy metal. Adeptly adjoining Schaffer's penchant for
musically technical constructions with his impeccable storytelling abilities,
Horror Show extols a brilliant and dramatic seamlessness from the first
note to the last. Encapsulated here is a ravaging collection of songs
bearing tribute to the timeless legends of evil that have plagued our
nightmares since childhood: The Werewolf, Damien Thorne, Jack The Ripper,
The Mummy, Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, The Creature From The Black Lagoon,
Dracula, Frankenstein. Collectively, this album is an invocation of
all your greatest fears, blatantly challenging you to look at your own
malevolence. With artwork expertly handled by the team of Danny Miki
(Spawn and The Creech comic book artist) and Travis Smith (cover artist
for Jag Panzer and Opeth), both have created another masterful design
package that's as richly detailed and haunting as the music and lyrics.
This is an album generations of fans will be justifiably proud of. This
is metal for the new millennia.
