Iced Earth

Iced Earth

Iced Earth is an American heavy metal group from Tampa, United States, formed in 1988 after earlier names including The Rose and Purgatory. Guitarist and primary songwriter Jon Schaffer and drummer Greg Seymour start the project, and Schaffer remains the central figure throughout the band’s long history of lineup changes.

Early years and recordings

The band’s early material includes the demo EP Enter the Realm from 1989 and the debut album Iced Earth from 1990. Its first two studio albums are recorded at Morrisound Recording with Schaffer and Tom Morris producing. Night of the Stormrider follows in 1991, and after that release the group tours Europe with Blind Guardian.

Iced Earth has a reputation for frequent personnel changes. Over the years, the line-up includes more than thirty musicians, among them vocalists Gene Adam, John Greely, Matthew Barlow, Tim “Ripper” Owens and Stu Block, and drummers such as Mike McGill, Mark Prator, Richard Christy, Brent Smedley, Raphael Saini and Bobby Jarzombek. The band is active from 1988 to the present.

Albums, concepts and line-up changes

After a hiatus from 1992 to 1994, the band returns with Matt Barlow on vocals for Burnt Offerings (1995), The Dark Saga (1996), Something Wicked This Way Comes (1998) and Horror Show (2001). The Dark Saga uses concept material based on the comic-book character Spawn, while Something Wicked This Way Comes introduces the Something Wicked Saga.

Days of Purgatory (1997) compiles re-recorded earlier songs. The live album Alive in Athens (1999) records performances in Greece, and The Melancholy E.P. includes covers and unreleased tracks. Tribute to the Gods (2002) is a covers album issued as part of the box set Dark Genesis.

After Barlow leaves, Tim “Ripper” Owens joins for The Glorious Burden (2004) and Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked Part 1 (2007). The EP Overture of the Wicked comes before that album. Barlow then returns for The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked Part 2 (2008), alongside the single “I Walk Among You” and the box set Box of the Wicked. Stu Block becomes lead vocalist in 2011 and sings on Dystopia (2011), Plagues of Babylon (2014) and Incorruptible (2017).

Later work and related projects

Dystopia incorporates dystopian themes and continues the Something Wicked storyline. Live releases in this period include Festivals of the Wicked (2011) and Live in Ancient Kourion (2012). Later recordings feature further personnel changes, including guitarists and drummers such as Jake Dreyer, Jon Dette, and the return of Brent Smedley. In 2018, Schaffer forms Jon Schaffer’s Purgatory to re-record pre-Iced Earth demos, leading to the EP Purgatory.

The 1989 demo Enter the Realm is later issued on CD and vinyl in 2019. A thirteenth studio album is announced in 2020, but work is delayed as members live in different countries. In 2022, the compilation A Narrative Soundscape appears, featuring acoustic and ambient versions of earlier songs with spoken lyrics.