Iced Earth is a heavy metal band from the United States. Main members are guitarist (and most important song writer) Jon Schaffer and vocalist Matthew Barlow.

Their music is a combination of traditional heavy metal and speed metal, in which the influence of the legendary British heavy metal band Iron Maiden can clearly be heard. Jon Schaffer has stated several times that Iron Maiden's Steve Harris is his hero.


Discography:

Iced Earth (1991). Line-up is Jon Schaffer on rhythm guitars, backing vocals, Randy Shawver on lead guitars, Gene Adam on vocals, Dave Abell on bass guitar, and Mike McGill on drums.

Night Of The Stormrider (1992). Jon Schaffer on rhythm guitars, backing vocals, Randy Shawver on lead guitars, John Greely on lead vocals, Dave Abell on bass guitar, and Richey Secchiari on drums.

Burnt Offerings (1995). This album has Matthew Barlow on lead vocals, Jon Schaffer on rhythm guitars, vocals, Randy Shawver on lead guitars, Dave Abell on bass guitar, and Rodney Beasley on drums. Includes Iced Earth's longest song, the 16 minute epic Dante's Inferno

The Dark Saga (1996). Concept album based on the comicbook Spawn. Line-up: Jon Schaffer on rhythm guitars, backing vocals, Matthew Barlow on lead vocals, Randall Shawver on lead guitars, Dave Abell on bass guitar and Mark Prator on drums.

Days Of Purgatory (1997). Double cd (single cd in the US and Canada) with older songs, which have the drums, bass guitars and vocals re-recorded and remixed

Something Wicked This Way Comes (1998). Includes a 3-song story called Something Wicked. Jon Schaffer on guitars and backing vocals, Matthew Barlow on vocals, James MacDonough on bass guitar, and lots of guest musicians.

Alive In Athens (1999). Triple cd live album (double cd in the US and Canada), recorded in Athens, Greece on January 23rd 1999 and January 24th 1999. The line-up on this album is Jon Schaffer on rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, Matthew Barlow on vocals, Larry Tarnowski on lead guitar, James MacDonough on bass guitar, backing vocals, Brent Smedley on drums, and Rick Risberg on keyboards.

Horror Show (2001). The entire album is based on classic horror icons, such as Dracula and Frankenstein, and was released on June 26th 2001. The line-up: Jon Schaffer (guitar), Matthew Barlow (lead vocals), Larry Tarnowski (guitar), Richard Christy (drums). Steve DiGiorgio is listed as a guest musician. He plays the bass.

Dark Genesis (2001). This is a boxset containing the first three albums (Iced Earth, Night Of The Stormrider and Burnt Offerings), the first demo (Enter The Realm) and a cd with coversongs (Tribute To The Gods). The first three albums have been remixed and remastered, and all discs have new artwork. The box also includes a biography, and many rare photos.

Iced Earth seem to be the last, best hope for heavy metal fo the U.S. Iced Earth have picked up the torch that Metallica dropped, and, oh my god, are they ever running with it!

I bought my first Iced Earth CDs just a week ago "Alive in Athens", the 2 CD (U.S. version, European version is 3 CDs, order from Century Media, as I should have) recording of live performances of Iced Earth in Athens, Greece, and I've reserved judgement until now.

When I first bought the CDs, I'd only downloaded a few songs, which I found via deja.com and downloaded via gnapster, and I didn't know it was a "live" CD. When I got home and put it on and heard the crowd noise, I thought "Oh shit, it's a live CD, (duh!) I'm an idiot!!! this is going to suck!!!"

Well, let me tell you, these guys do not suck!!!! These two CDs are totally fucking awesome!!! I say this after having lived with them for a week, (and I've listened to them every day for the last week, and am listening to the 2nd CD even now, as I write this.) Seriously, these guys kick ass. If you like old-school metal, (Ride the Ligntning era Metallica) You'll like this. These guys do the Iron Maiden twin guitar attack even better than Maiden.

(And why is it the Greeks are crazy about heavy metal? It's clear the Greek audience on these two CDs knew all the words to all the songs. And "Demons & Wizards", which featured Jon Schaffer, Iced Earth guitarist, debuted at number 1 in Greece, but almost nobody in the U.S. has ever even heard of them...?

Just goes to show how screwed up U.S. radio is, I guess.

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