***POWER/ SYMPHONIC/ PROGRESSIVE METAL: Third wave of metal in Europe of the 90's/00's

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ICED EARTH ( + demon and wizzard)

http://www.icedearth.com/

http://www.demonsandwizards.de/

www.myspace.com/icedearth

Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band that combine influences from thrash metal, power metal, progressive metal, opera, speed metal and NWOBHM. In 1999 their leader and songwriter Jon Schaffer teamed up with Blind Guardian vocalist Hansi Kürsch to form a side project called Demons & Wizards.

History

The central figure of Iced Earth is rhythm guitarist and songwriter Jon Schaffer. He first had the idea when taken to a KISS concert. Schaffer formed the band under the name "Purgatory" in Indiana in 1984. After moving to Florida Schaffer was forced to change his band's name by another group called Purgatory. He settled on "Iced Earth", a name that had been suggested by a longtime friend who was killed in a motorcycle accident. The group's Enter the Realm EP was popular enough that they released an eponymous debut LP with Century Media Records. Vocalist Gene Adam was originally going to perform on the follow-up record, Night of the Stormrider but was fired from the band after refusing to take singing lessons. He was replaced by John Greely, with Schaffer himself also providing some lead vocals on the album.

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Since then, the band has gone through numerous lineup changes, with only Jon Schaffer and ex-guitarist Randall Shawver lasting at least 9 years with the group. Greely was kicked out of the band after allegedly stealing money from other band members and making Anti-semitic comments on the European tour with Blind Guardian while in Germany. Vocalist Matt Barlow joined the band (after a three-year band hiatus following Night of the Stormrider) for Burnt Offerings, largely based on Dante's Inferno[citation needed]. Barlow's vocals proved extremely popular, even though he was not vocally trained until 1996. Barlow remained with the band for many years, recording the albums The Dark Saga, Days of Purgatory, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Alive in Athens, Horror Show and Tribute to the Gods. Barlow eventually parted amicably with the band in June 2003 to pursue a career with the United States Department of Homeland Security. Schaffer wanted him to try and see if he could do The Glorious Burden before leaving, but he soon realized that Barlow had lost his enthusiasm, so he let Barlow go

gene adams era

Conveniently, singer Tim "Ripper" Owens soon left Judas Priest (to make room for returning original vocalist Rob Halford) and became Iced Earth's new vocalist - Owens is not credited with his "Ripper" nickname while performing with Iced Earth. His first album with the band, The Glorious Burden, is an examination of many aspects of warfare and military figures who have shaped the modern world. Its topics range from the Declaration of Independence to 9/11 to Napoleon Bonaparte, and there are three songs dealing with the Battle of Gettysburg. While Owens is a talented vocalist, many Iced Earth fans have yet to embrace him as a member of the band. There is a limited edition where the Gettysburg Trilogy is moved to a second disc and the songs Waterloo and the unplugged version of When the Eagle Cries are added to the first disc. The album's theme became the centre of a controversy after Schaffer gave an interview to Canadian heavy metal magazine Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. After the interview was published, Schaffer accused the magazine of taking him out of context and of pushing an anti-American bias, and subsequently announced that the band would boycott the magazine in the future. However, Schaffer granted Mark Gromen, also of BW&BK and a friend, an interview in issue 101 (Jan/Feb '07) effectively ending the boycott.

MattBarlow

Together with Hansi Kürsch - lead singer and former bass player of Blind Guardian - Schaffer is also part of a side project called Demons & Wizards. In 2005, lead vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens and some friends of his started a new heavy metal band called Beyond Fear, which features future Iced Earth bassist Dennis Hayes as well.

In June 2006, Ernie Carletti became the new guitarist, and was to handle most of the guitar solos on Iced Earth's upcoming album. However, he was arrested a few months later under rape charges. In October 2006, Schaffer announced that Carletti would not be participating in Iced Earth, and would be replaced by Tim Mills. At the same time, drummer Brent Smedley was re-hired for the recording and touring of the new albums, replacing Bobby Jarzombek.

In December 2006, Jon announced information about the two upcoming Something Wicked albums. He also announced that the bass guitar duties on the new albums will be handled by James "Bo" Wallace, as well as that the original "Something Wicked" trilogy of the 1998 album Something Wicked This Way Comes would be re-recorded as an EP and will come with a new track "Ten Thousand Strong".On March 16, 2007, Jon Schaffer sent an update to Blabbermouth, with confirmed track listings for both of the new albums and the new single, and the news that Bo Wallace had to leave the band due to family health issues, and will be replaced by Dennis Hayes, of Tim Owens' side project, Beyond Fear. Just 12 days later, Schaffer updated Blabbermouth again, with the announcement that Tim Mills had to leave the band as well, due to employee problems with his company, Bare Knuckle Pickups. On May 20, Schaffer announced that his friend Troy Seele was the new lead guitarist. Framing Armageddon the band's ninth studio album was released on September 11, 2007.

Iced Earth began their 2007 Wicked European Tour on June 9, 2007, at the Sweden Rock Festival. Following appearances at the RockWave Festival and Wacken Open Air, the band will back up Heaven and Hell and Lamb of God on their British tour in November.

December 11, 2007 Schaffer announced that Barlow had returned to the band.He revealed this would considerably push back the release date of Something Wicked Part 2, due to an addition in Matt's family; however, when the band releases Part 2 they plan to tour and make an appropriate DVD release of live footage from the tour. This marks the end of Ripper Owens' tenure with Iced Earth. Not long after, Dennis Hayes' name was removed from the band's bio, signaling a possible bassist change as well.

Sound

Iced Earth's music is often described as Iron Maiden combined with 1980s thrash metal. The most distinctive element of the band's sound is the stuttering right-hand gallop of rhythm guitarist Jon Schaffer, which sounds something like the 'eighth-note, two-sixteenth-notes' gallop made famous by Iron Maiden's bass player/songwriter Steve Harris, sped up tremendously and varied rhythmically. Strong melodic hooks are typically laid over the top of this gallop, sometimes doubled by two guitars playing in harmony. During Barlow's period in the band, the vocals were often low-pitched but with occasional high-pitched screams, however after Owens joined the band the emphasis has shifted to the higher-pitched spectrum. A common element of the band's sound is the frequent usage of double-bass-drumming. Iced Earth's drum work is often highlighted by frequent use of drags and flams on the bass drum, usually intended to complement Schaffer's rhythm guitar.

Iced Earth lyrics tend to deal with theological issues such as punishment and sin, destiny, heaven and hell, the Antichrist and the apocalypse. Many of the band's recent albums have been concept albums written around a theme, e.g. the antihero Spawn (The Dark Saga), horror movies (Horror Show), and historical wars (The Glorious Burden). Jon Schaffer also created original stories for concept albums, most notably on Night of the Stormrider, and the band's upcoming "Something Wicked" albums.

In some songs (such as "Dante's Inferno," "Angels Holocaust," "Damien," and "The Coming Curse") Iced Earth uses the technique of Gregorian chant. Three Iced Earth songs contain female vocals: "A Question of Heaven", "The Phantom Opera Ghost" and "Something Wicked Part 1", in addition to a remake of "Burnt Offerings" on the Days of Purgatory album.

Current members

Matt Barlow - lead vocals (1994–2003, 2007–present)
Troy Seele - lead guitars (2007-present)
Jon Schaffer - rhythm & lead guitars, backing vocals (1984-present)
Dennis Hayes - bass (2007-present)
Brent Smedley - drums (1996-1997, 1998-1999, 2006-present)

Former members

Lead Vocals

Matt Barlow - lead vocals (2007-present)
Tim "Ripper" Owens - lead vocals (2003-2007)
Matt Barlow - lead vocals (1994-2003)
John Greely - lead vocals (1991-1992)
Gene Adam - lead vocals (1985-1991)

Lead Guitars

Bill Owen - (1985-1987)
Randall Shawver - (1988-1998)
Larry Tarnowski - (1998-2003)
Ralph Santolla - (2003-2004)
Ernie Carletti - (2006)
Tim Mills - (2006-2007)

Bass

Richard Bateman - (1985-1986)
Dave Abell - (1987-1996)
Keith Menser - (1996)
James MacDonough - (1996-2000, 2001-2004)
Steve DiGiorgio - (2000-2001)
James "Bo" Wallace - (2006-2007)

Drums

Greg Seymour - (1984-1989)
Mike McGill - (1989-1991)
Rick Secchiari - (1991-1992)
Rodney Beasley - (1992-1995)
Mark Prator - (1995-1996, 1997-1998)
Richard Christy - (2000-2004)
Bobby Jarzombek - (2004-2006)

Studio albums

Iced Earth
November 1, 1990

Night of the Stormrider
November 1, 1991

Burnt Offerings
April 1, 1995

The Dark Saga
May 20, 1996

Something Wicked This Way Comes
July 17, 1998

Horror Show
June 25, 2001

Tribute to the Gods

October 16, 2002
The Glorious Burden January 12, 2004

Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1)
September 11, 2007

Revelation Abomination (Something Wicked Part 2)
2008

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DEMON AND WIZARD

Demons & Wizards is a power metal band conceived as a side-project of the metal bands Blind Guardian and Iced Earth. It is made up of the vocalist for Blind Guardian, Hansi Kürsch, and the guitarist of Iced Earth, Jon Schaffer. Schaffer writes the music and Kürsch writes the lyrics. The band's line-up during the recording of their first album in 2000 also featured Mark Prator, who was the drummer on a few Iced Earth albums, and Jim Morris doing most of the guitar solos, Morris also having worked with Iced Earth in the past.

Band name
The original goal of the band was to forge the different musical styles of both Iced Earth's dark melodies and Blind Guardian's powerful vocals into one sound. In fact, according to the musicians, the band name is meant to describe the two styles: the self-proclaimed demon-like themes and sounds of Iced Earth and wizard-like themes and sounds of Blind Guardian (the moniker "Demons & Wizards" was inspired by Schaffer's wife always referring to him and Hansi as "Demons and Angels". Hansi always corrected her that it is more properly stated "Demons and Wizards", in reference to Uriah Heep's album of the same name). The band met with a fair deal of commercial success, though not as much as either of their individual bands.

The idea for the band arose in the spring of 1997 when Kürsch and Schaffer wanted to make music together, after being friends for several years.

Album information
The band's first full-length release was in 2000, with the self-titled album Demons & Wizards. In 2005, the band released their second album entitled Touched by the Crimson King. Touched by the Crimson King is partially based on the The Dark Tower series of books written by Stephen King in which the Crimson King is the main antagonist.

Current plans for the band
In recent interviews with Jon Schaffer, it has been noted that sometime in 2008 (when touring for Iced Earth and Blind Guardian's new albums are finished) he would like to do an official US tour and record a live album. This has led many to believe a new Demons and Wizards album will not be seen until at least 2009.

*********

Current lineup
Vocals: Hansi Kürsch
Guitar: Jon Schaffer
with:

Drums: Bobby Jarzombek
Bass: Rubin Drake
Guitar Solos: Jim Morris

Other members

Drums: Mark Prator (studio)
Drums: Richard Christy (live)
Backing Vocals and Piano: Howard Helm
Backing Vocals: Kathy Helm
Backing Vocals: Tori Fuson
Backing Vocals: Jesse Morris
Cello: Krystyna Kolaczynski

*************

Discography
Demons & Wizards (2000)
Touched by the Crimson King (SPV 2005)

Article ajouté le 2007-11-11 , consulté 26 fois

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