History Music / IcedEarth

* BadassBaritone: Matt Barlow’s deep voice strongly characterizes his distinctively powerful singing style, though he can still go pretty high with his range.

* SopranoAndGravel: Most known for his immensely gravelly BadassBaritone, Matt Barlow is equally as capable at some astounding high notes. See "A Question of Heaven" for some exemplary displays of both.

Jon Schaffer struck a guilty plea deal in exchange for a reduced sentence in April, but the image of the band has taken a large hit regardless (with their label immediately dropping them), and the fate of Iced Earth with its founder and frontman behind bars remains uncertain. Some new tracks have still been released in the meantime, however, in the form of ''A Narrative Soundscape'' in January 2022, which was recorded prior to the riot for the deluxe version of Schaffer's book ''Wicked Words and Epic Tales'', and a live album in May taken from the performance at the Bang Your Head Festival in 2016.

+ Music/DemonsAndWizards, One of Jon Schaffer's side projects
+ Music/SonsOfLiberty, The other of Schaffer's side projects
+ Purgatory: Side project featuring the surviving members of the original Iced Earth lineup
+ Music/BlindGuardian, Schaffer's Music/DemonsAndWizards partner

Jon Schaffer also has two side projects, Music/DemonsAndWizards, with Music/BlindGuardian singer Hansi Kürsch, and Sons of Liberty.

The band also has had two of their songs featured on ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'''s soundtrack.

On January 6, 2021, Jon Schaffer [[https://www.nme.com/news/music/john-schaffers-iced-earth-bandmates-have-released-a-statement-2852684 was discovered to have taken part in the Capitol Hill Riot]], which lead to [[https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/01/18/iced-earth-guitarist-jon-schaffer-arrested-fbi-after-capitol-riot/4207250001/ his arrest by the FBI on January 17th.]] At the same time, Stu Block [[https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/iced-earths-stu-block-i-absolutely-do-not-support-anything-that-any-protester-was-involved-in-during-capitol-hill-riot/ made a Facebook post]] that was interpreted by many as him supporting the riots, although he quickly recanted that interpretation and strongly condemned the insurrection, and he (along with every other band member save for Brent Smedley) have since left the band as a result. Jon Schaffer struck a guilty plea deal in exchange for a reduced sentence in April, but the image of the band has taken a large hit regardless (with their label immediately dropping them), and the fate of Iced Earth with its founder and frontman behind bars for the next several years remains uncertain, though their thirteenth album ''A Narrative Soundscape'', which was recorded prior to the riot, would be released a year later.

On January 6, 2021, Jon Schaffer [[https://www.nme.com/news/music/john-schaffers-iced-earth-bandmates-have-released-a-statement-2852684 was discovered to have taken part in the Capitol Hill Riot]], which lead to [[https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/01/18/iced-earth-guitarist-jon-schaffer-arrested-fbi-after-capitol-riot/4207250001/ his arrest by the FBI on January 17th.]] At the same time, Stu Block [[https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/iced-earths-stu-block-i-absolutely-do-not-support-anything-that-any-protester-was-involved-in-during-capitol-hill-riot/ made a Facebook post]] that was interpreted by many as him supporting the riots, although he quickly recanted that interpretation and strongly condemned the insurrection, and he (along with every other band member save for Brent Smedley) have since left the band as a result. Jon Schaffer struck a guilty plea deal in exchange for a reduced sentence in April, but the image of the band has taken a large hit regardless (with their label immediately dropping them), and the fate of Iced Earth with its founder and frontman behind bars for the next several years remains uncertain.

* NotChristianRock: The band's music often explores themes and stories inspired by Literature/TheBible and its apocrypha, with frequent recurring motifs being betraying god and making a DealWithTheDevil. ''Night Of The Stormrider'', for instance, is loosely based on the story of Lucifer as told by Literature/ParadiseLost, and that's not even getting into the epic musical retelling of Literature/DantesInferno on the following album. Jon Schaffer grew up in a religious environment, even going to a Lutheran school, but though fascinated by religion, he became strongly disillusioned after being mistreated by it, [[ReligionRantSong and often writes as much in his lyrics.]] In addition, original lead vocalist Gene Adam went on to become a pastor, and John Greely, the second lead vocalist, is a known Christian and his musical project Seventh Servant is explicitly Christian metal. Despite all this, Iced Earth is not a Christian metal band perse.

* ConceptAlbum: Over half of their albums. ''Night of the Stormrider'' tells an original story about a man's quest to destroy his own religion. ''The Dark Saga'' is about ComicBook/{{Spawn}}, ''Horror Show'' is inspired by various classic horror films and books, ''The Glorious Burden'' is aggressively patriotic American HorribleHistoryMetal all the way through, and ''Something Wicked'', ''Framing Armageddon'', ''The Crucible of Man'', ''Dystopia'' and part of ''Plagues of Babylon'' comprise the Something Wicked Saga, an original story about the civilizations of the ancient species that existed on the Earth before man, and [[ApocalypseHow their tumultuous fall]].
* CoverVersion: "[[Music/BlackSabbath Electric Funeral]]" and "[[Music/JudasPriest The Ripper]]" from ''The Melancholy EP'', "[[Music/IronMaiden The Trooper]]" and "[[Music/BlackSabbath The Mob Rules]]" from ''Dystopia'', "[[Music/IronMaiden Transylvania]]" from ''Horror Show'', and the entirety of ''Tribute to the Gods''.

** There's also the 'Dark Saga Trilogy' encompassing 'Suffering Scarred', 'Slave to the Dark', and 'A Question of Heaven', in total they're about 15-20 minutes put together.
** Quite a few examples on the first two albums, most notably early classics "When The Night Falls" and "Travel In Stygian", lasting 8 and 9 minutes respectively.

* FilkSong: The band has many, to the point of being the subject of several albums:
** ''The Dark Saga'', which tells the story of ComicBook/{{Spawn}}.
** ''Horror Show'', an album revolving around classic horror canon such as ''Film/TheOmen'', ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'', and ''{{Dracula}}''.
** ''Dystopia'', which is mostly about dystopian literature such as ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' and ''Literature/{{Anthem}}'', both of which are explored in the songs of the same name.

On January 6, 2021, Jon Schaffer [[https://www.nme.com/news/music/john-schaffers-iced-earth-bandmates-have-released-a-statement-2852684 was discovered to have taken part in the Capitol Hill Riot]], which lead to [[https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/01/18/iced-earth-guitarist-jon-schaffer-arrested-fbi-after-capitol-riot/4207250001/ his arrest by the FBI on January 17th.]] At the same time, Stu Block [[https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/iced-earths-stu-block-i-absolutely-do-not-support-anything-that-any-protester-was-involved-in-during-capitol-hill-riot/ made a Facebook post]] that was interpreted by many as him supporting the riots, although quickly recanted that interpretation and strongly condemned the insurrection, and he (along with every other band member save for Brent Smedley) have since left the band as a result. Jon Schaffer struck a guilty plea deal in exchange for a reduced sentence in April, but the image of the band has taken a large hit regardless (with their label immediately dropping them), and the fate of Iced Earth with its founder and frontman behind bars for the next several years remains uncertain.

Iced Earth is a HeavyMetal band from the United States that was founded in 1984 (initially under the name “Purgatory”) by rhythm guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer. Their music tends to be a combination of traditional heavy metal, thrash metal, and PowerMetal. Many of their songs alternate between lighter passages and heavier, more aggressive parts. Many of their songs have dark fantasy-based themes and/or involve hell and damnation, although there are exceptions.

Iced Earth's line-up changes very frequently; Jon Schaffer is the only musician who has always been in the band. One of their singers, Matt Barlow, temporarily left the band in 2003, returning in 2008 for ''The Crucible of Man''. While he was gone, Tim "Ripper" Owens (the ReplacementScrappy for Music/JudasPriest) sang in Iced Earth. [[ReplacementScrappy And the fans raged as much as the Priest fans did during their own Owens era.]]

Barlow quit again in early 2011, and his replacement is Stu Block from Into Eternity. Block is regarded by many as the best singer Iced Earth has ever had, being able to replicate both the deep vocals of Matt Barlow and the high pitched ones of Ripper, with the mid-range of John Greely.

They also have two songs in ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'''s soundtrack.

On January 6, 2021, Jon Schaffer [[https://www.nme.com/news/music/john-schaffers-iced-earth-bandmates-have-released-a-statement-2852684 was discovered to have taken part in the Capitol Hill Riot]], which lead to [[https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/01/18/iced-earth-guitarist-jon-schaffer-arrested-fbi-after-capitol-riot/4207250001/ his arrest by the FBI on January 17th.]] At the same time, Stu Block [[https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/iced-earths-stu-block-i-absolutely-do-not-support-anything-that-any-protester-was-involved-in-during-capitol-hill-riot/ made a Facebook post]] that was interpreted by many as him supporting the riots, although he has since stated that he strongly condemns every aspect of it, and he (along with every other band member save for Brent Smedley) have since left the band as a result. Jon Schaffer struck a guilty plea deal in exchange for a reduced sentence in April, but the image of the band has taken a large hit regardless (with their label immediately dropping them), and the fate of Iced Earth with its founder and frontman behind bars for the next several years remains uncertain.

Current Line-up:

!!Examples:

Iced Earth is a HeavyMetal band from the United States that was founded in 1984 by rhythm guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer. Their music tends to be a combination of traditional heavy metal, thrash metal, and PowerMetal. Many of their songs alternate between lighter passages and heavier, more aggressive parts. Many of their songs have dark fantasy-based themes and/or involve hell and damnation, although there are exceptions.

Iced Earth is a HeavyMetal band from the United States that was founded in 1984 by rhythm guitarist Jon Schaffer. Their music tends to be a combination of traditional heavy metal, thrash metal, and PowerMetal. Many of their songs alternate between lighter passages and heavier, more aggressive parts. Many of their songs have dark fantasy-based themes and/or involve hell and damnation, although there are exceptions.

** The first pre-chorus interlude of "Desert Rain" features the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'' Ruins theme being played by the lead guitar.

[floatboxright:
Related Acts:
+ Music/DemonsAndWizards, One of Jon Schaffer's side projects
+ Music/SonsOfLiberty, The other of Schaffer's side projects
+ Purgatory: Side project featuring the surviving members of the original Iced Earth lineup
+ Music/BlindGuardian, Schaffer's Music/DemonsAndWizards partner
]

Includes song about:

* Literature/TheBible ("Melancholy")

* UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror ("Greenface", "When the Eagle Cries")

* ConceptAlbum: Over half of their albums. ''Night of the Stormrider'' tells an original story about a man's quest to destroy his own religion. ''The Dark Saga'' is about ComicBook/{{Spawn}}, ''Horror Show'' about various classic horror films, ''The Glorious Burden'' is America-centric HorribleHistoryMetal all the way through and the ''Something Wicked'', ''Dystopia'' and half of ''Plagues of Babylon'' tell another original story about ancient civilsations that existed before man.

* EldritchAbomination: Their song ''Cthulhu'' mentions [[VoluntaryShapeshifter Nyarlethotep]] and Cthulhu.

** Gettysburg 1863: Three songs covering [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar the three days of battle]], approximately 30 minutes in total. Epic beyond words.

** Early classics "When The Night Falls" and "Travel In Stygian" last 8 and 9 minutes respectively.

%% * FilkSong: [[ComicBook/{{Spawn}} ''The Dark Saga'']], ''Horror Show'', ''Dystopia'', and some others.

* HeavyMithril: Many of their songs, although typically with more horror-esque and theological themes than conventional high fantasy.

* HumanityOnTrial: "Crucible of Man" is one, with Set Abominae as the judge on their past crimes on his race.
* HumansAreBastards: "Motivation of Man" covers humanity's attempt to gain power amongst other lifeforms. Through [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Warhammer]] levels of ethnic cleansing.
* IAmTheBand: Again, Jon Schaffer ''is'' Iced Earth.
* LighterAndSofter: Musically, the first three albums were heavy and dark fusion of US PowerMetal and Thrash Metal (and arguably a touch of 80s DeathMetal à la Music/{{Kreator}} or Music/{{Possessed}}) with [[EpicRocking long]] and structurally complex arrangements. ''The Dark Saga'', while still dark and aggressive at points, heralded the band taking a slightly more radio-friendly songwriting approach with a stronger emphasis on catchy hooks and choruses, and they have stuck with it since (although they still continue to write longer and more complex songs on occasion as mentioned above).
* {{Mascot}}: Set Abominae, who appears on multiple album-covers, namely the "Something Wicked"-cycle ones.
* NotChristianRock: The band's music constantly contains themes that are based on biblical parts, with frequent themes betraying god and selling your soul to the devil, and heaven and hell. ''Night Of The Stormrider'', for instance, is loosely based on the story of Lucifer. Jon Schaffer grew up in a religious environment, even going to a Lutheran school, but though fascinated by religion, became strongly disillusioned with it, [[ReligionRantSong and often writes as much in his lyrics.]] In addition, original singer Gene Adam went on to become a pastor, and second singer John Greely is a known Christian and his musical project Seventh Servant is explicitly Christian metal. Despite all this, the band is not a Christian Metal band perse.

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Night Of The Stormrider takes place from the point of view of a decidedly evil person, who we still feel sorry for as he meets his doom.

** Post-Sons of Liberty, the more recent Iced Earth albums have had a more political flair, though less specific and aggressively.

* RedplicaBaron: ''The Glorious Burden'' is their seventh studio album. It is a {{concept album}}, which explores various moments in military history. One of their songs pays tribute to world events such as World War I, being the song "Red Baron/Blue Max" referred to Richthofer and the ''Pour le Merite'' medal (nicknamed as the ''Blue Max'' by Max Immermann, another famous German AcePilot in WWI that won it) respectively.

* RevolvingDoorBand: Aside from Jon Schaffer being the only constant member, they have had 5 different singers over the course of 11 albums. First Gene Adam, then John Greely, Matt Barlow, Tim 'Ripper' Owens (who you may know as being Rob Halford's very similar-sounding replacement in Music/JudasPriest), back to Matt, and now Stu Block. They have also had 4 lead guitarist: Randall Shawver, Larry Tarnowski, Ralph Santolla and Troy Steele, respectively, along with 10 drummers and 8 bassists. No two albums have shared the same line-up.

** "Desert Rain" contains a cover of the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'' Ruins Theme.
** “V” is one to ComicBook/VForVendetta.

* SufficientlyAdvancedAlien: Inverted. The Setians are the original inhabitants of the earth, and the humans are alien invaders.

* TitleOnlyChorus: Pure Evil! Puuuuuuuuuuuure Evil!
* VillainSong: "Burning Times" is about demon judging souls at the gates of the afterlife, "Motivation of Man" is about brutality that humanity reaks across the Universe, ''Horror Show'' has multiple songs about the classic movie monsters. ''Night of the Stormrider'' takes place entirely from the point of view of a villain.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Generally a lighter Level 8, with their ballads often in 5 or 6 territory. Their early albums (especially ''Night of the Stormrider'' and ''Burnt Offerings'') are a borderline 9 though.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Burnt Offerings'', which can almost be described as BlackMetal with clean vocals at points, especially on the title track and “Diary”.

On January 6, 2021, Jon Schaffer [[https://www.nme.com/news/music/john-schaffers-iced-earth-bandmates-have-released-a-statement-2852684 was discovered to have taken part in the Capitol Hill Riot]], which lead to [[https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/01/18/iced-earth-guitarist-jon-schaffer-arrested-fbi-after-capitol-riot/4207250001/ his arrest by the FBI on January 17th.]] At the same time, Stu Block [[https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/iced-earths-stu-block-i-absolutely-do-not-support-anything-that-any-protester-was-involved-in-during-capitol-hill-riot/ made a Facebook post]] that was interpreted by many as him supporting the riots, although he has since stated that he strongly condemns every aspect of it, and he (along with every other band member save for Brent Smedley) have since left the band as a result. The image of the band has taken a large hit, and what all this means for their future still remains to be seen.