Iced Earth

Fans of metal and nighttime television dramas were treated to a re-run of the Law & Order episode yesterday that featured band posters in a troubled teen’s bedroom. While the camera shot of the wall only lasted a few seconds, Iced Earth fans would’ve quickly spotted Set Abominae and the artwork for Something Wicked This Way Comes (along with Skinlab and Haste posters). What does Jon Schaffer think of the troubled-teen-listens-to-metal-and-winds-up-killing-people formula so prevalent in Hollywood? “Hey, as long as it’s giving the band publicity, I’ll take it!”

While the nation continues to experience the aftermath of the September 11th events, Jon mentioned that “Ghost Of Freedom,” off their recent Horror Show album, has become that much more meaningful to the band. Always vocal of his patriotism (“If I never saw Kiss when I was eleven and started Iced Earth, I’d be in the Armed Forces or in politics”), servicemen seem to have a natural affinity for the music he creates. One of the people mentioned in the “Ghost Of Freedom” credits is Jim “Patches” Watson, a famous, retired Navy Seal from Jon’s native state of Indiana who wrote an autobiography of his experiences in the Vietnam War and whose life story has been featured on The Discovery Channel. One member of the Navy Seal team who attended the Norfolk, Virginia show to see Iced Earth open for Megadeth has since honored Jon with an autographed team flag, an extremely noteworthy act because each team member only receives one in his lifetime.

When he's not pouring himself over the Kiss Deluxe Box Set he recently purchased, Jon continues to work on new material for the next Demons & Wizards album while preparing for rehearsals for the monstrous European tour set to begin on January 17th in The Netherlands. The second shipment of their box set, Dark Genesis, is expected to arrive at the CM warehouse in mid-January, so if you ordered one, you can expect it in your mailbox soon. It will continue to be available from Century Media's mail-order and direct sales departments but due to the overwhelming demand it will be issued domestically through Caroline Distribution on March 5th.