Matt Barlow leaves Iced Earth... again.

From what i've heard the new guy is a good choice. He is really versatile. I think he will help revitalize the band again.

I listened to N2E ( <-- see what I did there) last album on the way to work this morning. I just don't hear the range that people keep talking about. He's a killer singer for sure, but I don't hear much beyond the Halford/Owens-esque high vocals......that and the grunting vocals. I'm having a hard time hearing him in my head singing for IE.

No matter what people's perception of Jon is, he surely has a history of picking good musicians to the IE cause. And apparently this guy has already sung on several choice IE classics for Jon to validate. Although I cant see for example growls in IE, nothing indicates he will actually use that part of his voice in IE. Until proven otherwise, I have faith that it could work. Bring on the new album. Dissapointed that Stockholm isnt included in the dates, but noticed they have a day in-between Helsinki and Copenhagen - hopefully they fill that date with Stockholm.

I'll have to break out N2E (thanks Rex) this weekend and listen to that guy again and try to envision him in Iced Earth.

So he goes from Into Eternity (IE) to Iced Earth (IE)...... interesting!

I guess this dude will work. I was at first disappointed. I didn't think he would be the right fit to sing any BURNT OFFERINGS material. But, what was I thinking, Jon doesn't care for that album anyway, so he probably won't even be singing anything from that. We'll see what they come up with.

Anybody have any decent bootlegs of Tim Owens live material from IE?

Rex wrote:

Anybody have any decent bootlegs of Tim Owens live material from IE?

Here's one from '04

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AQPD4HHA

Thanks!

I hadn't listened to Into Eternity for the longest time, and the day that I do, I see this news. Not a bad choice for a singer, as long as he doesn't bring his growls with him.

I wouldn't mind some growls. Not all over the place, but a few well-placed growls can be pretty killer.

Eyesore wrote:

I wouldn't mind some growls. Not all over the place, but a few well-placed growls can be pretty killer.

I'm pretty sure he'll put some growls to use here and there. I really wanna hear how he'll sound with an album full of mainly clean vocals versus the vocal gymnastics he goes through in Into Eternity.

Is he finishing off all planned tours first? I supposed to be seeing them at Wacken this year.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I'll have to break out N2E (thanks Rex) this weekend and listen to that guy again and try to envision him in Iced Earth.

I'm listening to this guy right now on A Scattering of Ashes. I guess he'll be an interesting choice for Iced Earth. I'm still on the fence about the growls, but you never know. They might make it work somehow. The only negative I hear is that sometimes his high-pitched screams seem a little strained. He needs a little more control over the high-end stuff if he's gonna do that. Maybe not go so over-the-top.

Should be interesting.

I think this is a good example of what the new guy can do.



Nice mid-range (it's layered in underneath), a little different from Barlow's but I imagine he can take it a bit lower, too; great growls; and I love his highs. The more I think about it, the more I think he's a great choice. He'll be able to do all eras of the band, even the first two albums as they were originally done.