Matt Barlow leaves Iced Earth... again.

Ron Rinehart from Dark Angel would've been a good fit back around the Time Does Not Heal days...

I've always thought Ron was a bit monotone.

Rex wrote:

I've always thought Ron was a bit monotone.

I thought his singing was pretty good on TDNH and the first OIL ep. He has that lower tone to his voice but he can hit some high notes too. I think his voice could of been more refined if he were in a band that required it.

Ripper is too nasal for my tastes. Not that this will ever happen, but I think Warrel Dane would be a good fit for Iced Earth.

Jesusandmetal23 wrote:

Ripper is too nasal for my tastes. Not that this will ever happen, but I think Warrel Dane would be a good fit for Iced Earth.

That's an interesting choice but somehow they seem so different. I also didn't like Ripper in the band either...

My first choice would be Greg Wagner. He can do the clean vocals, like he did with Archetype, or more agressive, thrash vocals such as what he did in Shatter Messiah and H.A.T.E. He would sound GREAT in Iced Earth, IMO. Listen to him below:

ICED EARTH Announces New Singer - Mar. 16, 2011

In the wake of vocalist Matt Barlow's retirement, dozens of demos and resumes flooded ICED EARTH's management team. But one name kept popping up — INTO ETERNITY vocalist Stu Block (pictured below), who has been named the new lead singer for ICED EARTH.

According to Schaffer, Robert Kampf, CEO of Century Media, early on suggested Block, whose band INTO ETERNITY was previously on the CM label. That reminded Schaffer of one night in September 2008 when INTO ETERNITY opened for ICED EARTH.

"ICED EARTH was backstage waiting to go on," said Schaffer. "We heard one of Stu's incredible wails. I remember turning to Matt and saying, 'Damn, that dude has serious range.'"

So while ICED EARTH's management team sifted through the growing number of prospective vocalists, Schaffer got in touch with Block.

After several phone conversations with the then-prospective ICED EARTH vocalist, Schaffer asked his manager to e-mail Block several key ICED EARTH songs, with the vocals stripped. Block went into his studio and recorded himself singing, then sent the files back to the team.

The result landed Block an intense two days at Schaffer's studio where the two musicians hit it off.

"I felt a lot of chemistry between us, we knocked out a couple of great original pieces of music in no time," said Schaffer. "He's very good at coming up with catchy melodies, and will help with lyrical duties as well. There's no doubt Stu has an amazing vocal range and a lot of energy, but he also has the touring experience, which is a big plus for our plans of performing in all corners of the world."

In addition, Schaffer said Block has what ICED EARTH needs in a front man: "stage presence that includes high energy, passion, and focused rage."

Schaffer added, "Stu is charismatic and understands the depth and varying emotions in ICED EARTH's music. So he will embody not only the emotion of our songs, but he will be able to perform them in a dynamic way. I believe fans are in for some incredible records and live shows in the coming years."

New ICED EARTH vocalist Stu Block concurred: "ICED EARTH fans are wonderful, wonderful people," he said. "The music is so passionate. So they're passionate, and very loyal to the band. I am, too. I'm a huge fan of ICED EARTH myself. So I share that same passion, and I will show it on stage. I think the fans are really going to dig it."

Block continued: "It's a huge honor to be doing this, to be part of this team. It's a dream come true, for sure.”

Schaffer is totally stoked. "This is a new beginning," he said. "It's game-on time. ICED EARTH is going to record and tour like it never has before. The band is really amped-up and ready to hit the ground running in November."

And to prove it, ICED EARTH has released the European leg of a world tour that will take the band to countries it has never previously played. All told, the 2011-2012 ICED EARTH world tour will be the largest the band has undertaken since its inception.

Good singer.

But this band needs more than that.

I surely didn't expect Stu. I saw them a handful years ago (Into Eternity) and he was awesome live but I'm with TOB, I don't think he's the man for the job. Seems like they were trying to get a Tim Owens voice back without actually getting Owens. I also wasn't overly impressed with the last Into Eternity disc with him on vocals. But those are my only two experiences with him, so maybe he can deliver the goods.

Interesting choice.

So is Matt offically out now? No tour, shows, festivals, etc? And what does this mean for Into Eternity?

I know nothing of this new guy so I'll have to check out some samples of him. Hopefully he can pull it off and Iced Earth will be a great listen.

Wow! Not expected.

Stu is a bad-ass, though. He doesn't quite have a sound like Matt's, but he can obviously do Tim's stuff and he's got lows that Tim didn't have. And he's obviously got some growls that neither Matt nor Tim had.



Tough to know who's really doing those cleans on their last two albums, though, since Stu and Tim Roth do both cleans and growls.

Either way, not displeased with this choice. Hopefully Into Eternity is inactive enough that he can do both bands, because Into Eternity is killer!

I'm not a fan of the term "cleans".

Temple of Blood wrote:

I'm not a fan of the term "cleans".

You're an odd fellow.

I know nothin' about the new guy. Good luck to him, I guess.

I hope he leaves the growls out of the I.E. repertoire.

I'm with FF, no growling. This is a surprise pick and i'm sceptical but i'll give it a chance.

It is an interesting pick. Ill give it a shot...

exact33 wrote:

It is an interesting pick. Ill give it a shot...

Yea, this might garner some interest from me. I have one album from Into Eternity, A Scattering of Ashes, which I enjoy, but I too could probably do withouth the growls. Don't know that they'd fit in IE.

good pick... i was surprised. he can do singing & growls very well. i hope he continues to utilize both with IE.

Awesome news! great singer I just hope he can stay with Into Eternity too, otherwise they'll be on the lookout for yet another new member.

I was surprised by IE's pick. To be honest, I didn't think about Stu being their choice. He's a great singer and I'll be checking out how he does with IE.

I can't really envision (enhearing?? lol) him in IE, but time will tell how good/bad it will be.

I just hope the new stuff is better than anything they have done up to this point. I am not a fan of this band at all (better than COB for sure), but I'd give them another chance! Not trying to be closed minded, but this band has always been just a mediocre band to me.

Lurideath wrote:

I just hope the new stuff is better than anything they have done up to this point. I am not a fan of this band at all (better than COB for sure), but I'd give them another chance! Not trying to be closed minded, but this band has always been just a mediocre band to me.

i agree for the most part, although i do like the first 3. Burnt Offerings being one of my favorite power metal albums.

Burnt Offerings is an overlooked classic in my books.

Didn't really expect the Into Eternity guy, but I've got to say, it's certainly peaked my interest. The band have also announced the European leg of their world tour which, for the first time in absolutely years, sees them doing headlining sets in the UK. It'd be rude not to go...