Matt Barlow rejoins Iced Earth!

I think it is plain and simple. No one is hiding anything. Jon wanted Matt back, got his will, and let Ripper go. There will be a certain "bad feeling" for anyone getting the boot, but at leastRipper seems to be dealing with it as an adult.

Just found this on Blabbermouth;

Matt Barlow wrote:

"Brothers and sisters,

"I'm sure that you are all well aware of things that are happening within ICED EARTH,
and a statement from me is well overdue. To that, I can only say that I
am sorry for the delay, but there is good reason. Last week, following Jon's [Schaffer, guitar] announcement [Statement#1, Statement#2],
my wife gave birth to our second son. Everything is well, but of
course, those of you who are parents know how taxing the first week can
be. During that time, after all things had begun to settle, I realized
that there are a lot of things on my plate. At this point, I needed to
address them. As you know, family always comes first. Of course, Jon knows that and understands my decision to leave ICED EARTH
four years ago. My wife and I wanting a family was a huge factor.
Family is also the reason for my return. There is a kinship that goes
beyond the obvious. I will speak of that later.

"First, I feel that I need to acknowledge my friend Michael of PYRAMAZE.
If not for his inquiry and persistence in asking me to be a member of
that band, I may not have realized how much I have missed and been
missed within the metal community. In recent days, however, I have come
to realize that my participation in PYRAMAZE cannot go beyond
the recording of the band's current work. This is due in part, to the
fact that I can't be all places at all times. Michael and I have discussed this, and have come to an understanding. I know that the future success of PYRAMAZE
will not be based solely on individual performances of band members,
but in the songwriting and total performance of the band, which is
excellent. I know that I will give everything I have to the record and
will support PYRAMAZE on a lot of other levels.

"Let me proceed on the topic of kinship. For a great portion of our lives, Jon
and I dedicated our selves to creating music that pleased, angered,
saddened, and inspired. Though it can be argued that my contribution
was limited, I always felt very proud of what we accomplished with
every song. Whether a song was about a true love, a best friend, a
ghost, a devil, or a savior; the songs that wrote gave me the desire to engage each one on a very personal level. When Jon and I began to discuss the future of ICED EARTH and his feeling on its success or failure, he conveyed to me the desire to rediscover the passion of the songs that made ICED EARTH
so very special to so many people. In my journey of the last several
years, I've had time to acknowledge that there are great stories yet to
be told. Moreover, I have recognized my desire to be a part of those
stories. As mentioned above, there are obvious time constraints where
it relates to family, career, and music. One of those issues has
already been addressed.

"As for my career in law enforcement, it will continue as normal. Without going into specific detail, Jon and I will work on recording on my time between shifts. As Jon
stated before, live performances will be more limited but grander in
fashion. We will do our very best to get to the metal masses as often
as possible. Jon understands that this schedule will be tougher
to work with, but feels that it will be the best for the fans in the
long run. There will be critics, no doubt. It has recently come to my
attention that some people don't like the police ;-) Let's see if
opinion can change on that issue!

"As for the music, I will bring to ICED EARTH the best performance possible. That has always been my desire, and I'm really excited to work with Jon and the guys again, to give you the best metal possible. If you think you're ready... let's do this!"

(http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=87114)

Glad Matt finally made a statement. However, it's a shame about the restricted touring. They better make it over to the UK again

I was lucky enough to catch Iced Earth on the Something Wicked tour with Destiny's End and Nevermore opening. Great show.

Eyesore wrote:

And apparently this was posted on Blabbermouth a short while ago, but has since been removed:

Quote :

Singer Tim "Ripper" Owens spoke exclusively to D.X. Ferris of the Cleveland Scene about his surprising departure from ICED EARTH three months after the release of the group's latest album, "Framing Armageddon - Something Wicked Part I".

ICED EARTH mainman/guitarist Jon Schaffer issued a statement last week (Statement#1, Statement#2) announcing that the group was parting ways with Owens and was once again working with Tim's predecessor, Matt Barlow, who originally left ICED EARTH in 2003.

Speaking to the Cleveland Scene, Owens stated about his split with ICED EARTH, "I was told 30 seconds before the news hit Blabbermouth that I was let go — two weeks before Christmas. I don't think it was handled right. It's a shame it ended like that. With JUDAS PRIEST, at least the way it was handled, I'm still good friends with the band. The good thing is, I don't have to discuss ICED EARTH anymore. I can move on. I wish them luck. We're ready to go to the future."

Tim's new top priority is BEYOND FEAR, an Ohio-based based power-speed hybrid. That band's 2006 self-titled debut received some of the best reviews of Owens' storied career. The frontman says a second record is nearly written, and local fans can expect some live shows soon.

Owens is still being managed by Wendy Dio, wife of metal legend Ronnie James Dio. BEYOND FEAR remains attached to international metalworks SPV Records. The singer may move forward with a new WINTERS BANE album and tour, if the project generates label interest; BANE bassist Dennis Hayes was dismissed from ICED EARTH along with Owens.

"I've already had a lot of offers," said Owens, who is now regarded as one of metal's top voices. "It's nice to get the support."

I wonder why it was removed? I wonder if this statement is true or false?

maybe I read it wrong, but it sounds like hes pretty bitter.

ultmetal wrote:

I was lucky enough to catch Iced Earth on the Something Wicked tour with Destiny's End and Nevermore opening. Great show.

I saw that tour too, but only with Destiny's End opening. Me and my friend knew the guitarist Perry from Destiny's End.

I want to see Iced Earth!!!!!!

I hope they can do something close to here otherwise I'll be really pissed.

Eyesore wrote:

And what about Pyramaze? Is that over, too? How can he do shows with both Pyramaze and Iced Earth?

This was on Blabbermouth this AM, explaining Matt's situation with Pyramaze:

MATT BARLOW's Involvement With PYRAMAZE Will Be 'One-Time Cooperation' - Dec. 21, 2007

Vocalist Matt Barlow — who last week returned to front ICED EARTH as the replacement for Tim "Ripper" Owens — has issued the following statement regarding his involvement with the Danish metal band PYRAMAZE:
"In light of recent events, it is rather apparent that I need to address what's going on in my life as it pertains to PYRAMAZE and ICED EARTH.
"As I'm sure you're aware, last week, my wife gave birth to our second son. We are all doing well, but it has taken a little time to get my thoughts together following that and the announcement of my return to ICED EARTH.
"After Michael's [Kammeyer, guitar] statement, it became very clear to me that I must come to terms with the fact that I can not be in all places at all times. Obviously, there are some of you who had the same concerns. It just took me a little longer to figure that out.
"Well, the point is, I contacted Michael and let him know that I very much wanted to perform on the record, but that I would not be able to continue on with the band in a full-time position as planned. I pointed out to Michael that I was extremely grateful to him and the rest of the guys for bringing me on board and I felt obligated to be up front with him on this. I did not want to do the record and then back out, leaving things on bad terms. Understandably, Michael was disappointed but ultimately understanding of the situation.
"PYRAMAZE is an extremely talented group of musicians, whose work is well known in the progressive metal community and will be in high demand in a short time. I am happy to say that I will be working with them, if only in a limited term.
"The music that Michael has written is going to make for a kick-ass heavy metal record (KAHMR) and I give you my word that I will give everything that I've got to insure that.
"Thanks for your time...you'll hear from us soon!"



PYRAMAZE guitarist Michael Kammeyer commented: "As you can all read in Matt's statement, the term of our cooperation has changed due to the fact that he's back in ICED EARTH.
"When Matt approached me with his thoughts and decisions, we had the choice of A. Letting Matt go and finding another singer right away, or B. record this album as planned and with the singer for whom the music was written. Matt let us know that he was still very hooked on recording this album with us, but that he would understand and respect our final decision, should we wish to terminate our cooperation right away. After discussing this with my band brothers we came to the conclusion that we've started the journey of recording our new album together with Matt, and we will finish this album together with him.
"After we have completed this new album Matt is going to be concentrating solely on ICED EARTH again. So this will be a one-time cooperation between PYRAMAZE and Matt, and this album will be one for the books.
"We all understand and respect Matt's decision, and there's no bad blood here at all. Matt is a genuinely nice guy with an honest heart, and we are proud to be working with him. I will also encourage you to read Matt's other statement at www.icedearth.com to give you some more insight in the situation.

I was really looking forward to Matt being in Pyramaze. Oh well.

blackieboy wrote:

I was really looking forward to Matt being in Pyramaze. Oh well.

At least he is recording the album with them, so you will get to hear Matt with Pyramaze, even if you cannot see them live.

ult

yeah, true.

If nothing else, this entire debacle is getting Pyramaze more press and notoriety than they've ever had.

So basically Matt just said, "If it wasn't for Michael in Pyramaze pestering me, I wouldn't have joined his band and then quit to rejoin Iced Earth."

Michael is pissed.

Bump!

Haha, this has developed to some soapy opera. I foresee that this IE reunion would last no more than 3 months... then Jon will decide to sing himself

Jon's been singing "Stormrider" on tour lately. He does a pretty sweet job, too.



Not the hardest song, though.

Lately? Stormrider has always been Jon's song - he sings it on the record, he sings it live. In fact, you can hear him darted about the IE discography, albeit not in such a prominent capacity as on Stomrider. But for instance, take Desert Rain - the verses are trade offs between Jonjon Shaffer and Greely / Barlow. He has a good voice, he sounds like a slightly more simplistic Matt. When Tim originally joined IE, I personally thought it may have been better to have Jon's voice take more prominence so there was a more even split, maintaining a more IE-sound.

But then again, knowing you Eyesore, you were blatantly aware of all this and now I'll look a tit ;P

Yea, Jon sang "Stormrider" on the album, and he sang it when I saw I.E. back in 2002 as well. He does have a pretty decent voice.

Maybe he should just quit playing vocalist round-robin and do the vox himself. Hell, Jeff Waters did it on a couple of Annihilator records so why not?

Really? I didn't know that! Haha. How the hell didn't I know that? He sings on the record, too? Damn.

Eyesore wrote:

Really? I didn't know that! Haha. How the hell didn't I know that? He sings on the record, too? Damn.

Sez it right here in the booklet to my NIGHT OF THE STORMRIDER disc: "'Stormrider' sung by J. Schaffer."

HAHA ISORE U MUST BE A POZER CUZ U JUST GOT PWNED!!! LAWLZ!!

Hahaha! Seriously. I'm pretty surprised I didn't know this, especially since I'm such a big fan of the band! Haha. Does he sing on the Days Of Purgatory version? Because I don't listen to the original aside from the one or two exclusive tracks. I prefer Days Of Purgatory over the first two albums. That might be why I never knew, if Matt sings on DoP.

Yes he sings on both versions. He also sings on their cover of "Everybody Wants Some". I think it was a Japanese bonus track on The Glorious Burden.

spectrefate wrote:

Yes he sings on both versions. He also sings on their cover of "Everybody Wants Some". I think it was a Japanese bonus track on The Glorious Burden.

WTF? Never heard of that bonus track either. Guess I have to take down my Iced Earth's #1 fan banner.

Eyesore wrote:

WTF? Never heard of that bonus track either. Guess I have to take down my Iced Earth's #1 fan banner.

Put it back up.

I just totally made up the whole "Everybody Wants Some" thing.

spectrefate wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

WTF? Never heard of that bonus track either. Guess I have to take down my Iced Earth's #1 fan banner.

Put it back up.

I just totally made up the whole "Everybody Wants Some" thing.

WHAT!?!?! I just burned my bra and panties set!

Eyesore wrote:

WHAT!?!?! I just burned my bra and panties set!

Just don't throw out those ultra-rare icing bags....



They will be worth serious moola one day.