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From Iced Earth's official site: Iced Earth's self-titled debut spread steadily throughout the European underground in 1991, while in North America the metal market was soon to undergo a drastic change. Through their persistence of vision and in spite of the U.S. trend-laden music scene, Iced Earth never succumbed to the pressure of going mainstream. Songwriter and guitarist Jon Schaffer added vocalist Matthew Barlow to the band's nucleus in 1995, which strengthened the band's writing and solidified its forceful delivery. The incredible praise Barlow earned for his work on Iced Earth's third studio album, Burnt Offerings, brought only a hint of the powerful things to come. The Dark Saga, with its trademarked orchestral elements, was released in 1996 and heralded the band's breakthrough in the United States. Sales of Iced Earth's back catalog increased with every newfound fan. Band members frequently faced inquiries about their demo recordings and unreleased rarities. Using the benefit of updated recording technology for their 1997 offering Days Of Purgatory, they meticulously reconstructed all of the material from their infamous Enter The Realm demo tape and reworked selected songs from their first two classics, Iced Earth and Night Of The Stormrider, so fans could enjoy classic Iced Earth material written between 1986-1994. Now, with the legacy of seven albums, they have built an unwavering legion of loyal-to-the-death followers around the world. In turn, they have returned that loyalty ten-fold to their fans. In 1999, they embarked on a successful six-week national U.S. tour in support of Something Wicked This Way Comes. In Europe, they dominated stages at the Gods Of Metal festival in Italy, the Dynamo festival in The Netherlands, and the legendary Wacken Open Air festival in Germany. Words often fail the attempts to describe first-hand accounts of the raw power felt at an Iced Earth concert. From TheGauntlet.com:
Quite possibly
America’s greatest hope for a heavy metal revival in the United
States, ICED EARTH have without a doubt carved their name in the
genre’s ever-aging and progressing stone, and throughout their
career have paved the way for countless numbers of traditional, thrash
and power metal bands to become visible and successful. Possessing the
technical tools to dazzle any skilled musician along with the
songwriting knack and creativity to win over even the most particular
of music fans, this band have taken their infectious sound and
charisma all over the world and have built one of the most loyal
followings of this decade. ICED EARTH are a metal institution, built
by the band’s constant conviction towards their craft and their
fans’ ever-growing, maniacal support. This is what metal is supposed
to be. After six splendid studio releases throughout this decade, the
time has come for the world to hear ICED EARTH in their most
dominating and viable form, LIVE ON STAGE! Although ICED EARTH have
worked hard the last 14 years to make their name a highly-respected
one on the metal forefront, only a stout core of listeners can recount
much of the group’s early days on the Florida scene (although the
band re-located to Indiana in 1997). Their 1991 self-titled debut, and
the ‘92 follow-up Night Of The Stormrider quickly established the
band as an underground metal powerhouse, but it wasn’t until
guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer added able-throated
vocalist Matthew Barlow to the band’s nucleus that the attention and
quality of the material exploded. Indeed Barlow earned high praise for
his work on the band’s third studio album, 1995’s Burnt Offerings,
though it was only a hint of things to come. 1996’s The Dark Saga
(graced with cover art from Spawn comic creator, Todd McFarlane)
heralded the band’s breakthrough, as Schaffer continued to steadily
hone his craft as a masterful songwriter, combining fluid vocal
melodies with intense metallic riffs and elements that often verged on
orchestral. A nonstop slate of touring helped to solidify their
reputation as one of the best live bands on the circuit, winning over
crowds as part of the Summer Metal Meetings tour in Europe. All along,
sales of the group’s back catalog picked up with each newfound fan,
and all too often the members faced inquiries about their demo
recordings and unreleased rarities. Spending several months in
Morrisound Studios with chief producer Jim Morris, ICED EARTH
meticulously reworked songs from their earliest days together, along
with all of the material from their infamous Enter The Realm demo
tape, and select songs from their first two classics. This way, fans
would be able hear some classic songs with the line-up and technology
at their strongest. Thus, Days Of Purgatory was born (the name refers
to the group’s original moniker, Purgatory). 1998 saw the rearing of
ICED EARTH’s sixth album, the bold and diversely-written, Something
Wicked This Way Comes. With a similar approach and framework as its
predecessor The Dark Saga, Something Wicked... pushed the band over
the edge of dominance (while also debuting on the German pop charts at
#19) and solidified them as true innovators and leaders of the ‘90s
metal movement. Again scanning a good portion of the globe ICED EARTH
toured in support of Something Wicked... for the next year, and it was
during this period that Jon Schaffer’s long-time vision of a live
album for the band began to take shape. Recorded in the fall of 1998
in Greece along with 5,000 of the band’s closest fans, Alive In
Athens is the culmination of 10 years worth of hard work and
dedication for the band, and is the reward that true ICED EARTH fans
have been waiting for. This double CD release spans the entire career
of the band from the early days (“Iced Earth”, “Stormrider”,
“Travel In Stygian”) to the present (“Burning Times”, “The
Hunter”, “Melancholy (Holy Martyr)”), and shows just how good
heavy metal can be when done properly with no restrictions. As the
popular music community leans towards the heavy end of the musical
spectrum once again, it’s nice to know that ICED EARTH have never
really cared about what was popular, and their fans have stuck by
their side since day one. This is for the fans of ICED EARTH, the best
metal fans in the world...
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