MATT BARLOW Says He’s Open To An ICED EARTH Reunion

Former ICED EARTH vocalist Matt Barlow has expressed openness to reuniting with his former band, more than a decade after his last stint with the American heavy metal group. The revelation comes as Barlow and fellow ex-ICED EARTH member Freddie Vidales prepare to hit the road this fall with their band ASHES OF ARES, celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Dark Saga — the landmark 1996 ICED EARTH album.

Speaking with The Metal Voice about the upcoming European tour, Barlow reflected on his time with ICED EARTH, particularly the formative years surrounding The Dark Saga, his second album with the band and one of its most beloved releases. The record, a concept album inspired by Todd McFarlane’s Spawn comic series, was lauded for its emotive depth and dynamic performances, particularly Barlow’s commanding vocals and the guitar interplay between Jon Schaffer and Randall Shawver.

“When asked why The Dark Saga was significant enough for him to want to celebrate it thirty years after its original release, Barlow explained (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “I can’t talk about ICED EARTH without talking about, for me, entering the band with [1995’s] Burnt Offerings. That was huge for me. That was my first foray into actually being in a professional band. But along with that kind of came a dark side of it because it was a really tough time for the band as well, which kind of translated into the music. As everybody, I think, understands with Jon, when he writes, his heart goes out into the music. Whatever he’s focused on is that. Just like for that record, he read Dante’s Inferno, and then you get this giant humongous trilogy from that, because he puts everything he has into it. So, obviously, that’s the crown jewel of that record — but, along with other things, that’s definitely the crown jewel. But it was just a dark time for the band in general, even though I think I was the shining star at that point. But [it was] a tough time.”

“So ‘The Dark Saga’, for me, and I think for Jon as well, was a renewal, a reinvigoration for the band,” Matt continued. “The reason that even Jon got turned on to Spawn was that we were celebrating Christmas. I like collecting action figures and stuff, and I had got all these like Batman and stuff, and Jon was a huge Batman fan, so I think I got Jon a Batman figure, and the other guys liked Spawn figures. And he was, like, ‘What the hell’s this?’ And then he started getting into it, started reading the comics, and the rest is kind of history. And he was totally involved in the entire lore of it and just thought it was just the coolest thing ever. And that’s what happened with The Dark Saga.”

When asked if he and Freddie had any concerns about celebrating The Dark Saga given Jon Schaffer‘s recent legal issues related to his involvement in the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riot, Matt responded:  ”We don’t live in a tube of silence here. We get stuff. But I think for me, and I think for people that are fans of the music, they don’t care about that. I think at the end of the day, it’s the music. And I hope that everybody’s respectful because I’m gonna celebrate Jon and what he’s done. He’s written some f**king amazing music, and I’ve been fortunate to be a part of that. So, outside of that, I’m not gonna get political with anything. We’re not talking politics.

“We’re just talking strictly music, and it’s for the love of music,” he continued. “And I hope that everybody understands that. That’s what the point is. Hopefully we’re bringing something cool and special. And I certainly look forward, if Jon wants to tour again and play this music again, I wholeheartedly look forward to that, if that’s a possibility. But we’re just gonna go out there and just celebrate this music that is very special, I think, for a lot of people. We’ve been given blessing to do so by Jon, so that’s super important to us as well.”

When asked if he had checked with Jon to see if the guitarist was comfortable with him and Freddie celebrating The Dark Saga this fall, Barlow said: “Yep. Yep. I mean, obviously, we have things that we need to do, as far as we’re not using [ICED EARTH] logos or anything like that. We’re asking, and we’re gonna make sure that the promoters aren’t using any logos or anything like that of his, and, of course, Jon, as the writer of this stuff, he will get paid for music that’s performed live. And for my little chunk that I’ll get paid as well, my writing part of it.”

When asked about the possibility of rejoining ICED EARTH if Jon decides to relaunch the band, Barlow said: “That’s something that would be entirely up to, obviously, when Jon… That’s Jon‘s band — a hundred percent — so that’s something that Jon would have to decide, whether I would be a part of it or not, either way, but whether ICED EARTH goes out and does it. But I look forward to that, whether it would be me involved with it or somebody else, if that were to happen. And I can’t speak to it, ’cause I don’t think at this point that… It’s not even in the long distance at this point.”