In a new interview with Spain’s Stairway To Rock, former ICED EARTH singer Matt Barlow was asked about the possibility of working again with ICED EARTH founder Jon Schaffer after previously serving two stints with the band, from 1993 to 2003 and from 2007 to 2011. Matt said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Jon and I haven’t talked about that at all, man. Obviously, I can’t wait for Jon to do something else musically. I don’t know if it’s gonna be ICED EARTH or something else. But I look forward to him coming back and getting back into things. I really hope that he does. But right now, that’s all on hold for him, I believe. It’s been a little bit since I’ve spoken with him. He and my wife speak quite often, as that’s my wife’s brother. But as far as, whenever he does something, I’m gonna be fully supporting him coming back into music. So hopefully that will happen.”
Referencing the fact that Jon was sentenced last October to three years of probation and 120 hours of community service in connection with his involvement in the riot at the U.S. Capitol. (Schaffer later became one of about 1,500 people accused of crimes related to the riot who were pardoned by President Donald Trump),Matt said: “I’ve said this before in other interviews, I understand people’s disappointment in how things went down with Jon, and I think Jon is disappointed as well and has apologized. Hopefully there is a redemption story in here and hopefully people can understand and understand that we all have our differences in our, whether you wanna call them flaws or just differences in opinion or what have you, or differences in things that they’ve done or anything. But, at the end of the day, I think the outcome, if Jon is able to come back into the musical realm, I think the outcome ultimately will be something — a very, very, very positive thing.”
Asked if he is able to convince Jon to bring ICED EARTH back, possibly with Matt once again on vocals, Barlow said: “No. ‘Cause I really don’t wanna push Jon into something. At the end of the day, ICED EARTH is Jon‘s, and any project that Jon does is gonna be up to him. He’s a fantastic musician and writer, and I think that any project that he does is going to be a good thing.”
This past April, it was announced that ASHES OF ARES, the band featuring Barlow and fellow ex-IXED EARTH member Freddie Vidales, will celebrate the upcoming 30th anniversary of ICED EARTH‘s third album, 1996’s “The Dark Saga”, on a European tour in September/October 2025. Vidales played with ICED EARTH from 2008 to 2012 and is featured on the band’s 2011 album “Dystopia”. from 1993 to 2003 and from 2007 to 2011.
“We have been given Jon‘s blessing to do ‘The Dark Saga’ in its entirety,” Matt told Stairway To Rock. “I mean, we didn’t necessarily have to ask his blessing, but we did. Freddie contacted him, and he said, ‘Absolutely,’ obviously with these limitations. No [ICED EARTH] logo or anything that ICED EARTH has that’s copywritten [sic] or anything like that. But as far as performing the music, he gave us permission to do so and gave his blessing on that.”
Barlow also talked about his career as a police lieutenant in Georgetown, Delaware, saying: “It’s great. I’ve actually been a police officer since 2003. So, I’ve been doing it for 22 years now. It was a huge life decision. Obviously, it really changed my life, but it did allow me a couple of things — it allowed me to start a family and have a family, and to see my sons grow instead of being out on the road and all that. It was necessary — it was a hundred percent necessary — because I think my life is fulfilled. And I’m still able to perform music and write and record and all that. So, for me, I’ve been able to have my cake and eat it too, so to speak, as a term used sometimes. I’ve had a very successful life here at home and with my career in law enforcement as well as a very fulfilling life with music. I don’t have any preconceived notions. I did go back to ICED EARTH for a time, in 2008, but that had to end after a couple of years because the band needed to be able to make money and touring is the way that bands make money now. There’s no other way, really, for bands to do it, because you can’t make money recording anymore unless you’re a platinum star or something like that. But it doesn’t happen too often in metal. But as it is, I’ve been able to have a really excellent career, and I’m very grateful for that. And I am very grateful to not only the people that I work with during my day job, because they’re very supportive of what I do, but also I’m very grateful to fans that understand the restraints of my career in law enforcement and still support me musically, even though I can’t get out there and tour and see everybody all the time. But hopefully we’ll be able to do it a little bit more as years go on. And as my law enforcement career dwindles down, maybe I can have some more time to go out there and tour, and that would be fantastic.”
Recorded in early 1996, “The Dark Saga” was a concept album based on the Todd McFarlane comic book character Spawn (who also appears on the album’s cover). Upon its arrival, the LP was praised for Barlow‘s vocals, as well as Schaffer and Randall Shawver‘s guitar playing. Eduardo Rivadavia called Barlow‘s vocal performance “impressive throughout”, while Mike Stagno felt that “Barlow‘s deeper vocal style also helps the songs sound much more emotional”. Rivadavia also named Schaffer and Shawver‘s interplay the highlight of “The Dark Saga”.
Regarding why “The Dark Saga” was an important enough album for him that he wanted to celebrate it three decades after the LP’s original release, Barlow told Canada’s The Metal Voice: “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 explained. “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’.
“For me, it was really cool,” Barlow added. “For some members of the band, obviously, members changed and things like that at that point too. It wasn’t like a shock, with ICED EARTH, the membership changes from time to time. But for me, it was really a really good time. It was really a positive time for the band. And we did some amazing shit, man. We were able to do a lot more touring on that. We got a lot more recognition. A lot of the songs obviously sounded a little more mainstream, I guess you’d say. The European fans just ate it up. It had all the great aspects, the sing-along stuff, all the really sweet, hooky stuff. The choruses were just really super smooth and just well written. And, of course, you’ve got Jon just chunking along. So it’s got all the cool shit that you would relate to ICED EARTH. And I think that you listen to it and you go, ‘Yep, that’s ICED EARTH.’ And for me, also I was able to get kind of recognized who I am. At the time, in between ‘Burnt Offerings’ and ‘The Dark Saga’, I was starting to work with a vocal coach. I had had a little bit of coaching before. My sister-in-law, she was a voice instructor and things like that. But this guy kind of got me and sort of understood and said, and he told me that the coolest thing, and I tell this to every other vocalist that asks me about how I developed my voice or whatever. I just say, ‘Do the best you can with what you’ve got. Figure out what your sweet spots are and focus on those.’ And you can broaden your voice, obviously — you can broaden your range and all that — but really focus on those sweet spots in your voice and accentuate that and make that the star of what you’re doing. So I really took that to heart. I really started accentuating, obviously, the cool low parts. And then, of course, working with [producer] Jim Morris was just huge as well to really help me bring that kind of stuff out in the studio. And then developing that and bringing that into a live show and everything else. So it was just a really cool growing experience as well with that record. So, yeah, I’ve got just tons of fond memories of things that that represents for me.”
Asked if he and Freddie were concerned at all about going out and celebrating “The Dark Saga” after Schaffer‘s recent legal troubles, 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 fucking 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. 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.”
ASHES OF ARES will release its fourth studio album, titled “New Messiahs”, in Europe on July 18 and in North America on August 8 via ROAR!
ICED EARTH played its final show with Barlow at the 2011 edition of the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany.
Barlow, who is married to Schaffer‘s sister, announced his departure from ICED EARTH in March 2011. In a heartfelt statement, he cited his commitment to his family and the need for ICED EARTH to tour more as the reasons for his retirement; however, he committed to performing with ICED EARTH on all 2011 European festival dates, including Wacken Open Air.
Back in late 2020, Barlow reunited with Schaffer to celebrate the holiday season with an EP called “Winter Nights”. Released under the SCHAFFER/BARLOW PROJECT banner, the effort contained the duo’s unique spin on five Christmas classics and two ICED EARTH songs.
This past April, Schaffer said in an interview that the legal issues and professional setback he faced as a result of his involvement in the Capitol riot have been “the biggest gift” of his life, in part because “it is what led” him “to [Jesus] Christ.”
