Iced Earth

So I listened to Winter Nights from the Schaffer / Barlow Project (why they didn’t include the titular song, I dunno...). It’s actually much better than I expected.

Pros:
- The fucking rendition of “Silent Night” is the best take on the song I have ever heard. In some alternate universe, Iced Earth is one of the big pioneers of symphonic metal. That soundscape Schaffer has created reminds me a lot of early Nightwish and it is glorious. And when Barlow opened wide the gates in the final two verses, I literally smiled. Fuck yeah man.
- I’ve heard “Do You Hear What I Hear?” maybe twice in my life, so it was cool hearing it dusted off by the boys. And it was really cool and really fun! One of Barlow’s best performances on the album.
- I dunno what I expected from this revamp of “I Died For You”, but I did not expect them to add whole new dimensions to an already perfect song. Goddamn. And it feels so wintery too! I’m gonna come back to this one, it may be as good as the original.

Neutrals:
- “We Three Kings” is a solid take on the classic carol. I’m glad they actually put effort into this set of songs, because it makes it so much more interesting than I — and, I think, a lot of people — was / were expecting. But at the same time, I don’t really need to return to this one.
- The more traditional “Silent Night” that closes the record is fine but there’s no real payoff IMO. I’ll stick with the more creative one that precedes it.

Cons:
- This take on “The Little Drummer Boy” is a mess. It almost pulls its head up in the chorus and solo, but it never actually does. Just left me confused.
- “Watching Over Me” is undoubtedly one of Jon’s favorite songs, and who could fault him? It’s about the death of his best friend (spoiler alert) and how much it still haunts him. Why then does it feel lazily recreated here when “I Died For You” is given so much more attention? It’s just... meh. I’ll stick to the original.

Overall? Pretty solid! Better than I was expecting and I’ll return to some of it again. Definitely one of the better sets of Christmas covers I’ve heard.
 
I Died For You remake is almost identical to what Barlow played all by himself acoustically on Facebook when the quarantine started. Watching Over Me is probably Schaffer's work.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
He just does the weirdest shit. It's nothing new for a metal band to pander merch to all of their fans, Maiden does it, Metallica does it, everybody does it.

"What do Iced Earth fans want...?"
- A new record! Of soundscapes! With ME reading the lyrics!
- Skateboards!
- A reunion with Matt Barlow! Doing Christmas Songs!
- HOT SAUCE!

His choices are so bizarre.
Click to expand...

Laugh all you want, they sold all 100 bottles before I even heard of this sauce.
 
It probably went something like this: Schaffer decides he needs a new merchandise item so he hires a marketing guru. Little did he expect this guy is an actual guru sitting on his bed of nails and getting his idea from meditation. During their meeting he mumbles Iced Earth album titles as a mantra, passes out, wakes up and shouts "Something Wicked... the SAUCE!" Schaffer is contractually obliged to produce a minimum amount of 100 bottles and decides he should have stuck to comic books and trading cards.
 
And then the guru went back into trance, mumbling song titles until he started spinning in ecstasy, shouting "black flag.... black... flag... black.... coffee.... black flag...black coffee.... black flag.... coffee... BLACK FLAG THE COFFEE!"

icedearthmerch.com

Black Flag Coffee

Ingredients: 100% Columbian Arabica Coffee RESPONSIBLY, ETHICALLY, SUSTAINABLY SOURCED COFFEE Distributed by Foxtail Coffee Co. Orlando, FL 32810 Product of USA
icedearthmerch.com icedearthmerch.com
 
I love that one of the coffee’s main selling points is that it was ethically produced, and of course that’s a good thing... but would a pirate care much?
 
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I will certainly never pay one cent for anything associated with Schaffer anymore. Time will tell if I can still listen to Iced Earth. IMHO what Schaffer did last night puts him in a league with Vikernes. And I honestly don't know yet if I can still appreciate the art by an artist who actively supports Fascism, as in, supporting it by action that gets people killed. This is not some free-time conspiracist rambling, it's terrorism and murder.
 
SixesAlltheway said:
With Covid around that wasn't gonna happen anyways ;)
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This.

I also don't think this is gonna hurt the band too much, especially in Europe. An average European metalhead will probably not hear about this anyway.

Provided Schaffer doesn't get arrested for this, of course :P
 
Night Prowler said:
This.

I also don't think this is gonna hurt the band too much, especially in Europe. An average European metalhead will probably not hear about this anyway.

Provided Schaffer doesn't get arrested for this, of course
Click to expand...
This is what I was alluding to. The guy is rather high profile and the federal autorities can not let this agression unpunished.
I'm looking forward to reading the next comment by Ted Nugent o_O
 
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