Fans of American metal act Iced Earth have long hoped for a new sign of life from their icons. On April 28th, 2023, the wait will be over at last: The band has announced the release of two new EPs on ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records.
Entitled “Hellrider” and “I Walk Among You”, these releases will include rare recordings from the transition phase between singer Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens’ and predecessor / successor Matt Barlow in 2007 and 2008, a particularly exciting and eventful period in Iced Earth’s band history.
The “Hellrider” EP consists of the songs “Prophecy”, “Birth of the Wicked” and “The Coming Curse”, originally from the album “Something Wicked This Way Comes” (1998), voted one of the best power metal records of all time by Metal Hammer. In late summer 2007, all three tracks were re-recorded, featuring Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens.
The second EP “I Walk Among You” includes the studio tracks “Setian Massacre”, “A Charge to Keep” and “The Clouding” from the 2007 album “Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part I)”, which were remixed and remastered in 2008 and feature the recently-returned Matt Barlow. In addition, there are the live tracks “Dark Saga”, “Pure Evil” and “Iced Earth”, cut at the 2008 Graspop Metal Meeting and also featuring Barlow.
Iced Earth comment on the EPs: “Before now, these releases hadn’t been issued on anything other than CD. Now they’ve been remastered, with new artwork, new mastering, new formats on vinyl, picture disc, and they’ll be available for digital download for the first time”.
Check out the new lyric video for “Prophecy” (2007 re-recorded) below.
Both EPs will be released on April 28th, 2023, on various vinyl formats and will also be released as a two-in-one digipack CD and 2LP Picture disc combo!
Pre-order the EPs, here. Pre-save the “Hellrider” EP, here. Pre-order both EPs here.
“Hellrider”: Produced by Jon Schaffer and Jim Morris. Engineered and mixed by Jim Morris. Cover art by Monte Moore and Roy Young. Layout by Roy Young.
“I Walk Among You”: Produced by Jon Schaffer and Jim Morris. Engineered and mixed by Jim Morris. Cover art by Sun Khamunaki. Layout by Roy Young.
Tracklists:
“Hellrider” (feat. Tim “Ripper” Owens):
1. Prophecy
2. Birth Of The Wicked
3. The Coming Curse
“I Walk Among You” (feat. Matt Barlow):
4. Setian Massacre
5. A Charge to Keep
6. The Clouding
7. Dark Saga (Live at Graspop 2008)
8. Pure Evil (Live at Graspop 2008)
9. Iced Earth (Live at Graspop 2008)
“Hellrider” line-up:
Jon Schaffer – Rhythm, Lead, Bass Guitars, Backing vocals
Tim Owens – Lead Vocals
Brent Smedley – Drums
Tim Mills – Guitar Solos
“I Walk Among You” line-up:
Jon Schaffer – Rhythm, Lead, Bass Guitars, Backing vocals
Matt Barlow – Lead Vocals
Brent Smedley – Drums
Troy Seele – Guitar Solos
“Graspop Raw 2008” line-up:
Jon Schaffer – Rhythm Guitar, Backing vocals
Matt Barlow – Lead Vocals
Brent Smedley – Drums
Troy Seele – Lead Guitar
Freddie Vidales – Bass Guitar
Weblinks:
www.icedearthmerch.com
www.facebook.com/OfficialIcedEarth
