Iced Earth has released 13 albums between 1990 and 2017 with quite a few different lineups. The only constant in Iced Earth's lineup over the years has been guitarist Jon Schaffer, who pretty much acts as the band's leader these days. Schaffer has now revealed that instead of concentrating solely on following up 2017's Incorruptable, Iced Earth will be going back and re-recording a lot (the first six or so) of its classic albums. Schaffer tells Rock Overdose the reason is twofold – so that everyone in the band can get royalties for the albums, and that it's going to be a lot of fun.
He says he's not 100% sure which album will be first, but he's got "a pretty good idea which one." Personally, I vote for Night Of The Stormrider.
"We are going to be re-recording [our older] records over the course of, probably, the next 10 years. We're going to be doing a lot of the Iced Earth catalog because I don't own the master rights and there's no real income coming from that. If we redo those records, then everybody in the band will be able to get a royalty in the future moving forward. It's going to be a big project and it's going to be a lot of fun to do, to really dig back into those records — especially, like, the first six.
That's what we're gonna focus on. I don't know which one we're gonna start with yet. I have a pretty good idea which one, but the guys and I will talk over that in the next few months. Not to take away, because I think those albums are great, but the fact is that it was a bad business deal for Iced Earth, and for us going forward, we want to be able to have control of our catalog and of our destiny."
Usually I'd say this will be pretty hit or miss, but given that ex-Into Eternity vocalist Stu Block is in the fold, I'm sure these new renditions will rule.
