MATT BARLOW Is Ready To Carry The Flag For ICED EARTH With ASHES OF ARES: 'We're Going To Honor The Music And Fans'

By David E. Gehlke

Not to discredit the excellent Stu Block, but Matt Barlow has earned the distinction of being the voice of ICED EARTH. Casting aside founder and leader Jon Schaffer's legal travails, the long-running American melodic metal band remains popular on both sides of the pond, particularly because of its mid-to-late 1990s output, anchored by 1996's "The Dark Saga". Backed by Schaffer's unrelenting guitar gallops and Barlow's broad, heaving clean vocals, "The Dark Saga" helped ICED EARTH establish itself in Europe and make incremental gains in the otherwise non-melodic metal-loving United States. With Schaffer and ICED EARTH's future still in limbo, it's only appropriate, then, that Barlow will be performing the entire album in full later this year as part of ASHES OF ARES, his post-ICED EARTH outfit that he formed in 2012 with fellow ex-ICED EARTH bandmate, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Freddie Vidales.

ASHES OF ARES will also be issuing their fourth studio foray, "New Messiahs", in July, reminding many of how well Barlow's voice has stood the test of time. Vidales has also proven to be the right songwriting partner for Barlow by occasionally making nods to ICED EARTH while keeping ASHES OF ARES's pronounced thrash and progressive death metal angle front and center. It's now the best possible scenario for Barlow as he juggles his full-time job as a police officer and one of American melodic metal's true great vocalists. BLABBERMOUTH.NET got Barlow on the line to chat not only about ASHES OF ARES, but also the glory days of ICED EARTH and what the future may or may not hold for him and Schaffer.

Blabbermouth: ASHES OF ARES has some dates in Europe coming up, including some gigs in Greece. Why has Greece become such an important country for your career?

Matt: "It's always amazing. They're such a respectful and giving crowd. I don't know how else to say it. The crowd participation is always there; the people come out and they have fun. They're some of the truest metalheads out there. There are great metalheads throughout the world, like in Brazil. We had some shows in Brazil when I was in ICED EARTH that were awesome. Obviously, Greece, I've got a deep connection with the folks there from doing 'Alive In Athens'. Before we even recorded it, when we first went over there to play, it was phenomenal. We got off the plane, which I think was '98, and they were greeting us at the airport. We played our first show in Thessaloniki. It was crazy. It was the most intense show. Then, we took the bus ride to Athens. We arrived in Athens, and people were surrounding the bus, shaking it. It was like, 'Wow!' I was impressed. They are very passionate. They've really embraced me as a singer. I can't say enough. It's amazing when you go and do a show, and I could literally not sing a word. They'd be singing along with the music, singing all the words that I've sung. That's pretty special."

Blabbermouth: Do you think it's a reach to suggest "Alive In Athens" from 1999 is one of the last truly impactful live records? They've become such a relic now. It's hard to think of many that have come after it that are worth discussing.

Matt: "Live records can bring out some really cool shit. It really does. It brings out cool stuff that you didn't do on the actual recording that you think is pretty cool, or you introduce it live because the fans dig it. It's crazy how people latch onto that stuff, especially for a live record. I think the people of Athens set the tone after that. After we did 'Alive In Athens', we would play live shows, and people would sing the songs in the same way. They were like, 'This is where we have to sing this part.' It's cool. They're singing along to the melodies of these songs, like 'The Hunter'. The whole crowd is jumping up and down. It's important, I think, for people to hear that, especially if they're familiar with the band's work and see how it does affect other people, so they would go, 'This is kind of cool. I get why they are so excited about it and into it.'"

Blabbermouth: You mentioned getting off the plane at the airport and having people waiting for you in Europe. Yet, over here, melodic metal was going through a rough patch around that time.

Matt: "It's humbling. If we were people who carried our egos around, we probably wouldn't be able to deal with that adjustment. We get it. This region over there is this; this region over there is that. At the same time, we were doing that stuff in Europe to much fanfare, we were touring around the Midwest trying to get into places. It was working, though. That's the cool thing: In the Midwest, it's like that flyover country. Metal was still okay; metal was still cool. On the coasts, it was like, 'Eh…' But Chicago? We did great there. It wasn't like we were playing huge gigs, but we didn't care. I was essentially Brent's [Smedley] drum tech. We were carrying all of our shit in. We had a sound guy, that was it. We didn't have a full crew. We were toting our own shit and doing our own stuff. It was cool, too. It's just a different kind of cool. I remember going to Texas and playing a bunch of shows down there. They were eating it up. We drove down to McAllen, Texas. Most of the people in the club that night were Mexican and came across the border to see us. It was packed. It was sweaty. We were sweating our asses off and digging it. People were right here in my face, and we were rocking it out. It's just a different kind of cool. It's still there. That was a really pure form of it on a basic level, on a 'Hey, we're stepping down here, but we're still putting out the best we can in our live show.' People really appreciated it. I still talk to people, whether it was the Midwest shows, the Texas shows, we went up into Canada a couple of times and did shows. We had a blast. It wasn't a popular time for metal, not at all. Even METALLICA was struggling. At that point, they were changing their vibe and all that stuff. They were doing more of the rock-type of stuff. They still had some hits; they're METALLICA, but they weren't what they are now and selling shit out. Look at what they're playing, they're playing the classics."

Blabbermouth: What are you looking forward to most about singing all of "The Dark Saga" record? Is it the trilogy or something like "I Died For You"?

Matt: "I'm actually most excited about doing the record in its entirety from front to back. We never did that. We always had so much stuff. When I first joined for 'Burnt Offerings', they had two other records. They were considered the classics. We always had so much music to do that we never said, 'Hey, we're going to do 'The Dark Saga'. It was always on and on. We were always building onto the discography so that we couldn't do that. Hell, in 2001, we did a series of shows in Europe where we toured, and we did three entire sets. It was essentially a three-hour show. It took over three hours to put them all together. We did the classic stage, which was earlier stuff. Then the middle, which was 'The Dark Saga', 'Something Wicked' and different things. It was pretty much those two records. Maybe some 'Burnt Offerings' in there as well. The last set we did was 'Horror Show'. That was huge. That was our biggest production ever, I think. Again, we never did 'The Dark Saga' in its entirety. I think it's going to be cool, and hopefully we can set a mood, and people are going to dig it. They're going to know what's next during the set, especially if they're big ICED EARTH fans."

Blabbermouth: Moving over to ASHES OF ARES. Freddie does a really nice job of writing for your voice. He honors your past, yet there are some different angles. How has your partnership with him evolved?

Matt: "It's a natural progression. Freddie and I have really worked well with each other. We have a great relationship. Maybe part of that is that he lives in Arizona and I live in Delaware. [Laughs] We don't see or talk to each other directly, but we share files back and forth, we send emails, we text, we talk on the phone, as far as the direction of the songs. We do as much as we can in our home studios because our budget is obviously limited. Most budgets are. I don't know what other bands work with, but I don't care. We do the best we can in our home studios, so we can spend the bulk of the budget on final production, mixdown, mastering and all that other good stuff. We also pay musicians for their time if they're guests.

"I think he does his best to honor the way I do things. However, I also try to honor what he does. I don't expect him to be somebody else. I expect Freddie to write the way he does. I like his history. He's a huge IRON MAIDEN fan, but he's got a death metal background. You hear that stuff coming into it. But he's also, I think, very open to other ideas. There's a lot of stuff in there that's progressive metal. He's a big DEATH fan, which, if you know Chuck's [Schuldiner] work, that guy was a progressive metal guy. He's in that vibe. It works enough to where we can go, 'Hey man, you do what you do. I'll do what I do and we'll meet in the middle.' We try to lean into our strengths and push each other in that regard. I'll go, 'Hey man, this part needs more of a death metal lead vocal part,' and he'll do it because it's his thing. We have fun with it. We have fun with the things that influenced us. The things I write tend to be a bit more Bay Area thrash. Freddie leans into that and goes, 'I think I know what you want to do with this.' You probably hear more of that stuff in this record than maybe some of the other ones. There are a couple of songs that are Bay Area-influenced. We just have fun. We don't do it for the money, obviously. At the end of the day, we're not going to put out something that sounds like crap. The listener will hopefully like what we're doing."

Blabbermouth: You've usually excelled when singing ballad-type songs. There are a few on the new ASHES OF ARES album. Do you prefer doing them?

Matt: "I do, to an extent. I'll be jamming, probably the ballad of this song is 'Keep On Walking', and that's one where I started strumming and thought of a melody and got it going. I gave it to Freddie and said, 'Make this a song.' Outside of that, I do. I like singing like that. I enjoy singing songs that other people can sing along to. At the same time, I guess there's a little bit of an expectation, and I tell people: 'Lean into what your strengths are.' If that's my strength and that's what resonates, and they like it when I do that stuff, of course, I'm going to lean into it. I'm an entertainer. I'm supposed to entertain the people who are supporting me and want to hear that stuff. It works both ways."

Blabbermouth: Your voice sounds as strong as ever. How are you feeling vocally? Are you helped by the fact that this isn't a full-time thing?

Matt: "It could be. However, in my line of work, I speak a lot. Speaking is sometimes not the greatest thing for a singer. I still need to work on speaking and understanding that I need to support my singing voice. Probably because I don't tour nine months out of the year helps. I know it can be rough. I know friends of mine who have had trouble with their voices and needed surgery. Just getting worn out, I think that can do it. I do know that as I get older, I need a little bit more time to recoup. Just like with anything, it's the same with muscles. The cords are the same as anything else. The older you get, the more recovery time you need."

Blabbermouth: How are you feeling about your legacy with ICED EARTH? Are you comfortable with everything you've accomplished?

Matt: "Oh yeah, for sure. Obviously, otherwise I don't think I would feel comfortable doing 'The Dark Saga' with ASHES. I feel like I contributed enough to be able to go, 'I can do this.'"

Blabbermouth: That's why I asked: You said you weren't using the ICED EARTH logo. You got permission to do it, which was probably the way to go.

Matt: "It's a point of respect to ask and get permission. It's not like I had to. It's a point of respect for Freddie and me to be able to do it. Of course, our intention is to honor the music. That's what we're going to do. We're going to honor the music and honor the fans by doing it. Hopefully, we'll have some major crowd participation, and it will be a big party and celebration of the record."

Blabbermouth: You got a lot of ears buzzing when you said if Jon asked you, you'd do it again. Is that still up in the air?

Matt: "That's the thing. [Laughs] I probably don't need to say anything more to Blabbermouth about Jon and my relationship. [Laughs] People love to comment and stuff like that. No, I probably shouldn't have said anything or speculated. It was never even talked about. My whole thing is, at the end of the day, I hope we can live in a society where people can be forgiven for their mistakes and things can go on. That's what I meant by all that."

Blabbermouth: You've said before that maybe people need to find more of a common ground on these types of things, including politics.

Matt: "I would hope so. I really do. I personally don't get political. I'm an entertainer. I do have another career. Even in that career, I'm not political. It's not my place. I feel the same way about music. I feel like I'm an entertainer. I shouldn't be pressing my beliefs on other people, and I never will. If someone confides in me, outside of an interview, I may get into a deeper conversation about life and whatnot. I take my position of responsibility seriously, and I feel that I should be humble and not try to impose my thoughts or opinions on others, because I don't live in their shoes. They don't live in mine."