ICED EARTH Mainman Discusses 'Something Wicked' Albums

ICED EARTH guitarist Jon Schaffer recently spoke to Lucem Fero's Welsh interviewer Anthony Morgan. Topics of discussion included the U.S. band's upcoming two albums "Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1)" and "Revelation Abomination (Something Wicked Part 2)", and also the media reaction towards 2004's "The Glorious Burden". Several excerpts from the interview follow:

Lucem Fero: Can you give me an overview of the "Something Wicked" story, and what it's about and so on?

Jon Schaffer: "Well, an overview is really pretty difficult because it's so complex. Basically the story that I wrote back in late 1997, an original album called 'Something Wicked This Way Comes', ended with the trilogy. That trilogy was a point in time in the story that I wrote, so it's always been planned to actually do this big giant concept album. We had to put it on hold for a while due to changing record companies and what not, but it felt like it was time about a year and half ago to carry it on which is what I did. It's a big science fiction, fantasy thriller oriented story. It basically comes with the idea that mankind is alien to the planet Earth, and that there was a culture in ancient Earth, a culture here before us. The ones who had survived mankind are actually manipulating, and manipulating everything that we do now by the creation of religion - mankind divided, and blah blah blah. It's a big story which covers the period of about twelve thousand years, and that's what I mean when I say we could talk about it for hours. There's not any way to give you a short overview of the tale."

Lucem Fero: Do you feel that the concept has benefited because you've had so many years to ponder about it and so on?

Jon Schaffer: "The basics of the concept were there back then, so it wasn't like a matter of really sitting down to ponder and contemplate through the years. I already knew what it was that I was going to do. I started collecting the world instruments and so on because I knew that was going to be a texture of it back seven or eight years ago, so this isn't really a new thing. It was February 2006 when I built my studio and got the ProTools ready and everything, and that's when I started writing. For a year straight I basically worked on it like every day, and I took about four days off in a year. We started cutting drum tracks in February 2007, so I've been working really hard on this thing for quite a while."

Lucem Fero: Are there any lyrics written yet for that second album?

Jon Schaffer: "No, but I know the themes of the songs and the titles of the songs and everything. I designed the music around that, but I haven't really sat down and started working on it. That's going to happen after Wacken, in between Wacken and the headline tour that starts in October. I will finish all the writing of the lyrics and the vocals, and then we get done touring the U.K. with HEAVEN AND HELL. We then come back, go into the studio and finish recording the album."

Lucem Fero: Do you feel these albums will provoke a lot of debate on the themes and so on, and the story et cetera?

Jon Schaffer: "No, I don't think so. I think it's just a very cool, in-depth, science fiction thriller story of sorts, so I don't think there's anything to... I tell you what? Whatever, dude. Fucking assholes. Those with those sort of opinions are like assholes, and somebody's always going to have some kind of thing to say about it. The idea though is a very cool sci-fi fantasy story that you take from the realities of the world, and enjoy it being what it is. If they want to play political music and for us to create controversy, then they need to look for a different band because that's not ICED EARTH."

Lucem Fero: Does it piss you off when people read more into the lyrics than there actually is?

Jon Schaffer: "Only when it happens, like in the case of 'The Glorious Burden' album. People tried to turn it into a political album when in actual fact it was a military history record, so I don't happen to be a big fan of the people who tried to turn it into this holistic, political thing that it wasn't. That's what pissed me off, but not even the fans think that. That's shit that journalists pull. They're trying to look for a fucking colorful punch line, so they stir up a bunch a shit so they can try to sell magazines or whatever. That's the only point that makes me angry, though the fans are free to interpret the lyrics any way they want which is the beauty of it in some respects. I might listen to a song and get one feeling about it, whereas you may get another feeling about it. That's a part of art. If somebody tries to change my intentions and tells people, 'This is what you meant when you wrote the song,' then I get fucking pissed because they have no idea what I meant."

Lucem Fero: Do you know if the story will extend beyond these two albums?

Jon Schaffer: "Well it certainly could, but will it with ICED EARTH? I don't know. I don't know, but I doubt it actually. It's possible, but I doubt it."

Lucem Fero: Would you like it to, or not?

Jon Schaffer: "I tell you man. At this point I don't really, though I can't think that far ahead. I just think my gut instinct says right now I really don't want to do that, but in a period of two years I could change my mind. Who knows? I don't make decisions which are set in stone."

Lucem Fero: How would you describe these upcoming two albums in musical terms?

Jon Schaffer: "They're very melodic, very heavy, very epic and atmospheric. I also think they're fresh in a lot of ways because there are definitely elements in there that I've never heard mixed with a heavy metal band, though I'm not saying it hasn't been done. I haven't heard it; I've never heard anybody use world instruments in the context I have."

Lucem Fero: How would you like the "Something Wicked" story to be remembered in the coming years?

Jon Schaffer: "I want people to remember it as something really cool, and as a special record. I hope that 'Part 1' and '2' will be looked at as a highlight in the ICED EARTH catalogue, and it's my goal to make it our 'Dark Side of the Moon' or 'The Wall' or whatever for ICED EARTH. So, that's the goal and hopefully people will look at it as really special. The story itself though, beyond the band, and what it develops into... well anything goes. I'm just not going to get ahead of myself."

Read the entire interview at www.lucemfero.com.