Jim McDonald: You’ve
had an interesting career. What’s it like
to be part of Iced Earth?
Tim “Ripper” Owens:
It’s awesome! It’s a great band to
be in. John (Schaffer, Iced Earth guitarist) and
I are best of friends, we get along great and
that’s a big thing in this industry. It
one of those things, you hope you can get in a
band like this and it’s just worked out
really well for me.
Jim McDonald: I was listening
to the “Overture of the Wicked” EP.
As I understand it that sets up a series of albums
that Iced Earth will be releasing soon.
Tim “Ripper” Owens:
Yes. That’s what the album that’s
coming out in September is. It’s just kind
of a prelude to what’s going on.
Jim McDonald: Three of the songs
on “Overture of the Wicked” were released
previously on “Something Wicked This Way
Comes.” How are fans reacting to the re-recorded
material?
Tim “Ripper” Owens:
It seems to be alright. They’re not always
going to love it, but I think they misunderstand
what we’re trying to do. First of all, it
was the label’s idea to do it. We were just
trying to introduce it and record it in the way
it’s going to sound now. We weren’t
trying to better a song or do anything like that,
we were just re-recording it so the sound blends
in with the other stuff. I think people need to
understand that. I think it’s gone over
well and the overall reaction has been really
good to it.
Jim McDonald: The question on
my mind is why revisit the “Something Wicked”
story now? Are these old songs that have been
on the shelf or did the band just decide to complete
this cycle?
Tim “Ripper” Owens:
John just wrote these songs. He wrote it when
it was time to do it. This is something he’s
wanted to do forever but he’s been waiting
for the right label. I think that’s the
big thing. He wanted to do this but he wanted
the label to be right. Once SPV came aboard he
knew that this was the time and this was the right
label and we ran with it. It was something he
wrote when the time was right.
Jim McDonald: So Iced Earth
fans aren’t getting an album that was written
years ago, this is a new project.
Tim “Ripper” Owens:
No, it’s definitely something new.
Jim McDonald: I’ve heard
these are concept albums, what’s the story
behind the new music?
Tim “Ripper” Owens:
The “Something Wicked” story is hard
to describe. It’s basically that the humans
didn’t inhabit the Earth originally. A group
called the Setians were here on Earth and the
humans are the aliens who attacked the Earth because
the Setians had a lot of knowledge but didn’t
have any weapons. Humans attacked the Setians
because they wanted to take their knowledge. It’s
an interesting story, us actually being the aliens.
It’s quite an interesting story.
Jim McDonald: Yeah, that’s
an interesting plot twist.
Tim “Ripper” Owens:
Yeah, it really is. It’s definitely something
a little bit different. It’s definitely
unique.
Jim McDonald: Are the guys in
the band big sci-fi fans?
Tim “Ripper” Owens:
Well, John’s the main guy, the main writer,
the main everything. He does like sci-fi, but
I don’t think he’s an absolute lover
of it. I’m not a sci-fi fan myself, but
I love the story and I love this. I’m just
not usually listening to sci-fi.
Jim McDonald: You hear a lot
of sci-fi storylines from prog rock bands, but
not as much from power metal outfits. At first
the plot took me by surprise, but when I started
listening to the new music it fits well. It really
pulls you in.
Tim “Ripper” Owens:
It’s an awesome story and it’s unique.
It’s cool.
Jim McDonald: Framing Armageddon
is coming out next month?
Tim “Ripper” Owens:
September 11.
Jim McDonald: What can we expect
from the new record?
Tim “Ripper” Owens: Well,
basically I described part of it when I described
what it’s about. It’s very deep. It’s
got a lot of emotion to it. It’s got a lot
of ups and downs. It’s got some fast stuff
and some slow songs. The cool thing about the
album is you can put it on and listen to it. It
has a bunch of intros that are ID’d separately,
so you can take them out later if you want. You
can listen to the whole album, but eventually
you can pull the intros out and just listen to
the songs. The songs all stand up on their own
and that’s what’s great about it.
Jim McDonald: Power metal seems
to be doing best in Europe right now. How is Iced
Earth received outside the US?
Tim “Ripper” Owens:
That’s one of our major markets. Obviously
the place that musicians want to make it very,
very big in is America. There’s a big audience
here if you can crack it. I don’t know how
many bands were able to. Judas Priest is a great
example in making that their first priority. Europe
is a great metal market, but I think America is
underestimated as to how good of a market it is
right now. Europe is definitely a good market
as well. Iced Earth is very well received there
and it’s a place we really love to play.
Jim McDonald: What else should
Iced Earth fans know about “Framing Armageddon”?
Tim “Ripper” Owens: This
is the album metal fans want. It’s Iced
Earth metal. It tells a story, and you can listen
to the songs on their own but the story is great
to listen to. Anyone who wants more information
can go to icedearth.com or timripperowens.com.
I’ve got some shirts and some merch I sell
on my site. Get your news there, or on the MySpace
site. The album is the best Iced Earth album to
date, so it’s a must for the metal fan.
Jim McDonald: Are you still
working with Beyond Fear?
Tim “Ripper” Owens:
Oh yeah, that album was a good album. It was one
of the best reviewed CDs I’ve done in my
career. I’m going to continue on with all
my off time from Iced Earth and do that. I’d
like to have Beyond Fear be as big as Iced Earth
some day. I think the great thing about Beyond
Fear is that it’s totally true metal. That’s
what I believe in and that makes it fun to do,
and I get to write in it.
Jim McDonald: When will the
final album be available in the “Something
Wicked” cycle?
Tim “Ripper” Owens: We’re
shooting for April.
Jim McDonald: Wow! That’s
quick.
Tim “Ripper” Owens: Well
it’s already recorded musically. Drums,
guitars… We recorded both records musically
at the same time. John hasn’t finished writing
the lyrics and the melodies, but we recorded the
instruments together because we wanted the whole
vibe to be the same. It will hopefully be done
and out by April. It will be recorded and done
in December.
Jim McDonald: That’s nice.
Generally when a band puts out several albums
in a cycle like this fans have to wait years to
hear the complete product.
Tim “Ripper” Owens:
Yeah, we’re doing it in one shot, so it’s
coming out soon.
Jim McDonald: What are your
plans for touring?
Tim “Ripper” Owens: We
start in Europe the end of September. We do a
headlining tour in Europe in October, then in
November we’re supporting Heaven and Hell.
Lamb of God’s on that bill as well. We’ll
be back in the states January and February. Other
than that we’ll see what happens. We plan
on touring the world!
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