ICED EARTH mastermind Jon Schaffer has teamed up with his old pals in PURGATORY, the band that he originally founded in 1985, then later became ICED EARTH, to record five tracks that were written between 1985 and 1987, now to be released as the “Purgatory” EP on December 21 through Century Media. All five tracks featured on the EP offer real U.S. metal and perfectly capture the spirit of the mid 1980s with a powerful production, rounded up by liner notes or comments of Schaffer, Gene Adam, Greg Seymour and Bill Owen and fitting cover artwork by David Newman Stump and Roy Young, known from their excellent work on ICED EARTH‘s latest album, “Incorruptible”. The greatest surprise might be Gene Adam, ICED EARTH‘s original singer who sang on the band’s self-titled debut album from 1990, who delivers his best vocal performance ever. The song “Dracula” can be checked out in the video below.
Jon Schaffer’s PURGATORY is for all ICED EARTH maniacs out there, for all fans of real US metal in the vein of Omen, Liege Lord or Savage Grace, and for all metal fans in general – young and old. The EP is dedicated to Richard Bateman, the band’s original bass player, who passed away right before the EP went into production.
The “Purgatory” EP can be pre-ordered here, and several vinyl colored options will be available:
- Black vinyl: Unlimited
- Transparent-blue vinyl: limited to 100 copies, exclusively available at CM Distro Europe
- Transparent-orange vinyl: limited to 200 copies, available at CM Distro Europe
- Clear vinyl: limited to 200 copies, exclusively available at Nuclear Blast
- Lilac vinyl: limited to 300 copies, exclusively available in the USA
“Purgatory” EP Artwork
“Purgatory” track listing:
1. In Your Dreams (4:55)
2. Dracula (6:08)
3. In Jason’s Mind (5:03)
4. Jack (4:00)
5. Burning Oasis (5:38)
Jon Schaffer’s PURGATORY is:
Jon Schaffer – Rhythm And Lead Guitars, Vocals
Gene Adam – Lead Vocals
Bill Owen – Lead Guitar
Guest appearances by:
Jim Morris – Lead Guitar
Ruben Drake – Bass Guitar
Mark Prator – Drums
