Noted Cop and Vocalist Matt Barlow Doesn’t Rule Out Ever Rejoining Jon Schaffer’s Iced Earth
After everything that’s happened with Iced Earth guitarist and founder Jon Schaffer following the events of January 6, 2021, you’d think someone with a background in law enforcement would never consider working with him again. I mean, we’re talking about a dude that stormed the U.S. Capitol —armed with bear mace — who, if he didn’t participate in the beating of police officers, didn’t exactly stop it from happening either.
Yet during a recent interview with The Metal Voice (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), it sounds like ex-Iced Earth vocalist, current Ashes of Ares vocalist, and current Georgetown, Delaware police lieutenant Matt Barlow isn’t exactly ruling out ever working with the pardoned insurrectionist if he were asked to rejoin the band for a third time.
“That’s something that would be entirely up to, obviously, when Jon… That’s Jon’s band — a hundred percent — so that’s something that Jon would have to decide, whether I would be a part of it or not, either way, but whether Iced Earth goes out and does it. But I look forward to that, whether it would be me involved with it or somebody else, if that were to happen. And I can’t speak to it, ’cause I don’t think at this point that… It’s not even in the long distance at this point.”
Let’s not forget what happened with Schaffer. He was one of the many people that stormed the U.S. Capitol in a bid to stop Congress from the peaceful transfer of power from outgoing Republican President Donald Trump to incoming Democrat President Joe Biden. What ensued was a protracted siege of the Capitol, with police and traitors coming to blows in numerous instances that day. When it was all said and done, approximately 140 police officers had been assaulted and five people had died, including four officers who took their own lives in the aftermath.
You’d think as a member of the law enforcement community that he’d feel a certain way about Schaffer, but not Matt Barlow. Hell, his band is going out on tour soon to play the entirety of that band’s 1996 album The Dark Saga in Europe. But how does Barlow feel about Schaffer’s involvement in the insurrection? He doesn’t want to get political about it…
”We don’t live in a tube of silence here. We get stuff. But I think for me, and I think for people that are fans of the music, they don’t care about that. I think at the end of the day, it’s the music. And I hope that everybody’s respectful because I’m gonna celebrate Jon and what he’s done. He’s written some fucking amazing music, and I’ve been fortunate to be a part of that. So, outside of that, I’m not gonna get political with anything. We’re not talking politics. We’re just talking strictly music, and it’s for the love of music. And I hope that everybody understands that. That’s what the point is.
“Hopefully we’re bringing something cool and special. And I certainly look forward, if Jon wants to tour again and play this music again, I wholeheartedly look forward to that, if that’s a possibility. But we’re just gonna go out there and just celebrate this music that is very special, I think, for a lot of people. We’ve been given blessing to do so by Jon, so that’s super important to us as well.”
On one hand, sure. Celebrating an admittedly awesome album like The Dark Saga is a worthwhile endeavor, especially given its importance to Barlow’s career. On the other hand, however, it’s hard to separate the politics from the music in this case when you consider the gravity of what happened on Jan. 6.
Sure, Schaffer’s offered an apology of sorts for his actions and that’s something his fans will have to have to think about when they decide if they want to give him a second chance. But for a cop to know what D.C. cops went through at the hands of Schaffer and his buddies and to still be like “eh, he’s okay in my book”, that just sounds like someone wants his cake and eat it too.
