After releasing the demo EP Enter the Realm (1989) and signing to Century Media Records, the band released two full-length studio albums – Iced Earth (1990) and Night of the Stormrider (1991) – before taking a two-year hiatus from 1992 to 1994, after which the band returned with new lead vocalist Matt Barlow. Iced Earth went on to release four studio albums with him in over half a decade: Burnt Offerings (1995), The Dark Saga (1996), Something Wicked This Way Comes (1998) and Horror Show (2001).
After Horror Show, Barlow quit the band and joined the police force, while Iced Earth continued on with Tim "Ripper" Owens, formerly of Judas Priest, on vocals. With Owens, the band released two studio albums (2004's The Glorious Burden and 2007's Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked Part 1). In late 2007, Barlow rejoined the band, and they recorded one more album with him: The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked Part 2 (2008). In 2011, Barlow once again left Iced Earth, and was replaced by Into Eternity frontman Stu Block. Dystopia, Block's first album with the group, was released that October; the album received a positive response, while some critics called it one of Iced Earth's best albums. The group recorded two more albums with Block: Plagues of Babylon (2014) and Incorruptible (2017).
Before arriving at their current lineup, Iced Earth has had numerous line-up changes, with founder Jon Schaffer as the only founding member remaining. As of 2021, there have been over thirty musicians in and out of Iced Earth since its formation in 1984.
The band is composed solely of Schaffer and drummer Brent Smedley, with all other band members having departed following Schaffer's January 2021 arrest by the FBI for his involvement in the Capitol riots. Schaffer is in FBI custody on felony charges, which has generated new publicity for Iced Earth and has resulted in the band being dropped from their longtime label Century Media.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iced_Earth
Studio albums
Iced Earth (1990)
Night of the Stormrider (1991)
Burnt Offerings (1995)
The Dark Saga (1996)
Something Wicked This Way Comes (1998)
Horror Show (2001)
The Glorious Burden (2004)
Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked Part 1 (2007)
The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked Part 2 (2008)
Dystopia (2011)
Plagues of Babylon (2014)
Incorruptible (2017)
A Narrative Soundscape (2022)
Im-Ho-Tep
Iced Earth Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Isis with the scroll of life
Raised her love Osiris from the dead
Live can transcend the mortal coil
With this script, the high priest of
The Pharaoh commits his sacrilege
Death is but a threshold
With this power
You shall live again, there is no end
You'll live again...
Love was the curse upon my soul
For it I would risk salvation
And utilize the scroll to save this one
Time is the sentence for my sin
Three thousand years my angry soul's
Been trapped inside this tomb of my condemn.
Death is but a threshold
To another life, I will arrive
With this power
I shall live again, there is no end.
I'll live again
Dawn shines a light on pain untold
Scarred from the millennia
The heart that beats inside my chest is cold
Rise, I'm rising from these sands of time
By the scarab's power I am given strength
With hate in hand, this misery I drink
Death is but a threshold
To another life, I will arrive
And with this power
I shall live again, there is no end
This pain won't end
The lyrics of Iced Earth's song "Im-Ho-Tep (Pharaoh's Curse)" explore the concept of the afterlife and the power of ancient scripts and deities. The chorus emphasizes the idea that death is not the end, but rather a threshold to another life. The lyrics describe the legendary story of Isis, the goddess who raised her love Osiris from the dead using the scroll of life. This feat was apparently so powerful that the high priest of the Pharaoh coveted the script and used it for his own sacrilege.
The verses focus on the character Im-Ho-Tep, who is trapped inside his tomb for three thousand years as punishment for his sin. He is scarred from the millennia and his heart is cold. Despite this, he seeks the power of the scarab to gain strength and rise from the sands of time. The song suggests that love is Im-Ho-Tep's curse, as it led him to risk his salvation to save someone using the scroll of life.
Overall, the song seems to suggest that the power of deities and ancient scripts can transcend the mortal coil and provide a gateway to another life. The concepts of love, sin, and punishment also feature prominently in the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Time is the bond of mortal life
The passage of time defines our existence as mortals
Isis with the scroll of life
Isis possesses the power to resurrect the dead using a special scroll
Raised her love Osiris from the dead
Isis used her scroll to bring her husband Osiris back to life
Live can transcend the mortal coil
Life can continue beyond our physical existence
With this script, the high priest of
Using this same scroll, the high priest of the Pharaoh performs a sacrilege
The Pharaoh commits his sacrilege
The Pharaoh disobeys the laws of the gods by attempting to cheat death
Death is but a threshold
Death is not an end, but rather a transition to another life
To another life, you will arrive
After death, one's soul will continue to exist in another realm
With this power
The power of resurrection
You shall live again, there is no end
The Pharaoh believes he will be resurrected indefinitely, without end
You'll live again...
Repeating the belief in immortality
Love was the curse upon my soul
Love led the Pharaoh to attempt to cheat death, a decision that damns his soul
For it I would risk salvation
Despite the consequences, the Pharaoh would risk his soul for love
And utilize the scroll to save this one
The Pharaoh decides to use the scroll to bring his lover back to life
Time is the sentence for my sin
The Pharaoh's sin of attempting to cheat death is punished with eternal imprisonment in his tomb
Three thousand years my angry soul's
The Pharaoh's soul has remained imprisoned and resentful for three millennia
Been trapped inside this tomb of my condemn.
The Pharaoh's soul has been confined to his tomb as punishment
Dawn shines a light on pain untold
The agony of the Pharaoh's soul is illuminated at dawn
Scarred from the millennia
The Pharaoh's soul is marked by the passage of thousands of years
The heart that beats inside my chest is cold
The Pharaoh's heart no longer feels love or warmth
Rise, I'm rising from these sands of time
The Pharaoh experiences a resurgence of power and begins to rise from his tomb
By the scarab's power I am given strength
The Pharaoh gains strength through the mystical power of the scarab
With hate in hand, this misery I drink
The Pharaoh's anger and bitterness fuel his desire for vengeance against those who wronged him
This pain won't end
The Pharaoh's suffering is ongoing and will continue
Contributed by Elliot L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.