Of Ice is an American thrash metal project created by Stephen Kern. His idea was to simply honor one of his favorite bands, Iced Earth. The music is original, but Stephen wanted to grab that similar sound, and also incorporate Ice in the project name. His vision was to gather Iced Earth members on it, shining the light on everything to do with Iced Earth.
Gene Adam (Iced Earth 1985 - 1991) is on vocals and Freddie Vidales (Iced Earth 2008 - 2012) is on bass. The lyrics to "Wake Up" were written by Gene. They are against the media, causing so much division in the world (they love their ratings / stirring up problems). The cover art was done by Jeremiah S. Morgan. His drawing shows Gene and Freddie trying to help a media watchin' brainwashed person from being controlled. Wake up!
"Wake Up" by Of Ice was released September 15th via Metalism Records.
"Wake Up" lineup:
Gene Adam — vocals
Freddie Vidales — bass
Stephen Kern — drums, rhythm guitar
Val Allen Wood — lead guitar
Matthew Trautwein — violin intro
Artist Jeremiah S. Morgan discusses creating the artwork for "Wake Up", which can be viewed in its entirety below.
"I had an amazing time drawing this artwork and designing the logo. Stephen and I had a lot of ideas. We explored themes from finding an ancient ruin in an arctic cavern, to Gene and Freddie being armed to the teeth blasting assault weapons at an Ice Demon. Stephen had a specific direction based on the song, and we went back and forth on creative ways to keep the subject matter realistic and believable, but also enhancing the presence of evil from the media and how it can take over your home.
I restarted the art several times, to get things like the elements and perspective correct. As a long time fan, I felt like I was creating an else-world Iced Earth single. I had to attempt to find the balance between my personal cartoon style and the standard that classic IE fans had grown to expect.
I took inspiration from the set of remastered albums that were drawn in ink by Danny Miki and digitally colored; the way I was introduced to them as a teenager. Therefore my art is drawn in india ink and colored in Photoshop. I didn’t really hear the song, but maybe a few riffs, before embarking on the art. So seeing the final product as a fan is just as much as a surprise to me as it is to all of you.
It's been a great pleasure and Stephen Kern is an amazing guy that I’m proud to call my friend. And don’t let what you see on your screens give you… freezing veins of ICE!"
For further details, visit Stephen Kern on Facebook.
