INFO

I'm a huge fan of Iced Earth, and during my high school years (2000-2004) they were probably my favorite band alongside Judas Priest. I met Stephen Kern through John Greely, the Iced Earth vocalist on the Night of The Stormrider album. We were all hanging out while they were shooting a low budget film. Stephen and I were instant friends, and wanted to eventually work with me given the right opportunity.

Being a fan of the music, Stephen successfully reached out to several members and began the project. He reached out to me for the cover, and we went through several ideas and sketches. I worked closely with Stephen until he had exactly what he wanted. For this cover I went with traditional india ink, and then colored it in Adobe Photoshop, to make it like many of Iced Earth's covers up until The Glorious Burden, which had a painted look. I also designed the logo, which Stephen wanted to have the underground thrash metal aesthetic from the late 80's and early 90's. I didn't know what the song was about, nor did I hear it until the project was completely finished.

Published by Metalism Records in 2022, Of Ice features alumni Iced Earth members, Gene Adam and Freddie Vidales. Other members include Stephen Kern, Val Allen Wood and Matthew Trautwein.

It was covered in rock and metal news by BraveWords. The art was also displayed in "An Act of Worship" art exhibition at the Hansford Hall Student Gallery at University of North Georgia in the Fall 2022 semester.

Listen to Of Ice: Wake Up.