Barcelona, Friday January 08, 2021
"Dear" Jon Schaffer:
The entire world has stared in amazement at your infamous, shameful and base participation in the failed coup during the ratification in Congress of the new president-elect Joe Biden, which emerged after the elections on November 3, 2020.
What began as an attempt to take over the capitol, encouraged by the worst president in the history of the United States (which is saying a lot) has ended in a real failure and in another page in the long history of dark chapters of the North American country.
As a fan of Iced Earth, I am saddened, ashamed and enraged because you have participated in all of them. Also, participation that You have not yet denied (nor can you) abecause denying it would be betraying those of your ilk.
I a self conscious that you´re a White supremacist man , and always I made the effort to separate music with you, We are no longer 18 years old where you can see everything as "black and white", and certainly, if we were orthodox, we could not follow Lovecraft's work by that rule of three since like you, he was a racist and a reactionary. Nor would we value the painting of my countryman "Salvador Dalí" who despite his genius, was a supporter of fascism regime of Franco and self-conscious like you too. We would not even remotely follow the work of the teacher Tolkien, who verbally supported the genocidal and coup plotter of Francisco Franco during the Spanish war against the legitimate government of the Second Spanish Republic. And Let's not even talk about following bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ted Nugent or Pantera, because of the extremist ideas of some of their members. This time for that, It is completely intolerable.
I have always been an admirer of your incredible way of playing: you have a prodigious steel wrist that has given birth to brutal riffs like “Stormrider” or “Pure Evil”. You are a great composer who has released works that are part of my personal soundtrack: “Something Wicked This Way Comes”, “The Night of The Stormrider”, “Dystopia” ...
One of my first Heavy Metal songs that I heard when I was 14 years old was “The Reckoning” from the good but "too patriot" “The Glorious Burden”, as a part of a varied Metal compilation and that was sung by your friend, who was also frustrated in life, have a dick small and always second but great singer: Tim Ripper Owens, with whom I saw you together with Annihilator and Turisas in 2007.
I have been amazed with magnificent works such as “Burnt Offerings”, an album where “Dante's Inferno”, my favourite song from your discography, is part of the great work of “il padre della lingua italiana” (father of Italian language): “La Divina Commedia” by Dante Alighieri.
I have yet to read Spawn, a character that Iced Earth has made me interested in through the splendid “Dark Saga”, a concept album about Todd McFarlane's character. And you have even recently released a masterpiece such as "Incorruptible", showing that despite the years and line-up changes, Iced Earth is a great band (as I was able to verify the two times I saw you in 2018) deserving of the best and with so much to contribute yet to our beloved music and community.
I save
proudly and with care your "pick" that I got during the Demons &
Wizards show at Graspop 2019 in Belgium as well as the photo I took of you with
good old Hansi, during the only day of four that I went (skipping my expensive
Russian class) at "Barcelona Rock Fest 2019", just to see you and
have you sign me. I'm glad to take advantage of the little, crazy and fantastic
time I had by choosing to take my picture with Hansi and not with you.
I have accumulated countless good moments as well as great friends, who are united by the love for your band. Iced Earth has been recurrent in some birthday gifts (recently and during the pandemic that you deny, bastard) to people who are more than friends.
I am aware that now you will have other more important problems than to attend to a disappointed follower, but with your participation in yesterday's aberrant show, you throw away to garbage a legacy of one of the greatest Heavy Metal bands in the United States and of my life usually.
If you come out of this well (which is quite unlikely), I will not follow anything you do in the future. Don't worry, I'm not going to break the Iced Earth albums like so many people are doing, because they have cost me effort, work and money and it would also be throwing away an important part of me.
Despite everything, memories and great songs will remain now and forever.
Precisely I had given myself for Christmas the "Alive in Athens", the special anniversary edition and on vinyl and that had been the ostia of expensive. I'm working on some videos about the band on my channel and now because of your bullshit, I'll have to reduce the videos to just one, having to give explanations because of you. You are a real sucker! Should I now remove my super patch from my vest? Now I have to put the whole back of the vest back together, you fucking bastard.
The Democracy in the US, Spain and
many other countries in the world is undoubtedly imperfect, but your ideas are
closer to the problem than to the solution. With all the pain in my heart I
only hope for the good of the United States and the world that we look at you
in amazement, that the full weight of justice falls and that all democratic
procedures are carried out so that this does not happen again and that they
judge the bunch of fanatics like you, who follow a tyrant like Donald Trump.
Thanks for your music. Fuck you for your shitty ideals that have ruined something I hold so dear.
A fan who was passing by here.
Rafa Black Phoenix
PS:
Where every torture is real and time stands still
Eight fiery steps and we're closer to the end
Praying all the while for a quick & painless death
Scratching furiously at scabbed and oozing wounds
Cast below god of ice
Ruling hell unholy trinity
The traitors freeze for all eternity
Lucifer ... betrayer of god
Tormentor ruthless and cold
Judas' screaming here in agony
The traitors freeze for all eternity"
"Dante´s Inferno"
