Something Wicked Saga
Encyclopedia
The Something Wicked Saga is a fictional story
featured in the works of American
heavy metal
guitarist Jon Schaffer
from the band Iced Earth
. The saga is a tale that begins with the origins of man, by way of descension upon the primitive Setian race, all the way to its downfall as paved by the Setians' act of vengeance. It discusses mankind's evil intentions that begin to backfire in mankind's last days, with the Setian messiah Set Abominae serving as the catalyst to its self-destruction. Events parallel to those in the Bible
(similarly the Tower of Babel
), and elsewhere throughout history, occurred in order to further bring about mankind's downfall.
's Something Wicked story, as well as concert staples.
In December 2006, Jon Schaffer posted a journal announcing that Iced Earth's new album, then titled Something Wicked - Part 1
, would be released in September/October 2007. The followup album, then titled Something Wicked - Part 2
, would be released in January/February 2008, with both albums serving to further explain the story within the Something Wicked Trilogy. He later announced the final tracklist, and that the album would be renamed to Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked Part 1
, with a new target release of August or September. On June 25, Schaffer uploaded the cover of the album on icedearth.com. Audio samples of all the tracks have been posted at spv.de, the official site of the band's record label. In addition to providing prospective album titles and track titles, he updates the band's mixing status on a new single entitled the Overture of the Wicked
EP, which was then released in June 2007. The EP, which featured vocalist Matt Barlow
's then-replacement Tim "Ripper" Owens, contained the single to the upcoming song entitled "Ten Thousand Strong", as well as a re-recording of the Something Wicked trilogy that showcased the band's more modern sound which was something to be expected for the upcoming release.
Framing Armageddon, released September 11, 2007, is the band's first studio album featuring lead guitarist Troy Seele, and drummer Brent Smedley, who never played on an Iced Earth studio album during his previous stints with the group. Tim "Ripper" Owens makes his final appearance as lead singer on this record, as well. Also, this was bassist Dennis Hayes
' first appearance on an Iced Earth album, though he only appears on two songs. Former Iced Earth lead guitarist Tim Mills is featured on "Reflections", and co-wrote both that song and "Infiltrate and Assimilate" (as well as "I Walk Alone" on the next album).
A music video
for "Ten Thousand Strong" has been released, though lead guitarist Troy Seele was not yet with the band when it was filmed. The video features special effects to make the live action
video resemble animation.
Following the release and tour in support of Something Wicked Part 1, Jon Schaffer announced that former vocalist Matt Barlow would return to the band, causing Ripper to front for Yngwie Malmsteen. Due to his long-awaited return, the release date for Part 2 was to be held back to around the same time that Part 1 was released in Autumn 2008. In June 2008, the single I Walk Among You
was released, which featured a track from the upcoming song "I Walk Alone," including various re-recordings of tracks from Something Wicked Part 1. Also during June 2008, the final tracklist was revealed, and that the album title would be changed from Revelation Abomination to The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked Part 2
, with a new target release of September 2008.
The Crucible Of Man was released on September 9, 2008 in the United States. This is the second and last Iced Earth album to feature Dennis Hayes on bass. Dennis plays on five songs, despite having been fired along with Tim Owens in late 2007. Iced Earth's current bassist Freddie Vidales appears in the booklet for the album, however he does not play on the disc (all remaining bass parts on both albums are played by Jon Schaffer). This is the first time since Matt Barlow's initial departure that showcases a writing collaboration with Barlow and Schaffer, with "Minions of the Watch," "Crucify the King," "Sacrificial Kingdoms," and "Something Wicked (Part 3), written solely by Barlow. Immediately following its release, it was revealed that Jon Schaffer intends to release both of the Something Wicked albums in one boxed set, with Matt Barlow contributing the vocals on both albums for the sake of continuity. He intends to add at least four songs to The Crucible of Man, including various segues between songs, and remix Framing Armageddon. Schaffer believes this boxed set will be available around Christmas 2008 or later in 2009. This release never ended up happening, but a boxset entitled "Box of the Wicked" was released containing Framing Armageddon, The Crucible of Man, Overture of the Wicked, I Walk Among You, and a bonus disc featuring a re-recording of A Charge to Keep with Matt Barlow on vocals and three live tracks.
To date, six releases have featured the story circulating Set Abominae:
He also appears in the artwork of several other Iced Earth albums. Schaffer also plans to write a graphic novel
based on the adventures of the all-powerful Set Abominae.
, and are directly descended from the "Great Architect". They are said to have nearly omniscient knowledge. Humans, who originate on a distant planet and have developed space travel, invade Earth in a bid for "ultimate power and ultimate knowledge", killing all but ten thousand Setians.
The remaining ten thousand go into hiding in the mountains in the east. The Setian High Council, which consists of the twelve Elders and the High Priest, make a plan to get revenge on the invading human race. They plan to initiate "The Clouding", which involves brainwashing all the humans and making them forget their origins. Once completed, the Setians will assimilate into the human race and manipulate history, as deemed by the Domino Decree, by creating religions such as Christianity and Islam to divide the humans. Division would then cause man to succumb to worldly intentions and in doing so, bring about conflicts that would only make them weaker. Once human kind is sufficiently divided after ten thousand years, the Setians will await, as the prophecy told millennia ago, the birth of the Antichrist, Set Abominae. It was predicted that Set Abominae would destroy all of the human race and execute the revenge the Setians have long awaited.
Events parallel those in the Bible
(particularly the story of the Tower of Babel
).
Framing Armageddon tells the story from the prophecy to the events right before the birth of Set Abominae.
Set starts his work with the assassination of Jesus Christ, punishing him for the gift of second sight, and moves on to other great leaders and foreseers throughout history. Over the course of the next two thousand years he crushes kingdoms under their own greed, deceit, and thirst for conquest, controls the weak with divisive tools such as religion, and declares his own godhood by appealing to the lies and self deceit in every human being.
The album ends on an open-ended note, with the song Come What May. As Set observes humanity through the ages, he acknowledges humans as a race with much potential despite its flawed nature. Set makes a requisition for mankind to overcome its imperfections to be thus saved from their destructive fate.
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
featured in the works of American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
guitarist Jon Schaffer
Jon Schaffer
Jon Ryan Schaffer is a heavy metal guitarist and songwriter. He is the founder of the heavy metal band Iced Earth. He was nominated for the title "Riff Lord" at the 2008 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards.-Biography:...
from the band Iced Earth
Iced Earth
Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band from Tampa, Florida. Originally formed under the name "Purgatory" in 1984, Iced Earth has released a total of ten studio albums, one live album, three EP's, two compilations and boxsets...
. The saga is a tale that begins with the origins of man, by way of descension upon the primitive Setian race, all the way to its downfall as paved by the Setians' act of vengeance. It discusses mankind's evil intentions that begin to backfire in mankind's last days, with the Setian messiah Set Abominae serving as the catalyst to its self-destruction. Events parallel to those in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
(similarly the Tower of Babel
Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel , according to the Book of Genesis, was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar .According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where...
), and elsewhere throughout history, occurred in order to further bring about mankind's downfall.
Overview
The saga was first revealed in the final three tracks of Iced Earth's fifth studio album, 1998's Something Wicked This Way Comes, known as the Something Wicked trilogy. These three songs, "Prophecy," "Birth of the Wicked," and the "Coming Curse," served as the backbone to the Jon SchafferJon Schaffer
Jon Ryan Schaffer is a heavy metal guitarist and songwriter. He is the founder of the heavy metal band Iced Earth. He was nominated for the title "Riff Lord" at the 2008 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards.-Biography:...
's Something Wicked story, as well as concert staples.
In December 2006, Jon Schaffer posted a journal announcing that Iced Earth's new album, then titled Something Wicked - Part 1
Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked Part 1
- Personnel :*Jon Schaffer - Lead/Rhythm/Acoustic Guitars; Bass Guitars; Backing Vocals*Tim "Ripper" Owens - Lead/Backing Vocals*Brent Smedley - Drums/Backing Vocals-Additional personnel:*Troy Seele - Guitar Solos...
, would be released in September/October 2007. The followup album, then titled Something Wicked - Part 2
The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked Part 2
- Additional information :* The booklet that came with the album included lyrics and illustrations for each song, except for the song "The Revealing", which was altogether not included in the booklet....
, would be released in January/February 2008, with both albums serving to further explain the story within the Something Wicked Trilogy. He later announced the final tracklist, and that the album would be renamed to Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked Part 1
Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked Part 1
- Personnel :*Jon Schaffer - Lead/Rhythm/Acoustic Guitars; Bass Guitars; Backing Vocals*Tim "Ripper" Owens - Lead/Backing Vocals*Brent Smedley - Drums/Backing Vocals-Additional personnel:*Troy Seele - Guitar Solos...
, with a new target release of August or September. On June 25, Schaffer uploaded the cover of the album on icedearth.com. Audio samples of all the tracks have been posted at spv.de, the official site of the band's record label. In addition to providing prospective album titles and track titles, he updates the band's mixing status on a new single entitled the Overture of the Wicked
Overture of the Wicked
- Personnel :*Jon Schaffer – rhythm & lead guitars, bass guitar, backing vocals*Tim Owens – lead vocals*Tim Mills – lead guitar*Brent Smedley – drums...
EP, which was then released in June 2007. The EP, which featured vocalist Matt Barlow
Matt Barlow
Matthew Barlow is an American heavy metal singer and police officer. He is the former lead singer for Iced Earth. He is Jon Schaffer's brother-in-law.-History:...
's then-replacement Tim "Ripper" Owens, contained the single to the upcoming song entitled "Ten Thousand Strong", as well as a re-recording of the Something Wicked trilogy that showcased the band's more modern sound which was something to be expected for the upcoming release.
Framing Armageddon, released September 11, 2007, is the band's first studio album featuring lead guitarist Troy Seele, and drummer Brent Smedley, who never played on an Iced Earth studio album during his previous stints with the group. Tim "Ripper" Owens makes his final appearance as lead singer on this record, as well. Also, this was bassist Dennis Hayes
Dennis Hayes (bassist)
Dennis Hayes is an American bass guitarist, currently playing for Beyond Fear.Hayes began his career with the heavy metal band Wretch. Later he was a founding member of the Progressive Heavy Metal band Castle Black with other former members of Wretch, Nick Giannakos and Drummer, Jeff Currenton...
' first appearance on an Iced Earth album, though he only appears on two songs. Former Iced Earth lead guitarist Tim Mills is featured on "Reflections", and co-wrote both that song and "Infiltrate and Assimilate" (as well as "I Walk Alone" on the next album).
A music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Ten Thousand Strong" has been released, though lead guitarist Troy Seele was not yet with the band when it was filmed. The video features special effects to make the live action
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
video resemble animation.
Following the release and tour in support of Something Wicked Part 1, Jon Schaffer announced that former vocalist Matt Barlow would return to the band, causing Ripper to front for Yngwie Malmsteen. Due to his long-awaited return, the release date for Part 2 was to be held back to around the same time that Part 1 was released in Autumn 2008. In June 2008, the single I Walk Among You
I Walk Among You
-Bonus track :- Personnel :*Jon Schaffer – rhythm & lead guitars, bass, backing vocals*Matt Barlow – lead vocals*Troy Seele – lead guitar*Brent Smedley – drums*Dennis Hayes − fretless bass on "The Clouding"...
was released, which featured a track from the upcoming song "I Walk Alone," including various re-recordings of tracks from Something Wicked Part 1. Also during June 2008, the final tracklist was revealed, and that the album title would be changed from Revelation Abomination to The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked Part 2
The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked Part 2
- Additional information :* The booklet that came with the album included lyrics and illustrations for each song, except for the song "The Revealing", which was altogether not included in the booklet....
, with a new target release of September 2008.
The Crucible Of Man was released on September 9, 2008 in the United States. This is the second and last Iced Earth album to feature Dennis Hayes on bass. Dennis plays on five songs, despite having been fired along with Tim Owens in late 2007. Iced Earth's current bassist Freddie Vidales appears in the booklet for the album, however he does not play on the disc (all remaining bass parts on both albums are played by Jon Schaffer). This is the first time since Matt Barlow's initial departure that showcases a writing collaboration with Barlow and Schaffer, with "Minions of the Watch," "Crucify the King," "Sacrificial Kingdoms," and "Something Wicked (Part 3), written solely by Barlow. Immediately following its release, it was revealed that Jon Schaffer intends to release both of the Something Wicked albums in one boxed set, with Matt Barlow contributing the vocals on both albums for the sake of continuity. He intends to add at least four songs to The Crucible of Man, including various segues between songs, and remix Framing Armageddon. Schaffer believes this boxed set will be available around Christmas 2008 or later in 2009. This release never ended up happening, but a boxset entitled "Box of the Wicked" was released containing Framing Armageddon, The Crucible of Man, Overture of the Wicked, I Walk Among You, and a bonus disc featuring a re-recording of A Charge to Keep with Matt Barlow on vocals and three live tracks.
To date, six releases have featured the story circulating Set Abominae:
- Something Wicked This Way Comes, the "Something Wicked" song cycleSong cycleA song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...
- Overture of the WickedOverture of the Wicked- Personnel :*Jon Schaffer – rhythm & lead guitars, bass guitar, backing vocals*Tim Owens – lead vocals*Tim Mills – lead guitar*Brent Smedley – drums...
EP - Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1)
- I Walk Among YouI Walk Among You-Bonus track :- Personnel :*Jon Schaffer – rhythm & lead guitars, bass, backing vocals*Matt Barlow – lead vocals*Troy Seele – lead guitar*Brent Smedley – drums*Dennis Hayes − fretless bass on "The Clouding"...
- The Crucible of Man (Something Wicked Part 2)
- DystopiaDystopia (Iced Earth album)Dystopia is the tenth studio album from American heavy metal band Iced Earth. Released on October 17, 2011, it's the band's first album with vocalist Stu Block, who joined after former vocalist Matt Barlow left the band for a second time on August 6, 2011....
, the tracks "Dystopia" and "Tragedy and Triumph"
He also appears in the artwork of several other Iced Earth albums. Schaffer also plans to write a graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
based on the adventures of the all-powerful Set Abominae.
Part one
Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked Part 1 tells the story of the Setians, who were the original inhabitants of EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, and are directly descended from the "Great Architect". They are said to have nearly omniscient knowledge. Humans, who originate on a distant planet and have developed space travel, invade Earth in a bid for "ultimate power and ultimate knowledge", killing all but ten thousand Setians.
The remaining ten thousand go into hiding in the mountains in the east. The Setian High Council, which consists of the twelve Elders and the High Priest, make a plan to get revenge on the invading human race. They plan to initiate "The Clouding", which involves brainwashing all the humans and making them forget their origins. Once completed, the Setians will assimilate into the human race and manipulate history, as deemed by the Domino Decree, by creating religions such as Christianity and Islam to divide the humans. Division would then cause man to succumb to worldly intentions and in doing so, bring about conflicts that would only make them weaker. Once human kind is sufficiently divided after ten thousand years, the Setians will await, as the prophecy told millennia ago, the birth of the Antichrist, Set Abominae. It was predicted that Set Abominae would destroy all of the human race and execute the revenge the Setians have long awaited.
Events parallel those in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
(particularly the story of the Tower of Babel
Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel , according to the Book of Genesis, was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar .According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where...
).
Framing Armageddon tells the story from the prophecy to the events right before the birth of Set Abominae.
Part two
The album tells the story of the Antichrist, Set Abominae, starting with his birth: on the sixth hour of the sixth day of the sixth month (666). He grows up within the Setian community, known as the Minions of the Watch, who would raise the boy and put him on the path to his destiny. It was with this "undying love" that taught Set about the death of his ancestors and how he is their savior from the invading Humans. While learning the arts of the ancients such as time manipulation and shape shifting, he goes through many trials and tribulations and encounters self-doubt about who he is and whether or not he can actually fulfill the Setian prophecy. In the end, he pulls through and emerges complete and confident about his purpose. Upon passing through the Dimension Gauntlet as his final test, he is crowned as the Astral Beast, whose wrath would be the catalyst to Setian salvation.Set starts his work with the assassination of Jesus Christ, punishing him for the gift of second sight, and moves on to other great leaders and foreseers throughout history. Over the course of the next two thousand years he crushes kingdoms under their own greed, deceit, and thirst for conquest, controls the weak with divisive tools such as religion, and declares his own godhood by appealing to the lies and self deceit in every human being.
The album ends on an open-ended note, with the song Come What May. As Set observes humanity through the ages, he acknowledges humans as a race with much potential despite its flawed nature. Set makes a requisition for mankind to overcome its imperfections to be thus saved from their destructive fate.