SONS OF LIBERTY TAKE YOU TO “JECKYLL ISLAND”

June 17th, 2010 at 4:00pm
Vince Neilstein
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Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer is an interesting dude. As a founding member of Iced Earth he helped create one of the most enduring power-ish metal bands of the past 20 years. But that hasn’t stopped him from exploring other avenues, as his new solo project Sons of Liberty proves. Schaffer has devoted this project entirely to one cause: raising awareness about and rebelling against the Federal Reserve system that controls our world’s economy.

From what I can gather, Schaffer is trying to keep politics out of his argument. I have to admit, I know very little about the Federal Reserve system, its roots, its effects, its strengths and its weaknesses. But watching videos like the above has caused me to dive deeper into this issue — which undoubtedly affects every single one of us — and I think that’s Schaffer’s goal. I’m still not sure what I think; it’s a very complex issue with hundreds of years of back-story. But I’m enjoying learning about it. Musically speaking, Sons of Liberty are a bit heavier and more straight-forward than Iced Earth; if you’re perpetually turned off by IE’s power leanings, don’t dismiss this music without first giving it a shot.

Sons of Liberty, which sees Schaffer handling all guitar and vocal duties, self-released their debut album Brush-Fires of the Mind in late 2009. That album has subsequently been picked up by Century Media who will re-release the album worldwide on July 13th. You can download the opening track “Jeckyll Island” for free below.