He says: "It soared above and beyond what other people were doing in that genre. Geoff Tate took his vocals to a whole other level and those guys just made a killer record. I get flashbacks when I listen to it."

Barlow � who bowed out of Iced Earth because of schedule clashes with his job as a police officer � formed Ashes Of Ares with Van Williams and Freddie Vidales. Their self-titled debut album was released this week via Nuclear Blast.