"Dante's Inferno" is a heavy metal suite written by

Jon Schaffer Jon Ryan Schaffer ( ; born March 15, 1968) is an American heavy metal musician. He is the rhythm guitarist, bandleader and principal songwriter of the Indiana-based heavy metal band Iced Earth, which he formed in 1985 under the name Purgatory. ...

, leader of the American heavy metal band

Iced Earth Iced Earth is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band currently composed of only Jon Schaffer, formed in Tampa, Florida, and based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist, ma ...

. The song was originally released on the group's 1995 album '' Burnt Offerings'', and was re-recorded in 2011, with a different line-up and Schaffer as the only remaining member from the original line-up. "Dante's Inferno" is also the longest song the band has ever recorded,Not counting the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

trilogy ''

Gettysburg (1863) Gettysburg may refer to: Events * Gettysburg Campaign, a series of American Civil War military engagements in the Main Eastern Theater. ** Battle of Gettysburg, July 1–3 military engagements during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign ** Retreat from G ...

'', the three parts of which, despite being thematically connected, are separate songs. with the original clocking in at sixteen minutes and twenty-six seconds and the re-recorded version clocking in at seventeen minutes and twenty-eight seconds.

Lyrics

The song is based on the '' Inferno'' segment of

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

's ''Divine Comedy''. In it, Dante travels through the nine circles of

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

, guided by the Roman poet

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

. The circles are concentric, representing a gradual increase in wickedness, and culminating at the centre of the earth, where

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

is held in bondage. Each circle's sinners are punished in a fashion fitting their crimes: each sinner is afflicted for all of eternity by the chief sin they committed.

Live

After its release in 1995, the song was only performed live in 1999, for the ''

Alive in Athens ''Alive in Athens'' is a live album by American heavy metal band Iced Earth. It was recorded on the nights of January 23 and 24, 1999, in front of sold-out crowds of approximately 2000 people (on both nights) at the Rodon Club in Athens, Greec ...

'' concert. Schaffer later shed light on why the song was only played at said concert:

"''The simple reason why we haven’t layed the songis because the original click track was erased, therefore requiring a keyboard player to do the parts live. That's OK for a special event like when we recorded'' Alive in Athens'', but to hire a keyboard player for a full tour, for one song, just isn't financially feasible.''"

After Iced Earth re-recorded "Dante's Inferno" in 2011, they announced that the song would be played on all dates of the

Dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

World Tour. According to Jon Schaffer, it may be the last tour on which the song will be performed.

2011 version

In 2011, Iced Earth re-recorded "Dante's Inferno" with the line-up of rhythm guitarist Jon Schaffer (who also played on the original recording), lead guitarist Troy Seele, bassist Freddie Vidales, drummer Brent Smedley and singer

Stu Block Stuart Block (born November 26, 1977) is a Canadian singer who is the lead vocalist of progressive death metal band Into Eternity and a former lead singer of heavy metal band Iced Earth. Before joining Into Eternity in 2005, he began his music ...

. Stu Block had just joined Iced Earth earlier that year, and according to Schaffer, the band had already planned to re-record "Dante's Inferno" prior to the leaving of previous vocalist

Matt Barlow Matthew Barlow (born March 10, 1971) is an American heavy metal singer. He is the lead singer for Ashes of Ares and former lead singer of Iced Earth and Pyramaze. He is Jon Schaffer's brother-in-law. History Barlow joined Iced Earth after th ...

(who also sang on the original "Dante's Inferno"). The re-recorded "Dante's Inferno", re-named "Dante's Inferno 2011", was given away for free on the band's official website on September 5, 2011. Now that the band had re-recorded the song, they were in possession of a new

click track A click track is a series of audio cues used to synchronize sound recordings, sometimes for synchronization to a Film, moving image. The click track originated in early sound movies, where optical marks were made on the film to indicate precise ...

, which meant that they no longer required a keyboard player to the play the song live. As a result, "Dante's Inferno" was brought back in to Iced Earth's setlist for their Dystopia World Tour and included in their 2013 live album '' Live in Ancient Kourion''. A CD version of the song was also sold on the tour.

Personnel

1995

− rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

− lead vocals *Randall Shawver − lead guitar * Dave Abell − bass *Rodney Beasley − drums Guest musicians *Howard Helm – keyboards

2011

*Jon Schaffer – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

– lead vocals * Troy Seele – lead guitar *Freddie Vidales – bass, backing vocals * Brent Smedley – drums Guest musicians *Jim Morris – backing vocals *Tom Morris – backing vocals *Howard Helm – keyboards, backing vocals

References

{{authority control 1995 songs 2011 singles Music based on Inferno (Dante) Iced Earth songs Songs written by Jon Schaffer Century Media Records singles Limbo