I've only ever known Jon Schaffer to be an arsehole.

Years ago I was freelancing for a German heavy metal fanzine. That zine was attached to a record label, and for a few years ran a festival in its own name. The one year, Iced Earth and Nevermore, who were touring together at the time, were slated to be the headliners. Iced Earth were touring the Dark Saga album, and Nevermore had just released the In Memory EP, so must have been around '96.

I remember having a pleasant conversation with then Nevermore guitarist Pat O'Brien, who was happily browsing the label's CD stand - dude was big into Death Metal. I remember Jim Sheppard accidentally burning my hand with a cigarette and apologising for it. But what most stuck with me was Schaffer sending out his tour manager to order us to remove all CDs that weren't of bands playing at the festival. Original quote from the tour manager: "Jon ist schon tierisch sauer" - Jon's really pissed off.

Through the years Schaffer revealed more and more of his personality, culminating in him joining the Capitol invasion. I can't even get myself to listen to my favourite Iced Earth album ("Something Wicked") any more.