I think he still sounds good. Do you prefer Ripper Owens? I was listening to an Iced Earth song that featured both singers Matt Barlow AND Ripper Owens and I prefer Ripper in that instance.

Ripper did two albums with JP I think. Right around the time Blaze Bayley did two albums for Maiden. The lead singers in both bands got big-headed and tried out a solo career before realizing the band's stuff was still the main attraction.

Iced Earth is pretty good. I always thought Horror Show as a cool album. I used to listen to Blind Guardian a lot, and they're okay. The Iced Earth guitarist and the Blind Guardian singer did a side project band called Demons & Wizards, and I always thought they were pretty kick-ass. I might even like that band more than IE.