Says ICED EARTH guitarist/mainman Jon Schaffer: "It's been a long summer, but a very productive one.

"I am very proud of my bandmates! Everyone kicked ass, and we made a really special record.

"Now it's time try to rest for a few 'minutes' before the next chapter of world touring begins.

"Best to you all! We will see our European friends on the road with our brothers in VOLBEAT, then the rest of you on the worldwide Plagues tour 2014!"

Speaking to Metal4 magazine at the Rockharz open-air festival in Germany in July, Schaffer said about the upcoming CD: "It's a bit of a different thing for us, because it's half of a concept and the other half is [standalone] tracks. Musically, I think it's just another step in the right direction. It's really heavy, it's very melodic. It has a really epic feeling. Even though there isn't, like, a monster, long epic track, the overall feel of the songs is very epic. I mean, there's no 'Dante's Inferno' or 'Gettysburg' or the 'Something Wicked' trilogy or something like that on here, but I'm really happy with it."

Songtitles set to appear on "Plagues Of Babylon" (among others):

* Plagues of Babylon* Democide* Among The Living Dead* The Resistance* If I Could See You* Peacemaker* Cthulhu* Parasite

ICED EARTH recently parted ways with drummer Brent Smedley for "personal family reasons." He has since been replaced by Raphael Saini (CHAOSWAVE).

ICED EARTH has been hitting it relentlessly, with the recent studio album, "Dystopia", being the most toured album in the band's illustrious history.

One of the many highlights of the "World Dystopia Tour", a headline show at the historic Kourion Amphitheatre in Cyprus, was recently released on Blu-ray, DVD and in many other formats under the title "Live In Ancient Kourion".

"Dystopia" was released in October 2011 via Century Media Records. The CD marked the band's recording debut with singer Stu Block (INTO ETERNITY), who joined ICED EARTH in March 2011 following the departure of Matt Barlow.