Plagues of Babylon

Plagues of Babylon
Studio album by Iced Earth
Released January 6, 2014 (Europe)
January 21, 2014 (USA)[1]
Recorded July 15 – August 8, 2013, in Principal Studios, Senden, Germany
Genre Heavy metal, power metal
Length 1:02:03
Label Century Media
Producer Jon Schaffer
Iced Earth chronology
Live in Ancient Kourion
(2013)		 Plagues of Babylon
(2014)

Plagues of Babylon is the eleventh studio album by the American heavy metal band Iced Earth. Released in January 2014, the album is the group's first studio release with bassist Luke Appleton and the only with drummer Raphael Saini who was a guest on the album.[2] According to rhythm guitarist and band leader Jon Schaffer, half of the album is focused on his "Something Wicked" concept, while the other half are stand alone songs.[2]

Overview

The album was originally set to be released in October 2013, but was pushed back due to Iced Earth's tour commitments in the fall.[2] The band began recording in Germany on July 15, 2013 at Principal Studios.[2][3] On August 8, 2013, it was announced that the band had completed tracking the album.[4] On September 3, the band announced they had completed mixing and mastering Plagues of Babylon.[5] On September 25, the official track listing and album cover were released.[6]

On October 7, Iced Earth announced that would be releasing a limited edition vinyl EP entitled The Plagues.[7] The EP will contain three songs from Plagues of Babylon, and will be made available on Iced Earth's European tour with Volbeat.[7] On October 11, the lyric video for the album's title track was released.[8]

The December 2013 issue of Germany's Metal Hammer magazine featured the song "Peacemaker" on the attached CD[9] and the December 2013 issue of Germany's RockHard magazine featured the song "Among the Living Dead" on the attached CD.[10] A song titled "Spirit of the Times" was originally released by Schaffer's side project Sons of Liberty, and was re-recorded for this album's release. The song "Highwayman" is a cover originally written by Jimmy Webb.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Metal-Temple.com[11]
Loudwire[12]
metal.de[13]
Metal-Hammer(5/7)[14]
Stormbringer[15]
Revolver Magazine[16]
Allmusic[17]
Metal Storm(7.4/10)[18]
About.com[19]
Blabbermouth.net(7.5/10)[20]
Powermetal.de[21]

Plagues of Babylon received mostly positive reviews overall from music critics. In January 2014, the album reached position #5 on the German Media Control Charts. This is the band’s highest chart position in their entire career.[22][23] The band also reached #34 on the Ultratop Charts in Belgium.[24] Meanwhile, in the US, the album sold approximately 6,300 copies in its first week to debut at #49 on the Billboard 200.[25]

Track listing

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Plagues of Babylon"  Jon SchafferSchaffer7:47
2."Democide"  Schaffer, Stu BlockSchaffer, Block5:22
3."The Culling"  Schaffer, Troy Seele, BlockSchaffer, Seele, Block4:26
4."Among the Living Dead"  Schaffer, Seele, BlockSchaffer, Seele, Block5:14
5."Resistance"  Schaffer, Seele, Luke Appleton, BlockSchaffer, Seele, Appleton, Block4:59
6."The End?"  Schaffer, Appleton, BlockSchaffer, Appleton, Block7:13
7."If I Could See You"  SchafferSchaffer3:55
8."Cthulhu"  Schaffer, BlockSchaffer, Block6:04
9."Peacemaker"  Schaffer, BlockSchaffer, Block5:02
10."Parasite"  Schaffer, Seele, BlockSchaffer, Seele, Block3:30
11."Spirit of the Times" (Sons of Liberty cover)SchafferSchaffer5:05
12."Highwayman" (Jimmy Webb cover)Jimmy WebbJimmy Webb3:12
13."Outro"  instrumental 0:24
Total length:1:02:13

Personnel

Iced Earth

Additional musicians

Additional personnel

References

Iced Earth Unleashes "Among The Living Dead"

  1. ↑ "ICED EARTH: 'Plagues Of Babylon' Release Date Confirmed, North American Tour Announced". BlabberMouth.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "ICED EARTH To Enter Studio On Monday". Blabbermouth.net. 2013-07-13. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
  3. ↑ "ICED EARTH To Record New Album In Germany". Blabbermouth.net. 2013-05-27. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
  4. ↑ "ICED EARTH Completes Recording New Album". Blabbermouth.net. 2013-08-08. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
  5. ↑ "ICED EARTH Completes Mixing And Mastering New Album". Blabbermouth.net. 2013-09-03. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
  6. ↑ "'Plagues Of Babylon' Cover Artwork, Track Listing Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
  7. 1 2 "ICED EARTH To Release Limited-Edition 'The Plagues' Vinyl EP". Blabbermouth.net. 2013-10-09. Retrieved 2013-10-12.
  8. ↑ "ICED EARTH: Lyric Video For 'Plagues Of Babylon' Title Track". Blabbermouth.net. 2013-10-11. Retrieved 2013-10-12.
  9. ↑ "Dezember Heft 2013". Metal Hammer. 2013-12-01. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
  10. ↑ "RH #319". RockHard. 2013-12-01. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
  11. ↑ "Iced Earth - Plagues Of Babylon". metal-temple.com.
  12. ↑ "Iced Earth, 'Plagues of Babylon' - Album Review". Loudwire.
  13. ↑ Michael Stalling. "Iced Earth". Metal.de.
  14. ↑ "Iced Earth :: Plagues Of Babylon". Metal Hammer.
  15. ↑ Dragonslayer. "ICED EARTH - Plagues Of Babylon - Review bei Stormbringer.at". stormbringer.at.
  16. ↑ "Review: Iced Earth — Plagues of Babylon". Revolver.
  17. ↑ Gregory Heaney. "Plagues of Babylon". AllMusic.
  18. ↑ "Iced Earth - Plagues Of Babylon review - Metal Storm". metalstorm.net.
  19. ↑ "Iced Earth - Plagues Of Babylon Review". About.com Entertainment.
  20. ↑ Horn, Jr., Ray Van. "CD Reviews - Plagues of Babylon Iced Earth - Blabbermouth.net". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  21. ↑ "Iced Earth | Plagues Of Babylon Review - Powermetal.de". Powermetal.de. 2014-01-03. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
  22. ↑ Fayyazi, Mohsen. "ICED EARTH: Highest Chart Entry Of Band's Entire Career: #5 On German Media Control Charts". metalshockfinland.com. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  23. ↑ "Iced Earth, Plagues Of Babylon". German Media Control Charts. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  24. ↑ "Iced Earth - Plagues Of Babylon". Ultratop.be. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  25. ↑ "ICED EARTH's 'Plagues Of Babylon' Cracks U.S. Top 50". Retrieved 30 January 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/23/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.