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Iced Earth Set Title For New Album! Posted By: David Priest, Editor In Chief June 18th, 2011 
ICED EARTH has set "Dystopia" as the title of its new
album, tentatively due before the end of the year via Century Media Records.
The CD will mark the band's recording debut with singer Stu Block (INTO
ETERNITY), who joined ICED EARTH in March following the departure of
Matt Barlow. (Note: Barlow is performing with the band on all summer festival
dates. Block will take over from there, starting with the European leg of ICED
EARTH's world tour in November.) Commented Jon Schaffer:
"We begin master tracking [the new album] in Florida in two weeks and will
be traveling between Europe and the U.S. this summer to play festivals and
finish the new album." He added, "I can
honestly say that I haven't had this many songs give me goose bumps since we
recorded 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' way back in 1998, so this is also
very exciting. "As you can
imagine, it's a very busy time for us. I think we're all having emotional ups
and downs as we're coming to the end of an era with Matt's retirement, and
we're also very excited about the future with Stu coming onboard, so it's a
little bit of a roller coaster ride for us. However, we are having a killer
time, and Matt is performing at his absolute best and going out with pure class
and style, which is always the way he rolls." ICED EARTH'S long-awaited live DVD extravaganza, "Festivals Of
The Wicked", boasts nearly six hours of material — three full headliner
shows (over 40 live tracks!), a photo gallery shot by famed rock photographer
Ross Halfin, plus a 90-minute documentary. It will be
released on June 27 in Europe and July 12 in the U.S. "Festivals Of The Wicked" shows ICED EARTH in its favorite
element — facing tens of thousands of screaming fans — and playing songs that
demonstrate why ICED EARTH fans are some of the most loyal in metal. The three
soon-to-be-released festivals are: * Germany's Wacken Open Air (2007) with Tim "Ripper" Owens on
lead vocals. The blistering 13-song set begins with a jaw-dropping rendition of
"Burning Times" and closes with the band's signature track,
"Iced Earth". * Germany's Rock Hard
Festival (2008) with Matt Barlow on lead vocals. This festival, the first to
feature Matt's return, storms through 15 songs, with "Dark Saga"
leading the charge. * Slovenia's Metalcamp (2008) with Matt Barlow on lead vocals. A
not-to-be-missed 16-song facemelter of a concert that
proves why some say ICED EARTH is one of the top live bands in the
world. "I'm very proud of
this DVD, and I'm grateful to fans for their patience," said Schaffer.
"Getting this ready for release has been an enormous job, but a true labor
of love. It will be worth the wait. I promise." |