Plagues of Babylon
| Plagues of Babylon | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 6, 2014 | |||
| Recorded | July 15 – August 8, 2013 | |||
| Studio | Principal Studios, Senden, Germany | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 62:03 | |||
Century Media | ||||
| Producer | Jon Schaffer | |||
| Iced Earth chronology | ||||
| ||||
Plagues of Babylon is the eleventh studio album by American heavy metal band
Something Wicked" concept, while the other half are stand-alone songs.[1]
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.[1] The band began recording in Germany on July 15, 2013, at Principal Studios.[1][2] On August 8, 2013, it was announced that the band had completed tracking the album.[3] On September 3, the band announced they had completed mixing and mastering Plagues of Babylon.[4] On September 25, the official track listing and album cover were released.[5]
On October 7, Iced Earth announced that would be releasing a limited edition vinyl EP entitled The Plagues.[6] The EP will contain three songs from Plagues of Babylon, and will be made available on Iced Earth's European tour with Volbeat.[6] On October 11, the lyric video for the album's title track was released.[7]
The December 2013 issue of Germany's
Sons of Liberty, and was re-recorded for this album's release. The song "Highwayman" is a cover originally written by Jimmy Webb
.
Reception
| Review scores | ||
|---|---|---|
| Source | Rating | |
| Metal-Temple.com |   Allmusic | [16] |
| Metal Storm | (7.4/10)[17] | |
| About.com |  [18] | |
| Blabbermouth.net | (7.5/10)[19] | |
| Powermetal.de |    [20] | |
Plagues of Babylon received mostly positive reviews overall from music critics. In January 2014, the album reached position No. 5 on the
German Media Control Charts. This is the band's highest chart position in their entire career.[21][22] The band also reached No. 34 on the Ultratop Charts in Belgium.[23] Meanwhile, in the US, the album sold approximately 6,300 copies in its first week to debut at No. 49 on the Billboard 200.[24]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Plagues of Babylon" | Jon Schaffer | 7:47 |
| 2. | "Democide" |
| 5:22 |
| 3. | "The Culling" |
| 4:26 |
| 4. | "Among the Living Dead" |
| 5:14 |
| 5. | "Resistance" |
| 4:59 |
| 6. | "The End?" |
| 7:13 |
| 7. | "If I Could See You" | Schaffer | 3:55 |
| 8. | "Cthulhu" |
| 6:04 |
| 9. | "Peacemaker" |
| 5:02 |
| 10. | "Parasite" |
| 3:30 |
| 11. | "Spirit of the Times" ( Sons of Liberty cover) | Schaffer | 5:05 |
| 12. | "Highwayman" (Jimmy Webb cover) | Jimmy Webb | 3:12 |
| 13. | "Outro" (unlisted) | 0:24 | |
| Total length: | 1:02:13 | ||
Personnel
Iced Earth
- Stu Block – lead vocals, backing vocals
- Jon Schaffer – rhythm and lead guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Highwayman"
- Troy Seele– lead guitar
- Luke Appleton– bass
Additional musicians
- Raphael Saini – drums
- Michael Poulsen – lead and backing vocals on "Highwayman"
- Russell Allen – lead and backing vocals on "Highwayman"
- Hansi Kürsch – lead vocals on "Among the Living Dead", backing vocals
- Thomas Hackmann – backing vocals
- Andrew Peters – backing vocals
- Matt O'Rourke – backing vocals
- Bonna Ross Bernal – backing vocals
- Daniel Schmitz – marching drums
- David Hambach – marching drums
- Christopher Jobi – marching drums
Production and design
- Eliran Kantor – cover art
- Kevin Paul and Jon Schaffer – mixing
- Sascha Buhren – mastering
References
- ^ a b c d "ICED EARTH To Enter Studio on Monday". Blabbermouth.net. July 13, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
- ^ "ICED EARTH To Record New Album in Germany". Blabbermouth.net. May 27, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
- ^ "ICED EARTH Completes Recording New Album". Blabbermouth.net. August 8, 2013. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
- ^ "ICED EARTH Completes Mixing And Mastering New Album". Blabbermouth.net. September 3, 2013. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
- ^ "'Plagues of Babylon' Cover Artwork, Track Listing Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. September 25, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
- ^ a b "ICED EARTH To Release Limited-Edition 'The Plagues' Vinyl EP". Blabbermouth.net. October 9, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
- ^ "ICED EARTH: Lyric Video For 'Plagues Of Babylon' Title Track". Blabbermouth.net. October 11, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
- ^ "Dezember Heft 2013". Metal Hammer. December 1, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
- ^ "RH No. 319". RockHard. December 1, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
- ^ "Iced Earth – Plagues of Babylon". metal-temple.com.
- ^ "Iced Earth, 'Plagues of Babylon' – Album Review". Loudwire. January 28, 2014.
- ^ Michael Stalling. "Iced Earth". Metal.de.
- ^ "Iced Earth :: Plagues of Babylon". Metal Hammer. December 23, 2013.
- ^ Dragonslayer. "ICED EARTH – Plagues of Babylon – Review bei Stormbringer.at". stormbringer.at.
- ^ "Review: Iced Earth — Plagues of Babylon". Revolver.
- ^ Gregory Heaney. "Plagues of Babylon". AllMusic.
- ^ "Iced Earth – Plagues of Babylon review – Metal Storm". metalstorm.net.
- ^ "Iced Earth – Plagues of Babylon Review". About.com Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
- ^ Horn, Jr., Ray Van (March 3, 2014). "CD Reviews – Plagues of Babylon Iced Earth – Blabbermouth.net". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
- ^ "Iced Earth | Plagues of Babylon Review – Powermetal.de". Powermetal.de. January 3, 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
- ^ Fayyazi, Mohsen (January 14, 2014). "ICED EARTH: Highest Chart Entry Of Band's Entire Career: #5 On German Media Control Charts". metalshockfinland.com. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
- ^ "Iced Earth, Plagues of Babylon". German Media Control Charts. Retrieved January 18, 2014.[dead link]
- ^ "Iced Earth – Plagues of Babylon". Ultratop.be. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
- ^ "ICED EARTH's 'Plagues of Babylon' Cracks U.S. Top 50". January 29, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
