ICED EARTH guitarist/founder Jon Schaffer and new vocalist Stu Block are currently in Europe, participating in a 10-day, multi-country promotional campaign for the forthcoming album, Dystopia, scheduled for release on October 18th.

After that, the band will begin a full headlining tour, which kicks off in Bochum, Germany (October 30th) and finishes in Istanbul, Turkey on December 12th. North American dates are currently under discussion, for early 2012.

BraveWords.com had a chance to speak with Schaffer about how Block's arrival will alter the live setlist:

"It will definitely open with (new title cut) ‘Dystopia’," offers Schaffer, "but there’s a couple of big surprises. The setlist is going to be very different from what we’ve done recently. We were trapped in nostalgia mode a little bit (with Matt Barlow's final dates). Now, we’re moving into some things in the catalog that we haven’t played since the Horrorshow tour. Looks like we’ll be playing ‘Damien’, ‘When The Night Falls’, probably do ‘Angels Holocaust’. Of course we’ll do the more recent classics, for sure: ‘Declaration Day’, ‘Iced Earth’, ‘Burning Times’, but we’re going to try to have a vast amount of songs to choose from and switch it up every night, not the same thing all the time. That’s something Stu and I have to decide. We’ve got about a week and a half of press and traveling, so we’ll have some time to sit down and talk about what he feels comfortable to do with the powerful range of his voice."

Dystopia, Iced Earth’s tenth studio album, is scheduled for release in Europe on October 17th, and in North America on October 18th both via Century Media. Two bonus tracks are also being recording for inclusion on special editions of the album.

Song titles on Dystopia:

'Dystopia'

'Anthem'

'Days Of Rage'

'Soylent Green'

'V'

'Boiling Point'

'Anguish Of Youth'

'Iron Will'

'Dark City'

'End Of Innocence'

'Equilibrium'

'Tragedy And Triumph'

The release of Dystopia will be followed by the most extensive world tour Iced Earth has ever undertaken. The band recently announced their upcoming European tour for the end of 2011.

"This is a new beginning," says Schaffer. "Iced Earth is going to record and tour like it never has before. The band is really amped-up and ready to hit the ground running in November.”

Tour dates are as follows:

October

30 - Bochum, Germany - Zeche

November

1 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
2 - Uden, Netherlands - De Pul
3 - Antwerp, Belgium - Trix
4 - London, England - O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
5 - Birmingham, England - O2 Academy
6 - Bristol, England - O2 Academy
8 - Paris, France - Alhambra
9 - Lyon, France - Transbordeur
10 - Barcelona, Spain - Salamandra 1
11 - Madrid, Spain - Sala Heineken
12 - Bilbao, Spain - Rock Star Live
14 - Milano, Italy - Alcatraz
15 - Rome, Italy - Alpheus
18 - Athens, Greece - Gagarin 205
19 - Athens, Greece - Gagarin 205
20 - Thessaloniki, Greece - Principal Club
21 - Sofia, Bulgaria - Yubileina Hall
22 - Bucarest, Romania - The Silver Church
23 - Belgrade, Serbia - SKC
24 - Budapest, Hungary - Club 202
25 - Bratislava, Slovakia - Majestic Music Club
26 - Warsaw, Poland - Stodola
27 - Vilnius, Lithuania - Forum Palace
29 - Moscow, Russia - Tochka Club

December

1 - Helsinki, Finalnd - Nosturi
3 - Copenhagen, Denmark - The Rock
4 - Hamburg, Germany - Markthalle
6 - Herford, Germany - X
7 - Köln, Germany - Essigfabrik
8 - München, Germany - Backstage Werk
9 - Geiselwind, Germany - Christmas Metal Festival
10 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
11 - Ludwigsburg, Germany - Rockfabrik
13 - Istanbul, Turkey - Refresh The Venu

Back in March, 2011, in the wake of vocalist Matt Barlow’s retirement, Iced Earth enlisted INTO ETERNITY vocalist Stu Block (pictured below).