Radio Metal recently conducted an interview with ICED EARTH guitarist/founder Jon Schaffer. Excerpts from the interview are below:

Radio Metal: Do you think a dystopia is where our world is heading at?

Jon Schaffer: “I do, yeah. I think we’re very close to that, especially in the West. In the United States, it’s terrible actually. Things are so bad there, and they’ve been going that way for a long time, but it’s just gotten worse and worse and worse at a record pace. It’s turned into a police state, we’re going to have a major financial crash, we have martial law, we have military on the streets, and you can’t fly in a fucking airplane without either going through the radiation thing or getting your balls felt up by a TSA agent. It’s just tyranny, that’s what it is: there’s no liberty left in America. It’s time for a revolution.”

Radio Metal: Actually, many people think that the world crisis we’re going through is the sign that we have reached the limits of the capitalist system upon which the American economic system is based. What’s your opinion about that?

Jon Schaffer: “I think that what we have is not real and certainly not free market capitalism. We have corporatism, we have fascism, we have communism, we have all these different forms of totalitarianism, but we certainly don’t have free markets, and that’s the problem, and this has been a rigged game for a long time by the global elite that have seized control of the American monetary system through fraud and deception back in 1913 with the signing of the Federal Reserve Act. When that institution was established, the United States of America ceased to exist and now it’s accelerating. The collapse is coming because none of these fiat currencies ever last. They never last. A hundred years is about as long as anyone has ever lasted and we’re getting close to that point, so I think that what needs to happen is an honest monetary system, instead of this fraudulent paper system, needs to be put back into place.

We need to go back to some kind of commodity-based currency, whether it’s gold and silver or whatever, something that takes effort and that governments can’t just create money out of thin air and spread the warfare and the welfare empires that they are doing. I mean, all of our governments are involved in some really brutal criminal stuff, and it’s based on this fraudulent monetary system, and that’s what it roots from. So if we have sound money and free markets, then I think we would have prosperity and peace, but with a criminal monetary institution like the Federal Reserve which really owns and runs the United States, Bush has no power, Obama has no power, Clinton… these guys were just puppets for the banks. They may come out and tell you whatever rhetoric they want to tell you, politicians are professional liars, so they’re going to come out and say what the people are going to hear, but it’s divide and conquer tactics man, the only way to turn the world around is to get smart about monetary policies and to go back to a more sound and honest monetary system and to stop the wars and stop the welfare state and work towards liberty and prosperity.

Metal Radio: I know you have always been very proud of your own country, but when I hear you talking right now about it, I hear some disappointment in your words…

Jon Schaffer: “I’m proud of what America stood for in the beginning, what the founding ideals were, I mean I didn’t realize until a few years ago what my country has really become. I mean, we are being deceived in America, you are too. Your government’s deceiving you too, and so is Germany, so is the UK, I mean, the whole West is going down the shitter. And we’re all being deceived by the same group of people, it’s a hostile corporate take-over of the Western world they call the New World Order and they’re trying to put about a world government. They’re talking about it openly now. So the people in the United States and in the West are victims of high tech propaganda. It’s worse in the United States, clearly, people have become far too trusting of the government. For me, my big wake-up was when I learned about the financial system and how fraudulent it is. And then everything started to make sense of how all of this deception is going on, it’s very disturbing when you do the research, and that’s what the Sons Of Liberty project was all about. If you go to the website, there’s a great booklist there, there are great documentaries to watch and it will let people know what’s going on and inspire them to learn and to get prepared, because I think we’ve got the Fourth Reich rising, and I don’t like it.”

Read the entire interview at this location.

The band's new album, Dystopia, is scheduled for release in Europe on October 17th, and in North America on October 18th, both via Century Media. Two bonus tracks have also been recorded for inclusion on special editions of the album. It will be available as very special Ltd. Deluxe Box Set (including digipak, bonus songs, buckle, top-flip lighter, wristband, patch, button set and beer coaster), Ltd. CD Digipak (with bonus songs and patch), CD, Gatefold LP and as Digital Download.

Tracklisting is as follows:

'Dystopia'

'Anthem'

'Days Of Rage'

'Soylent Green'

'V'

'Boiling Point'

'Anguish Of Youth'

'Iron Will'

'Dark City'

'End Of Innocence'

'Equilibrium'

'Tragedy And Triumph'

Iced Earth will embark on a massive European tour from the end of October until mid-December to introduce Dystopia and their new singer, Stu Block, to European audiences. Also, this week saw Iced Earth announce their support acts for the European tour - FURY UK and WHITE WIZZARD.

Schaffer states: “I’m really looking forward to touring with these guys. Both bands bring a lot of energy to the table. I know fans will enjoy seeing them as much as we will.”

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
15 - Nicosia, Cyprus - Pavillion

To order tickets visit this location.