Episode #138 of MSRcast features an interview with ICED EARTH mastermind Jon Schaffer, who talks about the new live CD/DVD, why America has no Blu-Ray release, touring plans, the new album, and his thoughts on the record industry.

Listen to the new episode at this location.

Schaffer recently revealed that the new Iced Earth studio album is expected to have an October 2013 release date. It will be titled Plagues Of Babylon and Schaffer states that "we are very excited about how killer things are sounding this early in the writing/demo process. I expect this album will be something very special!"

Below are some of the song titles that will appear on the album:

'Plagues of Babylon'

'Democide'

'Among The Living Dead'

'The Resistance'

'If I Could See You'

'Peacemaker'

'Cthulhu'

'Parasite'

From his new South American enclave, Jon Schaffer whetted BraveWords and fans' appetite yesterday for the next studio effort, currently under construction. "We're writing demos for the new album, about half way through the process. I have just a fraction of the gear I have in the States. I'm using a Macbook Pro and Apogee 1 for the converter. I've got a couple of guitars and a friend down here lent me a bass. It's somewhat more old school. We're going to finish the record in Europe. I think were going to record and maybe even mix it there this year. I don't want to be flying back and forth between Europe and Florida every weekend, like I did last time. You do festivals and then come back and record. It was a pain in the ass. I was jetlagged all summer. We're shooting for an October release, but if we don't catch that, it's no big deal, because the headlining tour starts in January. Starting from June on, we'll be busy for the next year and a half. We've got a serious plan and a big agenda rolling out right now.

As to the actual music, Schaffer added, "We've got seven pretty complex songs, but I'm going to continue working over the course of the next several weeks. Then the band's going to get together, in Europe, to hammer out the rest. We're going to explore other things, in the moment,which is something we haven't don in year and years. There will probably be two or three songs that we work on, 'OK, who has a riff?' Let's put it together and jam as a band. I can't remember, but it's probably Burnt Offerings or Dark Saga since we jammed like that. It will be fun.”

A lengthy chat with Schaffer, about the new Live In Ancient Kourion DVD/double CD will be posted on the site, soon.

More on Iced Earth at this location.