On January 31st, when ICED EARTH was live in Athens, Rock Overdose was at Gagarin 205 live music club and met with vocalist Stu Block to talk about Iced Earth’s new album Plagues Of Babylon and other topics. An excerpt below:

Rock Overdose: The new album Plagues Of Babylon is already out. What is the feedback so far from the press and fans?

Block: “It's all positive, very positive it seems like....we did very well in Germany, we got number 49 in North America, Billboard, and of course I’ve done you know...lots of interviews to the media and the media seems to be really enjoying it so I think it's a positive thing all around.”

Rock Overdose: Who is your favorite artist that inspired you to become a singer?

Block: “Definitely the old school like ROB HALFORD, BRUCE DICKINSON definitely influenced me, there is also a band in my home city called 3 INCHES OF BLOOD and Cam Pipes was an influence of mine when I was first getting into the Vancouver metal scene, I got to the shows and staff like that, we know each other and I talked to him a few times and now I’m in Iced Earth and I never told him that but maybe one day I will be able to tell him that, he is a great singer but because I was in a local scene, there are a lot of people that are unknown to the world that influenced me to grow up you know but as far as popular people of course it's IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, even Ralph Scheepers (PRIMAL FEAR), Tim Owens all these guys...and of course Matt Barlow influenced me so.”

Rock Overdose: How did your parents influenced you, when you first told them that you'd like to be a professional musician?

Block: “They supported me fully. From my first audition on my first band in Vancouver, the first metal band I was in, my father said: you have to go do this because you will regret it if you don't. So I jumped on a train and did it and i started in the local scene, I started singing and stuff like that and I guess people recognize that i have a decent voice and I was in a few bands and all that kind of stuff and you know”

To read or listen to the interview visit RockOverdose.gr.

Plagues Of Babylon, is now streaming on Spotify. Go to this location to check it out.

Plagues Of Babylon tracklisting:

'Plagues Of Babylon'

'Democide'

'The Culling'

'Among The Living Dead'

'Resistance'

'The End?'

'If I Could See You'

'Cthulhu'

'Peacemaker'

'Parasite'

'Spirit Of The Times'

'Highwayman'

Plagues Of Babylon was released in North American on January 21st on Century Media Records. The band will bring the new album to their North America homeland when their headlining Worldwide Plagues Tour hits our shores April 4th for a six-week run with SABATON and REVAMP in support. See complete tour dates below.

Exclusive Plagues Of Babylon bundles are on-sale now at CM Distro. Album and merchandise packages include the following:

- standard CD (28-page booklet; jewel case; collectible top spine)
- limited edition deluxe CD/DVD (standard CD; DVD with 'making of' documentary, alternate album mixes and gear guides; 32-page booklet with alternate cover - artwork on cover; 6-panel matte digipack, collective top spine)
- double LP (180 gram; gatefold sleeve on matte-laminated heavy cardboard; printed inner sleeves; available in black or limited edition silver wax)
- limited edition boxset (CD/DVD from above packaged as deluxe mediabook; also includes bandana, embossed metal flask, six artwork cards and refrigerator magnet; limited to 3,000 copies worldwide)
- limited edition 10" boxset (three 10" LPs; 12-page booklet; album artwork poster; limited to 1,000 worldwide - 500 gold / 500 black)
- long sleeve shirt (pre-order package exclusive)
- short sleeve shirt (pre-order package exclusive)

Iced Earth recently released a video teaser to preview the album and their upcoming Worldwide Plagues headlining tour - click below to watch the video:

You can also watch the official 'Plagues Of Babylon' lyric video below:

"This is a seriously heavy album with a seriously brutal album cover," says Jon Schaffer of Plagues Of Babylon. "I'm sure it will go down as a classic in the epic Iced Earth catalog. We feel that the package with Sabaton and Revamp is very strong and we are very excited to tour the US and Canada again and kick some major ass!"

A few things to know about Plagues Of Babylon:

Songs one-six form the Plagues Of Babylon story line, part of the ongoing Something Wicked Universe

Cover and additional artwork by Eliran Kantor (TESTAMENT, ATHEIST, HATEBREED)

Recorded at Principal Studios - Senden, Germany (KREATOR, IN EXTREMO, GRAVE DIGGER)

Mixed at NHow Studios - Berlin, Germany

Includes special guest vocalists throughout

Worldwide Plagues Tour North American dates:

April

4 - Grand Rapids, MI - The Intersection
5 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
6 - Chicago, IL - House Of Blues
7 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
9 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
10 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
11 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Ballroom
12 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall
14 - Toronto, ONT - Phoenix Concert Theatre
15 - Quebec City, QC - Imperial Theater
16 - Montreal, QC - Corona Theatre
17 - Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero
18 - New York, NY - Best Buy Theater
19 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium
21 - West Springfield, VA - Empire
23 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
24 - Orlando, FL - House Of Blues Orlando
25 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
26 - Saint Petersburg, FL - State Theatre
28 - Houston, TX - Scout Bar
29 - Dallas, TX - Trees

May

1 - Tempe, AZ - Club Red
2 - West Hollywood, CA - House Of Blues Sunset
3 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's
5 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory Concert House
6 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
7 - Vancouver, BC - The Venue
9 - Edmonton, AB - The Starlite Room
10 - Calgary, AB - Republik
11 - Regina, SK - Riddell Centre
12 - Winnipeg, MB - Park Theatre
14 - Denver, CO - The Summit Music Hall
15 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
16 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom

For more details visit Icedearth.com.