Iced Earth began writing new material for their twelfth studio album in early 2013. Drummer Smedley left the band in May 2013 due to personal reasons. Raphael Saini therefore played drums on the album, titled "Plagues of Babylon", as well as filling in on tour until Jon Dette took over on drums in November 2013. The album was released in January 2014, reaching position #5 on the German Media Control Charts, which is band’s highest chart position in their entire career.