Iron Maiden Announce New Album, Senjutsu
Following the release of a new song last week, “The Writing on the Wall,” Iron Maiden have unveiled the title of their 17th album… Senjutsu, a Japanese term referring to the art of the sages loosely translated as “tactics and strategy.”
Maiden were rumored to be recording new music at Guillaume Tell Studios in Paris in December 2019, and earlier this month the band launched a cryptic marketing campaign indicating that new music was about to drop.
Maiden have now shared the details of those studio sessions with long-time producer Kevin Shirley and the resulting album, which will be 82 minutes long and span two CDs. Steve Harris explains:
“We chose to record at Guillaume Tell Studio in France again as the place has such a relaxed vibe. The setup there is perfect for our needs; the building used to be a cinema and has a really high ceiling so there’s a great acoustic sound. We recorded this album in the same way we did ‘The Book Of Souls’ in that we’d write a song, rehearse it and then put it down together straight away while it was all fresh in our minds.
“There’s some very complex songs on this album which took a lot of hard work to get them exactly as we wanted them to sound, so the process was at times very challenging, but Kevin is great at capturing the essence of the band and I think it was worth the effort! I’m very proud of the result and can’t wait for fans to hear it.”
Frontman Bruce Dickinson adds:
“We’re all really excited about this album. We recorded it back in early 2019 during a break in the Legacy tour so we could maximize our touring yet still have a long set up period before release to prepare great album art and something special as a video.
“Of course the pandemic delayed things more – so much for the best laid plans – or should that be ‘strategies’!? The songs are very varied, and some of them are quite long. There’s also one or two songs which sound pretty different to our usual style, and I think Maiden fans will be surprised – in a good way, I hope!”
Still no word on what “Belshazzar’s Feast” is, a term that appeared a whole lot in the band’s pre-announcement marketing push. Perhaps we’ll find out soon, or maybe it was a red herring!
Senjutsu will arive on September 3. Pre-orders will go live on July 27. Here’s the tracklist:
- Senjutsu (8:20) – Smith/Harris
- Stratego (4:59) – Gers/Harris
- The Writing On The Wall (6:13) – Smith/Dickinson
- Lost In A Lost World (9:31) – Harris
- Days Of Future Past (4:03) – Smith/Dickinson
- The Time Machine (7:09) – Gers/Harris
- Darkest Hour (7:20) – Smith/Dickinson
- Death Of The Celts (10:20) – Harris
- The Parchment (12:39) – Harris
- Hell On Earth (11:19) – Harris
