Following a few weeks of rumors, teasers, along with unveiling a brand new song, Iron Maiden  have finally announced their overall seventeenth full-length effort, Senjutsu, will be released on September 3rd via BMG. The follow-up to 2015’s The Book of Souls was recorded in Paris with producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by bassist Steve Harris. The Samurai themed cover artwork was created by Mark Wilkinson, which was based on an idea by Harris. Pre-orders will begin on Wednesday (21st).

Harris comments: 

“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.”

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!”

Track List:

01)  Senjutsu (Smith/Harris) 8:20

02)  Stratego (Gers/Harris) 4:59

03)  The Writing On The Wall (Smith/Dickinson) 6:13

04)  Lost In A Lost World (Harris) 9:31

05)  Days Of Future Past (Smith/Dickinson) 4:03

06)  The Time Machine (Gers/Harris) 7:09

07)  Darkest Hour (Smith/Dickinson) 7:20

08)  Death Of The Celts (Harris) 10:20

09)  The Parchment (Harris) 12:39

10)  Hell On Earth (Harris) 11:19

Senjutsu will be available in the following formats:

Deluxe 2CD Book Format

Deluxe heavyweight 180G Triple Black Vinyl

Special Edition Triple Silver & Black Marble Vinyl (from selected retailers)

Special Edition Triple Red & Black Marble Vinyl (from selected retailers)

Super Deluxe Boxset featuring CD, Blu-Ray and Exclusive Memorabilia

Digital album (streaming and download)