The metal icons with tactics and strategy

Parlophone Records proudly announces the release of Iron Maiden's new 17th album in 2021. studio album »Senjutsu«. It is the successor to their number one album "The Book Of Souls" from 2015, and therefore the first long player in six years.

The British hard rock and heavy metal icons recorded the record in Paris with their long-time producer Kevin Shirley. Steve Harris served as co-producer. A total of ten songs made it onto “Senjutsu”. With a playing time of just under 82 minutes, the album, like its predecessor, comes as a double CD or triple vinyl album.

Bassist Steve Harris on the album: »We decided to record again at Guillaume Tell Studio in France because that place just has such a relaxed vibe. The setup there suits our needs perfectly; The building was once a cinema and has a very high ceiling, which gives fantastic acoustic sound. We recorded this album in the same way as 'The Book Of Souls', namely by writing a song, practicing it and recording it together while everything is still fresh in our minds. There are some very complex songs on this album that required us to do a lot of hard work to get their sound the way we wanted it, so the process was quite a challenge at times, but Kevin is very good 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 the fans to hear it.”

Lead singer Bruce Dickinson continues: »We're all really excited about this album. We recorded it at the beginning of 2019 during a break from the Legacy tour in order to be able to tour as much as possible and still have a long lead-up to the release to prepare good artwork and something special as a video. Of course, the pandemic has delayed things even further - so much for advance plans, or should we say 'strategies'!? The songs are very diverse, and some of them are quite long. There are also one or two songs that are quite different from our usual style and I think Maiden fans will be surprised – positively, I hope!”

The term “Senjutsu” comes from Japanese and loosely translated means “tactics and strategy”. For the cover design, Iron Maiden once again hired Mark Wilkinson, who designed the motif with a samurai theme based on an idea from Steve Harris.

In July, the first single, “The Writing On The Wall,” was released along with an animated video, produced by Blinkink based on a concept by Bruce Dickinson with two former Pixar executives.

»Senjutsu« is available as a double CD (standard edition) and as a limited deluxe edition with the double CD in book format as well as a 3-LP set on black vinyl and as a limited indie edition with three LPs on red & black marbled vinyl. A limited box set with double CD, Blu-ray and exclusive memorabilia awaits real Iron Maiden fans.