Iron Maiden Reveal 17th Album ‘Senjutsu’ Details

After suddenly slipping out the new song ‘The Writing On The Wall’ last week, this week Iron Maiden have announced details of their upcoming 17th album.

‘Senjutsu’ is the first Iron Maiden album in six years after ‘The Book of Souls’. This one was made in Paris with producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by the band’s Steve Harris.

Harris explained why the band went to Paris to record. “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.”

The title ‘Senjutsu’ translates as ‘tactics and strategy’. The album is a long listen with over 80 minutes of music. On vinyl it will be a triple album.

Singer Bruce Dickinson said, “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! “

‘Senjutsu’ will be released on 3 September 2021.

The full track listing is:

1. Senjutsu (8:20) Smith/Harris
2. Stratego (4:59) Gers/Harris
3. The Writing On The Wall (6:13) Smith/Dickinson
4. Lost In A Lost World (9:31) Harris
5. Days Of Future Past (4:03) Smith/Dickinson
6. The Time Machine (7:09) Gers/Harris
7. Darkest Hour (7:20) Smith/Dickinson
8. Death Of The Celts (10:20) Harris
9. The Parchment (12:39) Harris
10. Hell On Earth (11:19) Harris

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