We learned what the writing on the wall was last week, this week it’s time for a huge Iron Maiden announcement. The band’s 17th studio album is coming this September 3rd, and it’s called Senjutsu. The samurai inspired Eddie from “The Writing On The Wall” video adorns the album cover.
Senjutsu loosely translates to “tactics and strategy”. Mark Wilkinson is back for the album art. He previously did The Book of Souls and other art for Judas Priest. The new samurai themed Eddie looks absolutely fantastic and fits right in with the other versions of their classic mascot. Also like The Book of Souls, Senjutsu is a double length album coming in at 82 minutes long.
Here’s what bassist Steve Harris had to say about the recording of the album:
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.
Tracklisting:
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
You can preorder the new album, starting July 21st at IronMaiden.com and comes in a bunch of different special editions.
- Standard 2CD Digipak
- Deluxe 2CD Book Format
- Deluxe heavyweight 180G Triple Black Vinyl
- Special Edition Triple Silver And Black Marble Vinyl (Details to follow)
- Special Edition Triple Red and Black Marble Vinyl (Details to follow)
- Super Deluxe Boxset featuring CD, Blu Ray and Exclusive Memorabilia
- Digital album [streaming and download]
Finally, Bruce Dickinson had this to say about the album’s recording as well:
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!
Overall, if “The Writing On The Wall” is any indication, this album should be absolutely fantastic. We’ll have to hear some of the music first though. Senjutsu releases on September 3rd, 2021.
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