Iron Maiden Announce New Album ‘Senjutsu’
After returning last week with their first new song in six years, Iron Maiden have announced their new album Senjutsu, out September 3rd via Parlophone Records.
Senjutsu, loosely translated as “tactics & strategy,” was recorded in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by bassist Steve Harris. With the album sporting an Eastern-inspired theme, Iron Maiden enlisted Mark Wilkinson to create the cover, which shows mascot Eddie dressed as a samurai. Clocking in at 82 minutes, the album will be a double CD/triple vinyl similar to their previous album The Book of Souls.
“We chose to record at Guillaume Tell Studio in France again as the place has such a relaxed vibe,” said Harris. “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.”
Singer Bruce Dickinson added, “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!”
The album will be available in various formats: standard 2CD digipak; deluxe 2CD book format; deluxe heavyweight 180G triple black vinyl; special edition triple silver and black marble vinyl; special edition triple red and black marble vinyl; super deluxe box set including CD, Blu-ray and exclusive memorabilia; and digitally. Preorders start Wednesday, July 21st.
See the artwork and tracklisting below.
Artwork:
Tracklisting:
01. Senjutsu
02. Stratego
03. The Writing on the Wall
04. Lost in a Lost World
05. Days of Future Past
06. The Time Machine
07. Darkest Hour
08. Death of the Celts
09. The Parchment
10. Hell on Earth
