Artist News Releases

Iron Maiden announce new album, Senjutsu

By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 20 July 2021

Iron Maiden have announced that they will release their seventeenth album, ‘Senjutsu’, later this year. It takes its title from the Japanese word that loosely translates as “tactics and strategy”.

“We’re all really excited about this album”, says vocalist Bruce Dickinson. “We recorded it back in early 2019 during a break in the ‘Legacy’ tour so we could maximise 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”, he adds. “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 band recorded at Guillaume Tell Studio in Paris. Guitarist and co-producer Steve Harris explains: “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”, he goes on. “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”.

‘Senjutsu’ will be out on 3 Sep. Here’s the video for new single ‘The Writing On The Wall’: