, Iron Maiden thrilled fans by releasing their first song in six years, “The Writing On The Wall,” and now the band has announced their forthcoming album.
Senjutsu, like their last album, Book Of Souls, will be a double album; it will clock in at nearly 82 minutes. But what does “Senjutsu” mean? Per a press release, Senjutsu is loosely translated as “tactics & strategy.”
The album was produced by Kevin Shirley with bass player/producer Steve Harris. Harris said, via a press release, “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.”
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 full tracklisting is:
1. Senjutsu (8:20) (Adrian Smith/Steve Harris)
2. Stratego (4:59) (Janick 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)
Senjutsu will be released on September 3.