IRON MAIDEN’s eagerly awaited new studio album The Book Of Souls
will be released globally on 4th September!
It was recorded in Paris with their longstanding producer Kevin “Caveman”
Shirley in late 2014, with the finishing touches added earlier this year.
However, the band decided to delay its release so that vocalist Bruce Dickinson,
who was recently given the all-clear from a tumour, would have time to
recuperate sufficiently to join in the preparations for the
album’s launch.
The stunning cover art was created by Mark Wilkinson, who has worked with the
band previously, and because this 11-track album has a total running time of
92 minutes, it is IRON MAIDEN’s first ever double studio album. There’s a
broader split on the songwriting compared to previous Maiden records, with
bassist and founder member Steve Harris contributing to seven of the tracks;
6 of them with Maiden’s guitarists and one sole composition. This is also
the first time since 1984’s Powerslave that an IRON MAIDEN studio album also
features two tracks written solely by Bruce Dickinson, one of which is the
longest song Maiden has ever recorded! And also two Dickinson/Smith
collaborations.