Iron Maiden have announced that their 17th album, Senjustsu, will be released on Sept. 3. Recorded in Paris and coproduced by Kevin Shirley and bassist Steve Harris, the LP is the band's first in six years.

“We chose to record at Guillaume Tell Studio in France again as the place has such a relaxed vibe," Harris said in a statement. "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.”

Like The Book of Souls, Senjutsu, which loosely translates to "tactics and strategy," features nearly an hour and a half of music, and will arrive as a double CD or a triple vinyl set. The album's artwork was designed by Mark Wilkinson, based on an idea of Harris'. You can see the track listing below.

The first single, "The Writing on the Wall," arrived last wee. You can hear it below.

“We’re all really excited about this album," singer Bruce Dickinson added. "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!"

Iron Maiden, 'Senjutsu' Track Listing
1. "Senjutsu"
2. "Stratego"
3. "The Writing On The Wall"
4. "Lost In A Lost World"
5. "Days Of Future Past"
6. "The Time Machine"
7. "Darkest Hour"
8. "Death Of The Celts"
9. "The Parchment"
10. "Hell On Earth"

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When ranking Iron Maiden albums, perhaps the most striking thing is that they succeeded despite changing lead singers on three separate occasions.

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