Iron Maiden set to return with new double-album “The Book Of Souls”

British metal heavyweights Iron Maiden have revealed details of their highly anticipated new album.

The Book Of Souls will be the band’s 16th studio LP and is set for worldwide release on the 4th of September. As the band revealed via their Facebook page yesterday, the album is also their first studio double-LP, clocking in at 92 minutes and containing the longest composition that Maiden have ever recorded.

The tracks were laid down in France last year and collaborator Mark Wilkinson once again supplies the cover art featuring iconic band mascot, Eddie.

Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson, recently given the all clear from cancer, says of the new material: “We’re really excited about The Book Of Souls and had a fantastic time creating it. We started working on the album in late summer 2014 and recorded it at Guillame Tell Studios in Paris, where we’d done the Brave New World album back in 2000 so the studio holds special memories for all of us. We were delighted to discover the same magical vibe is still alive and very much kicking there! So we immediately felt at home and the ideas just started flowing. By the time we’d finished we all agreed that each track was such an integral part of the whole body of work that if it needed to be a double album, then double its going to be!”

Says Iron Maiden lynch-pin Steve Harris: “We approached this album in a different way to how we’ve recorded previously. A lot of the songs were actually written while we were there in the studio and we rehearsed and recorded them straight away while they were still fresh, and I think that immediacy really shows in the songs, they have almost a live feel to them I think. I’m very proud of The Book Of Souls, we all are, and we can’t wait for our fans to hear it, and especially to take it out on the road next year!”

The Books Of Souls will be available in a 2CD deluxe hardbound book limited edition, a 2CD standard edition, triple heavyweight black vinyl, high-res audio (24-bit Mastered for ITunes and non-Mastered for iTunes) and standard-res audio (16 bit/ 44.1 kHz). Pre-orders are now live at Amazon here.

The full track list for the album is:

Disc 1
01. “If Eternity Should Fail” (Dickinson) 8:28
02. “Speed Of Light” (Smith/ Dickinson) 5:01
03. “The Great Unknown” (Smith/ Harris) 6:37
04. “The Red And The Black” (Harris) 13:33
05. “When The River Runs Deep” (Smith/ Harris) 5:52
06. “The Book Of Souls” (Gers/ Harris) 10:27
Disc 2
07. “Death Or Glory” (Smith/ Dickinson) 5:13
08. “Shadows Of The Valley” (Gers/ Harris) 7:32
09. “Tears Of A Clown” (Smith/ Harris) 4:59
10. “The Man Of Sorrows” (Murray/ Harris) 6:28
11. “Empire Of The Clouds” (Dickinson) 18:01

Iron Maiden won’t be hitting the road this year in order to allow Bruce Dickinson time to recuperate following treatment for cancer. However, bassist Steve Harris is set to embark on a live tour in July with his solo project British Lion.