Last month, heavy metal heroes Iron Maiden announced their new full-length album Senjutsu after releasing the massive first single “The Writing On The Wall” via an epic music video. Now, the band have dropped a second song from the album, titled “Stratego,” which you can hear below.
Obviously, the visuals accompanying “Stratego” aren’t quite as striking as those with which the band announced “The Writing On The Wall.” That said, the song feels a little more in keeping with Maiden’s classic vibe. There’s a solid gallop to the song, a crunchy momentum that keeps things moving, while “Writing…” was a bit more of a laid-back biker metal track. This one definitely reps the traditional Maiden vibe a lot harder. How it will factor into the overall atmosphere of Senjutsu as an album remains to be seen.
Check out “Stratego” below:
Iron Maiden’s upcoming new album Senjutsu is due out on September 3rd and available for preorder.
“We’re all really excited about this album,” says Dickinson of the album. “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. 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!”
Check out Senjutsu’s tracklist and cover art below.
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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Words by Chris Krovatin
