Iron Maiden return with new single, The Writing On The Wall

It's been quite awhile since we last heard new music from metal legends Iron Maiden – six years in total.

That wait ends today with the band's new single, the appropriately epic The Writing On The Wall. Written by Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith & frontman Bruce Dickinson, the song was produced by Kevin Shirley with assistance from the band's bassist, Steve Harris.

The song's beautiful music video was created by two former Pixar executives – Mark Andrews and Andrew Gordon (both of whom are massive Iron Maiden fans) – and the London-based animation studio BlinkInk.

You can give the song, and its video, a spin below.

“I had a pretty clear idea of the concept to accompany the song and when I met Mark and Andrew, on Zoom, it quickly became clear we were all very much on the same wavelength, and this was reinforced with the addition of Nicos and his young BlinkInk team," Dickinson said of the video in a statement. "Our weekly team Zoom meetings were then usually both highly creative and a lot of fun!  
 
“I’m very proud of the way the video turned out, it’s more like a mini-film really. I knew it was going to work out as soon as Mark brought my treatment to life with his incredible storyboards – I thought we could make something very special together. I think we did and hope our fans will agree. In fact it’s pretty much created by Maiden fans!”

No word yet on whether or not this is the lead single from a potential follow-up to the band's last studio effort, 2015's The Book of Souls, but we'll definitely keep our eyes peeled. 

In the meantime, if you're craving some more Adrian Smith hard-rock guitar heroics, you'd do well to check out his new album with Richie Kotzen.