Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson can be seen in the short video below inviting fans to “Belshazzar’s Feast” on July 15.
It’s the latest in a series of teasers that appear to point towards the announcement of the band’s 17th album, which may be titled Writing on the Wall.
In the video, Dickinson appears on the balcony of a theater and says in a dramatic voice: “July the 15th. Rain or shine. Heaven or hell, man or beast, you’re invited to Belshazzar’s Feast.” In the same tone he adds: “But your mum can’t come.”
A number of recent Maiden promotional images have featured the legend “W.O.T.W.” hidden within them, and low-quality posters advertising “Belshazzar’s Feast” were seen at last month’s Download pilot festival in the U.K. among other places. Dickinson recently appeared on British TV wearing a Belshazzar’s Feast T-shirt, and said that while he couldn’t discuss the band’s upcoming plans, “but it’s right in front of you.”
Fans who wrote to the email address belshazzarsfeast@hotmail.com received a further hint, reading: “You have knocked and we have been summoned. You hunger and soon you will feast. Ascension assured to the patient. Be you a man or be you a beast. We of the brotherhood are watching. On our marks you’ll need to get set. The Fire of Belshazzar is coming. What three words, we’ll signal but not yet.” The last line may refer to a geographic location defined using the What3Words platform.
Last year producer Kevin Shirley, who’s worked on the last five Maiden albums, hinted that recording on the follow-up to 2015’s The Book of Souls had been completed in the same French studio. “I left my family for Paris, where I spent the next three months working very hard on an unnamed but not-very-secret project,” he said. “I finished with a loud ringing in my ears.”