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Iron Maiden have announced their new touring drummer
Following Nicko McBrain’s retirement from touring, Iron Maiden have revealed that “a name familiar to many of our fans” will be stepping in next year.
Get ready, Iron Maiden fans: Bruce Dickinson says that later this week you're "invited to Belshazzar's Feast – but your mum can't come…"
Update, July 14: We have a time (and another new teaser video)! 6pm BST. Get ready, people…
Update, July 13: Another cryptic new teaser video has just hit the internet…
Original story, July 12: Iron Maiden have been up to all sorts of teasing lately – from subtle hints on tour posters to peculiar T-shirts. And now it looks like we might be finding out exactly what this has all been leading to on July 15.
Frontman Bruce Dickinson has invited fans to an event called 'Belshazzar's Feast' later this week, announcing in a dramatic new video from a very fancy-looking venue: "July the 15th. Rain or shine. Heaven or hell, man or beast, you're invited to Belshazzar's Feast – but your mum can’t come."
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Of course, the singer was spotted in a Belshazzar's Feast T-shirt a couple of weeks ago after flyers were put up of the same thing at June's Download Pilot. Belshazzar's Feast is a story from the Book of Daniel in the Bible, and is also known as 'the story of the writing on the wall' – with the initials WOTW cropping up in a lot of Maiden-related places. Hmmmm…
It's no secret that Maiden have been working on the follow-up to 2015’s The Book Of Souls, with Bruce confirming last October that they’d been "together a little bit in the studio”. Adrian Smith, meanwhile, said in March 2021 that the band have got some "very, very exciting things in the pipeline”. Guess we'll find out more on July 15, eh?
Iron Maiden are set to headline Download 2022 alongside KISS and Biffy Clyro.