Iron Maiden add new 'number 17' clues to their previous album covers
Check out all of the clues
Last updated 6th Aug 2021
Update (2pm): Iron Maiden announce 17th studio album 'Senjutsu'.
READ MORE HERE
More than two weeks after they started, Iron Maiden have now finished adding clues for what appears to be their 17th studio record to their 16 previous album covers.
As part of their incredibly clever cryptic campaign teasing new material, since the start of July, Iron Maiden have been sharing their previous album covers daily via Instagram stories and on Facebook posts.
When scrutinised more closely, the album covers feature clues alluding to WOTW (‘The Writing On The Wall’) and ‘Belshazzar’s Feast.’
Of course, Iron Maiden’s epic new single ‘The Writing On The Wall’ and its accompanying animated video were unleashed to the world last Thursday (15th July) yet there’s been no official word from Iron Maiden about whether the song is lifted from a new album.
Since ‘The Writing On The Wall’ premiere, however, Iron Maiden have shared tweaked artwork to their latest three studio albums - 'A Matter of Life and Death' (2006), ‘The Final Frontier’ (2010) and ‘The Book of Souls’ (2015).
The trio of albums feature new clues alluding to the Number 17 – seemingly Iron Maiden’s seventeenth studio album. Check them all out below.
Now that they've finished with their clues on their previous album covers, fans are now speculating whether Iron Maiden are primed to make an announcement today.
If you’re not fully clued up on Iron Maiden’s cryptic activity leading up to 'The Writing On The Wall' and their rumoured new album, you can read Planet Rock’s original article RIGHT HERE and find yet more information HERE and HERE.
Iron Maiden tease their 17th album:
Iron Maiden – ‘Iron Maiden’
Iron Maiden – ‘Iron Maiden’
Graffitied onto the wall to the right of Eddie the Head are the initials WOTW – aka Writing on the Wall.
Iron Maiden – ‘Killers’
Iron Maiden – ‘Killers’
There are two clues on the 'Killers' album cover – one is the mountain from the Belshazzar's Feast image above the row of shops, and the second is minuscule WOTW letters drawn onto a window in the block of flats.
Iron Maiden – ‘The Number of the Beast’
Iron Maiden – ‘The Number of the Beast’
Again, there are two clues on 'The Number of the Beast' – the Belshazzar's Feast mountain is Photoshopped just below Lucifer's crotch, and tiny 'WOTW' letters are held aloft by a figure in the flames.
Iron Maiden – ‘Piece of Mind’
Iron Maiden – ‘Piece of Mind’
The initials WOTW – Writing on the Wall – are crudely scratched onto the padded wall of Eddie's cell.
Iron Maiden - 'Powerslave'
Iron Maiden - 'Powerslave'
The 'WOTW' hieroglyphs can be found written vertically above Eddie's hand, while the Belshazzar's Feast mountain is on the right hand side of the pyramid.
Iron Maiden - 'Somewhere in Time'
Iron Maiden - 'Somewhere in Time'
On 'Somewhere in Time', a Belshazzar's Feast poster can be seen on the wall of the department store beneath cyborg Eddie's leg. The 'WOTW' can be seen very clearly as graffiti on the right hand side of the album cover.
Iron Maiden - 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'
Iron Maiden - 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'
The mysterious mountain from the Belshazzar's Feast poster is on the left of Iron Maiden's 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' album cover on top of one of the icebergs.
Iron Maiden - 'No Prayer for the Dying'
Iron Maiden - 'No Prayer for the Dying'
The Belshazzar's Feast poster is on Eddie's tombstone.
Iron Maiden - 'Fear of the Dark'
Iron Maiden - 'Fear of the Dark'
The Belshazzar's Feast poser is beneath Eddie's tree leg.
Iron Maiden - 'The X Factor'
Iron Maiden - 'The X Factor'
The WOTW is scrawled on the wall behind poor Eddie's lobotomised head.
Iron Maiden - 'Virtual XI'
Iron Maiden - 'Virtual XI'
There's that now familiar Belshazzar's Feast mountain/volcano/tower in the flames behind Eddie.
Iron Maiden - 'Brave New World'
Iron Maiden - 'Brave New World'
The Belshazzar's Feast mountain/volcano/tower looks almost Mount Fuji-esque in the background of the futuristic London.
Iron Maiden - 'Dance of Death'
Iron Maiden - 'Dance of Death'
The Belshazzar's Feast mountain is beneath the grim reaper Eddie, while one of the goats is wearing a Belshazzar's Feast T-shirt.
Iron Maiden - 'A Matter of Life and Death'
Iron Maiden - 'A Matter of Life and Death'
One of Eddie's zombie soldiers on the left hand side of the album cover is wearing a Belshazzar's Feast T-Shirt. Meanwhile, the chalk counting marks on the tank tot up to 17 - alluding to Iron Maiden's 17th studio album.
Iron Maiden - 'The Final Frontier'
Iron Maiden - 'The Final Frontier'
The key that the alien Eddie is holding is the Chinese symbol for death. Meanwhile the Eddie skull and crossbones picture has the number 17 beneath it.
Iron Maiden - 'The Book of Souls'
Iron Maiden - 'The Book of Souls'
When you zoom in closely and adjust the brightness of the album cover, you can make out XVII (number 17) scratches on Eddie's body. There also appears to be an XVII and the Chinese symbol for death in Eddie's eyes.
Now read:
Iron Maiden's Eddie the Head through the years
Iron Maiden's legendary career in photos