| "The Writing on the Wall" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Iron Maiden | ||||
| from the album Senjutsu | ||||
| Released | 15 July 2021 | |||
| Recorded | Early 2019 | |||
| Studio | Guillaume Tell (Paris) | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 6:13 | |||
| Label |
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| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Kevin Shirley | |||
| Iron Maiden singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "The Writing on the Wall" on YouTube | ||||
"The Writing on the Wall" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The song was released on 15 July 2021 alongside a music video, [1] and served as the lead single from their seventeenth studio album Senjutsu . It was also the band's first single since 2016's "Empire of the Clouds". [1] [2]
It was elected by Loudwire as the 14th best metal song of 2021. [3]
The song's music video was directed by Nicos Livesey from BlinkInk, a London based animation studio, in collaboration with Bruce Dickinson and former Pixar executives and long-standing Maiden fans Mark Andrews and Andrew Gordon via weekly Zoom meetings. [4] The video is a story written by Dickinson, inspired by the biblical stories of Belshazzar's feast and Daniel, as well as other biblical references [5] featuring the band's mascot, Eddie, in various styles influenced by the artwork of previous albums. [6] The visual effects were provided by BlinkInk with fans of the band reaching out with storyboard ideas from across the globe. [7]
Iron Maiden
Production
| Chart (2021) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Rock & Metal (OCC) [8] | 15 |
| US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs ( Billboard ) [9] | 39 |
| US Rock & Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [10] | 36 |