Bruce Dickinson reveals how Rammstein inspired The Writing On The Wall video

Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden and Till Lindermann of Rammstein — (Image credit: Gonzales Photo/Terje Dokken/PYMCA/Avalon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, Francesco Castaldo/Archivio Francesco Castaldo/Mondadori via Getty Images)

Bruce Dickinson has revealed that Iron Maiden took inspiration from Rammstein's 2019 single track Deutschland when making the video for their comeback offering The Writing On The Wall.

Speaking to Kerrang, Dickinson explains: "I said to Rod [Smallwood, Maiden manager], ‘Have you seen the video for Deutschland by Rammstein? That, to me, is a groundbreaking video. That’s astonishing.

"Now, I’m not suggesting we do that, because we’re not Rammstein. But think of what we could do that would have the equivalent impact for us. So, I wrote storyboard for the vid, tweaked it a little bit, and gave it a happy ending.

"Well, kind of a happy ending – Adam and Eve start again, but with Eddie going,
‘I’ll still get you in the end'".

For the epic animated video, Iron Maiden received the help from two former Pixar executives/life-long maiden fans, Mark Andrews and Andrew Gordon. The pair are best known for their work on movies such as The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Brave, Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo, among others.

On the video, Dickinson says: “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 [director] Nicos and his young BlinkInk team.

"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!”

Director Nicos Livesey says: “We quickly found the expertise we wanted, and people were literally throwing themselves at me to work on a Maiden video – we had more than 60 people in 13 countries from Brazil to France, and Romania to the USA to add something to the clip and I’d say their love, passion and understanding of the band shines through every frame. They were a dream team for the producers and myself to manage.”

The Writing On The Wall is the introductory glimpse at Iron Maiden's return, marking their first release since 2016's single Empire Of The Clouds.

Iron Maiden's seventeenth studio album Senjutsu will arrive September 3 via Parlophone Records.

“We’re all really excited about this album. We recorded it back in early 2019 during a break in the Legacy tour so we could maximise our touring yet still have a long set up period before release to prepare great album art and something special as a video." says Dickinson on the upcoming-release.

"Of course the pandemic delayed things more - so much for the best laid plans – or should that be ‘strategies’!? The songs are very varied, and some of them are quite long. There’s also one or two songs which sound pretty different to our usual style, and I think Maiden fans will be surprised - in a good way, I hope!”

Pre-orders for Senjutsu have now gone live, and include a super deluxe box set full of extras. Metal Hammer will have an exclusive, tell-all new interview with Iron Maiden in an upcoming issue, out soon.

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Liz manages Louder's social media channels and works on keeping the sites up to date with the latest news from the world of rock and metal. Prior to joining Louder as a full time staff writer, she completed a Diploma with the National Council for the Training of Journalists and received a First Class Honours Degree in Popular Music Journalism. She enjoys writing about anything from neo-glam rock to stoner, doom and progressive metal, and loves celebrating women in music.