The Book of Souls is the sixteenth studio album by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, and was released on 4 September 2015. It is the band's first studio double album, and therefore also their longest to date, with a total length of 92 minutes. It also marks the longest gap between studio releases in the group's career at five years, following 2010's The Final Frontier. The album's launch and its supporting tour were delayed to allow vocalist Bruce Dickinson time to recover from treatment which he received in early 2015 to remove a cancerous tumor.
The album was produced by long-time Iron Maiden collaborator Kevin Shirley and recorded at Guillaume Tell Studios, Paris from September to December 2014, which they had previously used for 2000's Brave New World. The band wrote and immediately recorded many tracks in the studio, resulting in a spontaneous live feel. The first song to be released from the album, "Speed of Light", was issued as a music video on 14 August, while simultaneously made available as a digital download and CD single exclusive to Best Buy. In addition to being their longest studio record, it also contains the band's longest song, "Empire of the Clouds", at 18 minutes in length. While not a concept album, references to the soul and mortality are prominent, realized in the Maya-themed cover artwork, created by Mark Wilkinson.
The band's intention to record a sixteenth studio album was first revealed by vocalist Bruce Dickinson in September 2013, who expected a possible release in 2015. The album was recorded at Guillaume Tell Studios, Paris with producer Kevin Shirley from September to December 2014,with the finishing touches added in early 2015. They had previously used the studios for 2000's Brave New World, with Dickinson stating "the studio holds special memories for all of us. We were delighted to discover the same magical vibe is still alive and very much kicking there!" The band originally intended to release the record earlier in 2015, but it was pushed back to 4 September while Dickinson received treatment for a cancerous tumor.
The album's title, artwork and track listing were revealed on 18 June 2015. Released by Parlophone, this is the band's first original studio album not to be issued by EMI, after both companies were acquired by Warner Music Group in 2013.
Harris states that many of the songs were written and immediately recorded in the studio, adding to the record's "live feel". Guitarist Janick Gers explains that this involved abandoning their previous approach of spending several weeks writing and rehearsing, which meant that they "went into the studio with only outlines and finished writing the songs in the studio - so we were actually learning them, rehearsing them, and putting them down all at once". According to guitarist Adrian Smith, the pressure this created was positive "because it snaps you into action". Gers states that each member brought in approximately an hour of original music to the sessions, even though they "might only want to use 15 minutes of it", the result being "a really broad spectrum of musical ideas". As with all of their studio collaborations with Shirley, most of the album was recorded live with lots of first takes used for added spontaneity.
"Shadows of the Valley", "Death or Glory", "Speed of Light" and "If Eternity Should Fail" were the first songs written for the album, the last of which was originally written by Dickinson for a potential solo album. Smith states that "Speed of Light" and "Death or Glory" were two of a small minority of tracks completed prior to the recording sessions, and mark the first collaboration between Smith and Dickinson (without Harris) since both members rejoined Iron Maiden in 1999. With both tracks, Smith and Dickinson deliberately wrote shorter songs in an attempt to hark back to previous singles "2 Minutes to Midnight" (1984) and "Can I Play with Madness" (1988). According to Dickinson, "Death or Glory" is about First World War triplanes.
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