Acknowledging both their roots (their 1979 debut The Soundhouse Tapes was Iron Maiden’s first official release on vinyl) and reputation for bringing history to life, Iron Maiden will release their longest ever song, with a duration of over eighteen minutes: “Empire Of The Clouds” as a limited edition 12” picture disc single for Record Store Day on April 16th.

Taken from their latest studio album The Book Of Souls, the single is housed in a uniquely artworked sleeve, featuring a replica of the actual newspaper story reporting on the fate of the R101 airship, which is the focus of the song. Written by Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, it will be made available through Parlophone Records (BMG in North America) with the B-side featuring an in-depth audio interview with Dickinson about the inspiration for the track which has been a truly personal labour of love and is, he claims: “A very poignant story, a very human story, a story of ambition and dreams”.

Supporting RSD for the very first time with an Iron Maiden piece director of strategic marketing (Parlophone) Paul Fletcher explains how the band came to be involved. “After the success of The Book Of Souls last year and especially with the reaction to the triple vinyl format I felt that a song like “Empire Of The Clouds” needed to be immortalized in some way. It was never going to be a radio track/ single so after discussions with management we went down the let’s educate and commemorate a real tragedy that Bruce had chosen to portray in this amazing song. As usual with Maiden they turned the package into something special with unique commissioned artwork and the idea to licence historic material from the Daily Mirror archives from 1930. The result is an incredible package that both vinyl collectors & Maiden fans will be keen to own.”

Iron Maiden are currently on The Book Of Souls World Tour, playing to over 1.5 million fans across 36 countries and 6 continents, traversing the planet in their brand new Boeing 747 jet Ed Force One, carrying band, crew, equipment and over 20 tons of stage production, on a 60 thousand mile journey.

Roadhouse Interactive, 50cc Games and metal legends Iron Maiden recently announced that Iron Maiden: Legacy Of The Beast, an action-packed, free-to-play RPG steeped in Iron Maiden mythology, will launch worldwide this summer on iOS and Android platforms.

Founders Packs and Collectors Editions are relatively commonplace in PC and console gaming circles, but something new in mobile gaming. To celebrate Maiden coming to mobile, a series of Founders Packs has been created, available for a limited time only.

 

 

As a Founder, you’ll get limited edition collectibles and apparel, an absolutely stunning digital art book, and the option to add rare ‘in-game Eddies’ and boatloads of ‘Ferryman’s Gold’ (the in-game currency).

You’ll also get Founders Forum access, where you can participate in online discussions with the development team, be granted access to exclusive community forum content, and have the opportunity to influence the development of the game and its content.

Llexi Leon, Creative Director at Phantom Music: “We’re offering incredible value in every pack to ensure the same top quality products our fans expect, but at an unprecedented discount to celebrate this amazing game and the expansion of the Iron Maiden universe. Our friends at Onkyo have even provided a limited number of the remarkable hand-wired Japanese made Ed-Ph0n3s as part of our top tier Eternity pack, a jaw dropping collection that’s limited to 666 units on a first come first serve basis.”

James Hursthouse, CEO, Roadhouse Interactive: “There are tons of Maiden fans at Roadhouse with lots of the classic Maiden tour shirts. We wanted to create some exclusive apparel to commemorate this innovative, exciting game project and as both a Maiden fan and a gamer, it’s going to be great to be able to show off some of the iterations of Eddie that appear in the game.”

Find out more about the Founders Packs at this location.

The first screenshots from Iron Maiden: Legacy Of The Beast have surfaced at NZGamer.com.