Iron Maiden have returned to the studio in place of the tour dates the metal legends were supposed to play this year. That's what lead singer Bruce Dickinson reveals in a new video update.

The clip arrived this week by way of Iron Maiden's YouTube channel. The group's official website and social media outposts also displayed the vid. In it, a fresh-faced and long-haired Dickinson appears in good humor as he jokingly reads a copy of the Iron Maiden fan club magazine and apprises listeners of the band's recent goings-on.

Watch the video at bottom of this post.

"A lot of things haven't happened this year; that's blindingly obvious," Dickinson says. "It's very, very frustrating. However, we do have plans. In the meantime, what are we doing? Well, we're doing bits of writing. I'm talking to [bassist] Steve [Harris]. We've been working together a little bit in the studio. On what, I can't tell you, 'cause they'd have to kill me."

The vocalist continues, "All our crew are all on board with us. Obviously, after the cancelation of the shows and rescheduling of the shows this year, all of our lives were canceled. The killer crew is still on board for when we resume normal service next year, whenever that is. In the meantime, we're all still here. We're all still gagging and raring to go. We are not going away. We are solid, and there's gonna be some great stuff happening in the near future."

Iron Maiden's 2020 portion of the ongoing Legacy of the Beast World Tour would have hit Europe, Japan and Australia had the COVID-19 pandemic not shuttered the live music industry. But as Dickinson indicates in his update, many of those dates have been rescheduled to begin next summer.

"We've all had a bit of a torrid time," the singer laments of the global health crisis. "Everybody, the whole world. Maiden included — we want to be out on tour."

That said, the video is a welcome sign for Maiden fans, not to mention the fact that new music from the group may come sooner rather than later due to their unforeseen downtime. After all, as Dickinson has previously expressed, Iron Maiden are "never going to fucking retire."

A Message From Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson - Sept. 30, 2020

Iron Maiden 2021 Tour Dates

June 11 - Warsaw, POL @ PGE Narodowy
June 13 - Bremen, GER @ Bürgerweide
June 15 - Prague, CZE @ Sinobo Stadium
June 16 - Wiener, AUT @ Neustadt Stadium Open Air
June 19 - Barcelona, SPA @ Olympic Stadium
June 21 - Lisbon, POR @ Estadio Nacional
June 24 - Bologna, ITA @ Sonic Park
June 26 - Stuttgart, GER @ Mercedes-Benz Arena
June 27 - Antwerps, BEL @ Sportpaleis
June 30 - Berlin, GER @ Waldbühne
July 3 - Gothenburg, SWE @ Ullevi Stadium
July 8 - Cologne, GER @ Rhein-Energie-Stadium
July 10 - Arnhem, HOL @ GelreDome
July 11 - Paris, FRA @ La Defense Arena

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