Iron Maiden add WOTW clues to their album covers
They continue to tease their fans
Last updated 8th Jul 2021
Iron Maiden are continuing to tease what appears to be their 17th studio album by Photoshopping clues onto their previous album covers.
Speculation of new Iron Maiden activity exploded last week when frontman Bruce Dickinson was interviewed by Sky News wearing a Belshazzar’s Feast T-shirt.
The T-shirt was emblazoned with the same image that appeared on cryptic posters at Download Pilot festival earlier in June featuring the words 'Live Forever', ‘Man or Beast’ and ‘Heaven or Hell’ with the date 15/7 (15th July).
Belshazzar’s Feast is the story of the writing on the wall in the bible and Iron Maiden fans spotted that ‘WOTW’ – aka Writing on the Wall – was painted onto a wall in a recently unveiled image promoting the next leg of The Legacy of the Beast Tour.
Numerous further cryptic clues have since emerged including Nicko McBrain's BBQ restaurant Rock N Roll Ribs posting a picture of Eddie the Head with the Belshazzar’s Feast poster in the background, Planet Rock’s Wyatt wearing a Belshazzar’s Feast T-shirt for Cymbals of Appreciation, and Robinson’s Brewery (brewers of Trooper beer) sharing a photo featuring the poster.
Many of the clues have been posted by a mystery Twitter account called @bels_feast – the enigmatic user called ‘Daniel’ is also following 16 Twitter profiles that each correspond to every album in Iron Maiden’s distinguished back catalogue.
Iron Maiden also posted three Tweets teasing new activity. Two contained the phrases “Maybe he’ll start Walker on the wing?" and “Eddie mate, you should be wearing safety gear when you're working on the wires...” – both of them feature the initials WOTW.
The third tweet before the England vs. Ukraine game on Saturday (3rd July) was a photo of England’s No.17 (alluding to album No.17?!) Jadon Sancho along with the caption: “I wonder whether we’ll see this guy on the pitch…”
This week, Iron Maiden have continued to fuel speculation by posting snippets of songs as Instagram stories accompanied by images of the albums the tracks are lifted from.
On closer inspection, the album sleeves features tiny clues alluding to WOTW (Writing on the Wall) and the Belshazzar’s Feast image. Check them all out below:
Iron Maiden add Writing on the Wall (WOTW) clues to their album covers:
Iron Maiden – ‘Iron Maiden’
Iron Maiden – ‘Iron Maiden’
Graffitied onto the wall to the right of Eddie the Head are the initials WOTW – aka Writing on the Wall.
Iron Maiden – ‘Killers’
Iron Maiden – ‘Killers’
There are two clues on the 'Killers' album cover – one is the mountain from the Belshazzar's Feast image above the row of shops, and the second is minuscule WOTW letters drawn onto a window in the block of flats.
Iron Maiden – ‘The Number of the Beast’
Iron Maiden – ‘The Number of the Beast’
Again, there are two clues on 'The Number of the Beast' – the Belshazzar's Feast mountain is Photoshopped just below Lucifer's crotch, and tiny 'WOTW' letters are held aloft by a figure in the flames.
Iron Maiden – ‘Piece of Mind’
Iron Maiden – ‘Piece of Mind’
The initials WOTW – Writing on the Wall – are crudely scratched onto the padded wall of Eddie's cell.
Iron Maiden - 'Powerslave'
Iron Maiden - 'Powerslave'
The 'WOTW' hieroglyphs can be found written vertically above Eddie's hand, while the Belshazzar's Feast mountain is on the right hand side of the pyramid.
Iron Maiden - 'Somewhere in Time'
Iron Maiden - 'Somewhere in Time'
On 'Somewhere in Time', a Belshazzar's Feast poster can be seen on the wall of the department store beneath cyborg Eddie's leg. The 'WOTW' can be seen very clearly as graffiti on the right hand side of the album cover.
Iron Maiden - 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'
Iron Maiden - 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'
The mysterious mountain from the Belshazzar's Feast poster is on the left of Iron Maiden's 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' album cover on top of one of the icebergs.
Iron Maiden - 'No Prayer for the Dying'
Iron Maiden - 'No Prayer for the Dying'
The Belshazzar's Feast poster is on Eddie's tombstone.
Iron Maiden - 'Fear of the Dark'
Iron Maiden - 'Fear of the Dark'
The Belshazzar's Feast poser is beneath Eddie's tree leg.
Iron Maiden - 'The X Factor'
Iron Maiden - 'The X Factor'
The WOTW is scrawled on the wall behind poor Eddie's lobotomised head.
Iron Maiden - 'Virtual XI'
Iron Maiden - 'Virtual XI'
There's that now familiar Belshazzar's Feast mountain/volcano/tower in the flames behind Eddie.
Iron Maiden - 'Brave New World'
Iron Maiden - 'Brave New World'
The Belshazzar's Feast mountain/volcano/tower looks almost Mount Fuji-esque in the background of the futuristic London.
Iron Maiden - 'Dance of Death'
Iron Maiden - 'Dance of Death'
The Belshazzar's Feast mountain is beneath the grim reaper Eddie, while one of the goats is wearing a Belshazzar's Feast T-shirt.
Iron Maiden - 'A Matter of Life and Death'
Iron Maiden - 'A Matter of Life and Death'
One of Eddie's zombie soldiers on the left hand side of the album cover is wearing a Belshazzar's Feast T-Shirt. Meanwhile, the chalk counting marks on the tank tot up to 17 - alluding to Iron Maiden's 17th studio album.
Iron Maiden - 'The Final Frontier'
Iron Maiden - 'The Final Frontier'
The key that the alien Eddie is holding is the Chinese symbol for death. Meanwhile the Eddie skull and crossbones picture has the number 17 beneath it.
Iron Maiden - 'The Book of Souls'
Iron Maiden - 'The Book of Souls'
When you zoom in closely and adjust the brightness of the album cover, you can make out XVII (number 17) scratches on Eddie's body. There also appears to be an XVII and the Chinese symbol for death in Eddie's eyes.
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