Former Iron Maiden vocalist and frontman Paul Di’Anno announces release of new album, ‘The Book of The Beast’, via Conquest Music on September 27th 2024.
The vinyl double album (available in Blood Red, Virgin White and Cold Steel coloured vinyl) and 2-disc CD/DVD include five previously unreleased tracks, along with a carefully curated collection of songs that distills many of the best moments from Di’Anno’s fascinating and formidable career.
The CD/DVD also includes rare live, promotional, and acoustic video footage.
Deep cuts from albums going back to Paul’s Battlezone, Killers and Solo days have been painstakingly re-mastered to give them a more up to date and polished production plus some of Paul’s rare acoustic, rehearsal and demo recordings have been added as a special bonus.
Perhaps the most interesting addition to this album is the unexpected reworking of two Iron Maiden classics, but with a dark twist. Both Remember Tomorrow and Wrathchild have been treated to a facelift with Paul duetting alongside Tony Martin (Black Sabbath), ZP Theart (Dragonforce) and Lidya Balaban (Crowley).
“I suppose it might sound like an unusual combination, but Lidya has got a brilliant voice,” Paul enthuses. “I’ve been trying to get it together to see Crowley, but it hasn’t happened yet.”
“I’d be very interested in working on something special with Tony and ZP in the future” Paul adds.
The vinyl albums feature Paul duetting with Lydia Balaban while the The ZP Theart & Tony Martin duets are on CD/DVD and also digital.
Di’Anno is very excited at the possibility of this collection bringing belated attention to many of his songs that may have slipped past the casual listener.
“I’ve never felt that my albums were ever given the promotion they deserved, and record labels just didn’t take me seriously” Di’Anno comments. “The guys at Conquest Music are really on the case so I hope more people will get to hear my music now.”
With an exhaustive CV that includes Battlezone, Killers, Di’Anno (the band), Praying Mantis, The Almighty Inbredz, Warhorse and the metal supergroup Gogmagog, Paul Di’Anno is one of the most colourful and controversial characters in hard rock and heavy metal. But of course, Paul is best known for having been a member of Iron Maiden from 1978 to 1981, appearing on their two iconic albums ‘Iron Maiden’ and ‘Killers’, his voice bringing the band far more of a raw, punky edge than was present on subsequent records.
For that reason, Maiden’s first two albums still inspire strong reactions. Though the band became bigger than ever after his exit, there are fans that stopped liking them when Paul exited the picture. In later years, Di’Anno met members of Metallica, Pantera and Sepultura who all respectfully told him how much those first two LPs had influenced them.
“That’s always bloody brilliant to hear,” he enthuses. “It’s nice to know that you are worth something in the grand scheme of things.
Pre-Order the album here
https://pauldianno.tmstor.es/
Paul will be touring UK/Europe from 21st August through to mid December 2024.
More info – www.pauldianno.co.uk