Iron Maiden completes recordings for 15th studio album.

The world is a beautiful place again! Iron Maiden announced that they have completed recording their 15th full length.

The record which is the bands follow up to their 2006 masterpiece ‘A Matter of Life and Death,’ was recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, the Bahamas. And production duties were handled by veteran Kevin Shirley, the auditory architect behind previous Maiden albums  ‘Brave New World,’ ‘Dance of Death’ and  ‘A Matter of Life and Death.’

Shirley’s personal website stated that “there’s still work to do, but the band portion is complete and in the can, so to speak.”

Following up one great album is never an easy task for any band, but if there ever was a band up to the task it would be Iron Maiden. In the band’s documentary ‘Flight 666′ guitarist Adrian Smith also stated that “there’s always a bit of pressure to follow up the last album. In a way, it’s good, because it motivates you.”

And while the rest of the metal world eagerly awaits Maiden number 15, we at The Backdoor have currently given up on all editorial efforts and are focusing on discovering the most efficient and inexpensive design for a time machine.

Mike Portnoy to handle the skins on Avenged Sevenfold’s new album.

Talk about lucked out. Dream Theater’s skins-man extraordinaire Mike Portnoy announced last week that he will fill in for James ‘The Rev’ Sullivan who passed away on the 28th December last year.

The following statement was released on the Avenged Sevenfold website :

“(We) want our fans to know that with Jimmy in our hearts, our journey to record has officially began.

Jimmy helped leave this world an amazing gift and now it’s our job to make sure to deliver that gift to our fans.

We asked Jimmy’s all-time favorite drummer Mike Portnoy to record on behalf of him. Mike said it would be an honor and without question that’s what Jim would have wanted.

It’s comforting to us that someone like Mike, who is undoubtedly revered as one of the best drummers in the world, held such respect and adoration for the Rev’s abilities.

Even though it will never be the same without our brother by our side, his essence lives in our hearts and through the music he helped create. He was a legend before any of the success or any of that bullshit and we are fucking excited to lay this down for our fans, and especially for Jimmy.”

Mike Portnoy released his own statement about agreeing to play for the album.

“Even under normal circumstances I would’ve been happy to help the guys out in any way I could, as I think Avenged Sevenfold are a great band…but under these incredibly sad and tragic circumstances, I must say I am truly honored to have been asked to play with them… and I didn’t even have to think twice about saying yes.

These guys are a true family and it is an incredibly emotional experience to be here with them for the first time without their lost brother. But they have welcomed me into the family with open arms and there’s a real excitement to make the record they had set out to make…

I am treating my participation on this album with the utmost respect for Jimmy’s memory and am remaining as true as possible to the drum parts that he wrote for the songs and the record he wanted to make.

I want their fans to realize that I’m not trying to step into or fill The Rev’s shoes…I’m just merely lacing ‘em up for him!”

With a drummer of Portnoy’s caliber willing to fill in on the kit so soon after The Rev’s tragic passing, it can be said that lady luck is a very strange damsel indeed.

Photo credit – bisharron / cmerlo441