Shirley previously worked on the last three MAIDEN albums — 2000's "Brave New World", 2003's "Dance of Death" and 2006's "A Matter of Life and Death".

The next IRON MAIDEN album will be the band's fifteenth studio record, and they face a challenge to follow up "A Matter of Life and Death", which was received well critically and saw the group play the whole album on tour.

Speaking at last year's premiere of the band's documentary film "Iron Maiden: Flight 666", guitarist Adrian Smith stated, "There's always a bit of pressure to follow up the last album. In a way, it's good, because it motivates you.

"We never get complacent; we always try our best for our own sake as much as anything else. As far as pressure for another album, we just do what we do — we've been doing it long enough now; we know what we're doing. [laughs]"

IRON MAIDEN guitarist Janick Gers revealed to BBC News in November that the band was on its way "to Paris for three weeks to work on some new stuff." He added, "The most important thing for a band is to create new music, otherwise you're not valid — you become a parody."

IRON MAIDEN will headline this year's edition of the U.K.'s Sonisphere festival, which will be held Saturday, July 31, 2010 and Sunday, August 1, 2010 at Knebworth.

MAIDEN became the first outfit in history to travel round the world in a customized jet during their "Somewhere Back in Time" tour, as detailed in award-winning movie "Flight 666".

The Boeing 757 carried musicians, crew, gear and guests with singer Bruce Dickinson, a qualified airline pilot, at the controls.