With Metallica officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, legendary Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley releasing his first solo album in twenty years and all around a collectively great year for heavy metal thus far, 2009 hasn’t seen anything yet. According to reports from both Blabbermouth & Bang Media International, the nothing-short-of-awesome English metal gods Iron Maiden announced plans to work on a new album later this year. When asked about this, lead guitarist Adrian Smith said:

At the end of the year we’ll be writing again, rehearsing and recording at the beginning of next year. Then we’ll be back out on the road again next year. Kevin Shirley [producer] will be working on it with us and we’ll probably be doing it somewhere where we’ve done a lot for recording in the past.”

Following up 2006′s masterpiece A Matter Of Life And Death, the band will work on their fifteenth album and see a world tour sometime in 2010.  No title has been given as of yet, but regardless it will be chock full of great guitar riffs, excellent historical references and lead singer Bruce Dickinson wailing like a badass.

Stay tuned for more as this year just got a whole lot better.