Iron Maiden have said that they have some “very, very exciting” things in the pipeline for their fans to enjoy.

That’s according to guitarist Adrian Smith, who says that the metal icons have been working on something that will leave fans “delighted” when it is revealed.

Smith told SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk: “I think it’ll be worth the wait, put it like that, as far as the Maiden thing goes. There are some very, very exciting things in the pipeline. So that’s all I can say, really … But I think the fans are gonna be delighted.”

While Smith refused to divulge any more details, frontman Bruce Dickinson revealed last year that the band have been back in the studio working on new material.

Speaking in a video posted on YouTube, Dickinson reflected on the band’s year after having to cancel their 2020 touring plans due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’ve all had a bit of a torrid time – everybody in the whole world, Maiden included. We wanna be out on tour,” he said. “A lot of things haven’t happened this year – that’s blindingly obvious – and it’s very, very frustrating.”

He then went on to reveal that Iron Maiden have been back in the studio. “In the meantime, what are we doing? Well, we’re doing bits of writing,” he said. “I’m talking to Steve [Harris, bass]. We’ve been working together a little bit in the studio. On what, I can’t tell you, ’cause they’d have to kill me.”

He continued: “All our crew are all on board with us. Obviously, after the cancelation of the shows and rescheduling of the shows this year, all of our lives were cancelled. The killer crew is still on board for when we resume normal service next year, whenever that is.

“In the meantime, we’re all still here, we’re all still gagging and raring to go. We are not going away. We are solid, and there’s gonna be some great stuff happening in the near future.”

Their last studio album came in 2015’s ‘The Book of Souls’.