Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden’s frontman, has openly discussed how they used Deutschland by Rammstein (released in 2019) as a kind of benchmark when working on The Writing On The Wall. He saw Deutschland not just as a music video but as a cinematic statement: ambitious, visually arresting, grand in scope. It was what he called “groundbreaking” and “astonishing.”
Because The Writing On The Wall was Maiden’s first single in six years, there was a sense that they needed something strong, something with impact—to mark their return. Dickinson wanted a video that would do “justice to the album’s sense of scale and ambition.”
One big driver was the context of COVID-19. The pandemic made traditional video shoots difficult—getting all band members together, traveling, etc. Dickinson, for example, was resting up after medical issues (hip replacement, etc.), so putting them all physically together for a shoot wasn’t feasible. So the animated / mixed visual format made sense both logistically and creatively. Animation also opens up possibilities for visual metaphor and sweeping imagery. (
Dickinson proposed to their manager, Rod Smallwood, the idea of doing “something a bit special in terms of a video” and specifically referenced the Deutschland video by Rammstein, noting that it transcended being just a promo clip into something more filmic. He said, “I’m not suggesting we do the same as Rammstein, but we could try to have something with a similar impact in our world.”
From that, Dickinson wrote a storyboard for The Writing On The Wall. He “tweaked it a little bit” and added something akin to a “happy ending” — though as he himself qualifies, it’s more of a partial or ambiguous happy ending than a full one. The video culminates with Adam and Eve starting again, but with the band’s mascot Eddie saying, “I’ll still get you in the end.”
The production involved former Pixar executives Mark Andrews and Andrew Gordon, along with director Nicos Livesey and the BlinkInk studio. The collaboration was global: a team spread across many countries, and many fans of Iron Maiden contributed storyboard ideas. So the visuals are rich, layered, full of references (Easter eggs) to Maiden’s long history.
In terms of thematic inspiration: Deutschland deals with history, conflict, identity, and uses very dramatic, often shocking imagery to make points about human nature, nationalism, and memory. What Maiden did is different in subject matter (drawing on biblical stories like Belshazzar’s Feast from the Book of Daniel, plus symbolic imagery like Adam and Eve, etc.). But in terms of ambition—telling a story, using myth, symbol, cinematic scale—they clearly took cues from Rammstein’s approach. (Louder)
The video for The Writing On The Wall also functions as what many have described as a “mini‑film” rather than just a promotional clip. It includes animation, symbolic set pieces, biblical references, visual metaphors, a narrative arc. The visual style draws on Iron Maiden’s past artwork too: Eddie the mascot features prominently in various forms, and fans recognize touches that are callbacks to earlier albums.
Dickinson’s idea was: combine that sense of epic cinematic storytelling, visual power, layered symbolism, mythic themes, with what Maiden are good at—heavy metal, longstanding imagery, a fan base that knows their history. In short: take inspiration from Deutschland in terms of impact and scale, but make it distinctly Maiden. (Louder)
One interesting point: although the video ends with something like a “happy” or at least hopeful note (Adam & Eve beginning again), there is also a tension—Eddie saying “I’ll still get you in the end” suggests that things aren’t completely resolved. So the ending isn’t purely utopian—it retains some edge. That kind of bittersweet or ambivalent ending is more in line with Maiden’s style, perhaps, than Rammstein’s sometimes brutal irony. (NME)
Also, the way they teased the video and song was interesting. They used a “global treasure hunt” for clues about the track title and concept. Posters and flyers with phrases like “Belshazzar’s Feast” were spotted, etc. (Louder) This ties into the idea of the video being more than just noise—it is immersive, part of a larger artistic and promotional whole. Rammstein has sometimes done similar things (provocations, visuality, symbolism, controversy) as part of their work. Maiden seem to have been aware of that and wanted to do their own version with their own flavour.
In sum: Rammstein’s Deutschland inspired The Writing On The Wall by giving Maiden a vision of what a music video could be when you push beyond mere performance—into myth, visual allegory, sweeping cinematic references. They borrowed the ambition and the idea of impact. But Maiden translated all of that into their own mythos: Eddie, biblical stories, their history, their visual style, their fans. The result is a video that aims to be big, dramatic, and meaningful, not just something to put up on YouTube.
If you like, I can write up a version of this with direct comparisons scene‑by‑scene between Deutschland and The Writing On The Wall, showing what was borrowed or adapted, and what’s original. Do you want that?
