Published: August 21, 2026 · 1:10 AM EDT
The 1987 Battlezone album returns October 23 on limited Orange Swirl and Brown vinyl and CD with bonus tracks “To the Limit” and “Drawn Under”
Paul Di’Anno’s Battlezone will return to vinyl on October 23, 2026, when Deko Entertainment releases a newly remastered and repackaged edition of Children of Madness, the band’s second studio album.
The record will be available on 180-gram vinyl in two limited-edition variants - Orange Swirl and Brown - alongside a CD edition. Deko’s current Battlezone catalog confirms both vinyl configurations.
The reissue also adds two bonus tracks, “To the Limit” and “Drawn Under,” expanding the original 1987 album to 12 tracks.
For collectors of Iron Maiden history, the release revisits an important part of Di’Anno’s career after the albums that first made his voice internationally recognizable.
Paul Di’Anno sang on Iron Maiden’s first two studio albums, Iron Maiden in 1980 and Killers in 1981.
Iron Maiden itself later described his contribution as instrumental to the band’s formative period, noting his work both on stage and on those first two records. Di’Anno died on October 21, 2024.
After leaving Maiden, Di’Anno pursued several projects before forming Battlezone. The band released its debut, Fighting Back, in 1986, followed by Children of Madness the following year.
Deko Entertainment already brought Fighting Back back in 2026 as a remastered 40th anniversary release, making Children of Madness the next Battlezone album to receive the label’s expanded physical-media treatment.
Originally released in 1987, Children of Madness was Battlezone’s second album.
The record was made at Village Recorders in Dagenham, East London and produced by Ian Richardson. Its lineup featured Di’Anno on vocals alongside Graham Bath and John Wiggins on guitars, Pete West on bass and Steve Hopgood on drums.
While Fighting Back introduced Battlezone’s post-Maiden direction, its successor broadened the sound with a somewhat more melodic approach while retaining Di’Anno’s aggressive vocal character.
Nearly four decades later, Deko is returning the record to physical circulation with new mastering and packaging rather than simply putting the existing album back into print.
COLLECTORS / VINYL WATCH
The confirmed specifications for the new edition are:
Artist: Paul Di’Anno’s Battlezone
Album: Children of Madness
Original Release: 1987
New Release Date: October 23, 2026
Vinyl: 180g
Variant 1: Orange Swirl
Variant 2: Brown
Edition: Limited Edition
Also Available: CD
Audio: Fully Remastered
Packaging: Repackaged edition
Bonus Tracks: “To the Limit” / “Drawn Under”
Deko currently lists both colored LPs and the CD in its Battlezone catalog but does not state a pressing quantity for either vinyl variant. Rockum therefore is not assigning a copy count to the release.
The additional tracks are not newly titled material created for the 2026 release.
“To the Limit” and “Drawn Under” have appeared in previous archival collections of Battlezone material. The 2022 Killers in the Battlezone 1986–2000 box identifies “To the Limit” as originating from the 1988 Warchild: The Best of Battlezone compilation and “Drawn Under” from the 1989 Elementals UK HM compilation.
Their inclusion nevertheless gives the 2026 edition a 12-track configuration rather than simply reproducing the original ten-song album.
TRACKLIST
1. Rip It Up
2. I Don’t Wanna Know
3. Nuclear Breakdown
4. Torch Of Hate
5. Whispered Rage
6. Children Of Madness
7. Metal Tears
8. It’s Love
9. Overloaded
10. The Promise
11. To The Limit - Bonus Track
12. Drawn Under - Bonus Track
That expanded sequence matches the Battlezone configuration previously used for the material on the 2022 archival box set.
For collectors, Children of Madness occupies an interesting position between two parts of Paul Di’Anno’s history.
His recordings with Iron Maiden remain the best-known portion of his catalog, but Battlezone documents what happened when Di’Anno moved beyond those first two Maiden albums and attempted to establish another heavy metal identity during the second half of the 1980s.
The new edition gives that chapter a modern physical release through remastered audio, expanded content and two limited 180g vinyl variants.
And unlike simply issuing another compilation around Di’Anno’s Maiden years, this release puts the focus back on an actual Battlezone studio album.
Children of Madness returns October 23 as Deko Entertainment continues revisiting the catalog Paul Di’Anno created after Iron Maiden.
With Orange Swirl and Brown 180g vinyl editions, remastered audio and the addition of “To the Limit” and “Drawn Under,” the new pressing gives collectors another opportunity to revisit Battlezone as its own chapter of Di’Anno’s recording history - one that began only a few years after his voice helped define Iron Maiden’s first two albums.
Written by Gino Alache – Music Journalist
IMAGE CREDIT: Deko Entertainment
Listen to Paul Di’Anno’s Battlezone title track “Children of Madness” below:
