Iron Maiden plots 'Final Frontier' run of North America

Before heading out on a European tour, metal icons Iron Maiden will spend the summer traveling through North America in anticipation of their forthcoming release, "The Final Frontier."

The road trip kicks off June 9 in Dallas, and crisscrosses the continent, stopping by arenas and amphitheaters in 22 cities before finishing up July 20 in Bristow, VA. The full schedule is shown at right.

New York-based prog-metal rockers Dream Theater will open most shows.

Tickets for US performances go on sale March 20, while Canadian dates will be available March 13.

"The Final Frontier," Iron Maiden's long-awaited 15th studio set, will hit shelves in late summer, according to a press release. The effort, which was recorded in the Bahamas and produced by Kevin Shirley, follows the band's 2006 release, "A Matter of Life and Death," which peaked at No. 9 on The Billboard 200.

"We're still working on the set list for these summer shows, but this time it will cover the whole history of the band, and I can hint that we will be playing a taster from the new album," frontman Bruce Dickinson said in a recent press release. "We already have the designs for the new 'Final Frontier' stage show which we are building to bring out with us, so this summer tour will be a bit of a preview for the fans."

Last year, the group released a full-length documentary, "Iron Maiden: Flight 666," which documented the first leg of the band's 2008 "Somewhere Back in Time World Tour." The movie won the "24 Beats Per Second" award for best music documentary at last year's SXSW Film Festival.