A Matter Of Life And Death
When I first saw the new artwork for the new IRON MAIDEN album,
A Matter Of Life and Death,
I was foaming at the mouth. It has been a while since the last studio
record, and this line up with the triple threat of Bruce, Nico and
Steve are just still able to jam it out in their own way. The artwork
sort of serves of a reminder of what is going on in the world today and
in the past war or non war. “Different World” is more of a track that
is like out of “Out Of A Silent Planet” type of mould. As I listen on
it seems that the band has really made a bit of a shift in the more
positive direction. “These Colors Don’t Run” is a track that builds up
into a more anthem like track. The sound is extremely clean and on the
mark. “Brighter Than A Thousand Suns” begins a bit more down as the
guitars scream out and the newer sounding fatter Maiden is here. Very
cool stuff kids. I have noticed that Bruce has had a chance to really
spread his vocal wings on this record and will win him accolades of
kudos from any of those that have an ear for great singing. “The
Pilgrim” sounds much more like good old traditional Maiden. The more
up-tempo sides take over. This is a killer track. “The Longest Day”
begins with some darker sounds as it travels down a more Rime like
sounds. “Out Of the Shadows” shows a very lighter side of Maiden I
wasn’t really prepared for. Is this the bands first power ballad? There
are some very uplifting sounds to hear here. At this point the songs
start to get longer. You may have seen the video for the next track
called “The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Bregg”. They open it quieter and
in a more down mode as the song plays on and that bam it turns into a
pounding Maiden song. It shows some greatness that I personally was
waiting for them to unleash. This is a more from the gut record and not
just metal mania. “For The Greater Good Of God” is a track that clocks
in at over 9:20 and it just serves as a calling to those fighting for
the better will of man? The lyrics are really meant to be read on this
record. You must also note that they really show off their great
ability to play and on this record you could say they went a bit more
progressive than ever before. You’ll hear different sounds that were on
any given album from the past here and there. “Lord Of Light” stars
very on the mellow side for about a minute and a half and then the more
up Maiden kicks in and Bruce is singing a bit more brutal like in the
Number Of the Beast Days. They then break it down a bit mellow like and
the second part of this track really jams it out and boy I’m loving it.
“The Legacy” serves up more acoustical sounds and more war like broken
down march songs. They break down and don’t even sound like Maiden at
one point and then lightly the acoustics are like an old friend. The
guitars return for more loud sounds. This is an extremely adventurous
Maiden track that is just very cool to these ears. Another track that
just evolves and ends up jamming it out the only way Maiden can. I was
surprised it had a good amount of heart and Bruce just rules on this
release. I can’t wait to see them on this coming tour. The deluxe
version comes with a DVD of over 45 minutes of eye bleeding Maiden. The
making of the album, the video for “The Reincarnation Of Benjamin
Bregg”, a studio jam out of “Different World” and you guessed it a
photo gallery. Come On You Irons.
