 IRON
MAIDEN
A Matter of Life and Death
Sanctuary Records 2006
www.ironmaiden.com
What’s the 4-1-1?
The standard bearers for true traditional heavy metal are back!
The band mines themes of war, death, religion and more to once again show
they are at the forefront of what real metal is all about.
Genre
Heavy metal / power metal / new wave of british heavy metal
The Good
The album opens with the trademark Iron Maiden sound and fury with the track “Different
World.” Whatever you might expect from an Iron Maiden album, this track
delivers the goods.
Bassist Steve Harris decided against mastering the album, so the sound is a bit
rawer than past efforts, but it pays off with the music having just that much
more impact. The material is right there in your face with nothing to hide behind.
I like the fact that the band can take those long extended musical interludes
in the songs and yet they keep it interesting rather than boring the listener
to death.
The band once again has some great lyrics in the tracks. “These Colours
Don’t Run” includes the line “These colours don’t run,
from cold bloody war” and “Out Of The Shadows” has the line “A
man who casts no shadow has no soul.” The two songs (despite a problem
I point out below with “These Colours Don’t Run) are excellent.
Bruce Dickinson carries the nickname “The Air Raid Siren”, yet for
all his vocal power he is just as adept at carrying off the far softer vocals
that introduce a few of the songs on this disc. The singer is without a doubt
one of the best of all time. He demonstrates this throughout the album over and
over again.
The song “Brighter Than A Thousand Suns” is the best song on the
CD. It along with “Different World” has everything you could want
in a Maiden song.
The Bad
The chorus section of “For The Greater Good Of God” is really
weak. For a song that is so darn great otherwise, it’s a bit disappointing
that there wasn’t something better for the chorus. “The Pilgrim” is
a decent enough song, but I thought it was the weakest
of the album’s ten tracks.
The vocals in “These Colours Don’t Run” are a bit muted or
lower in the mix, at least at the beginning of the song. It doesn’t work
as well as the band might’ve hoped.
The Verdict
Up The Irons indeed!
I know with the past couple of albums, the band has had its share of detractors,
but I’m here to tell you they are dead wrong. It’s very hard to find
something REALLY bad about an Iron Maiden release. The band is a highly professional
and disciplined operation and they know how to craft some of the best metal available
on the market.
The mixture of one of the most powerful singers to ever unleash his pipes, the
three guitar attack, pounding rhythms from McBrain, and perhaps the most literate
and intriguing songwriters in Steve Harris leaves all but a handful of recording
artists of any genre in the dust.
If you can’t get into the majesty that is Iron Maiden, you have no business
listening to music. Period. End of discussion.
Did You Know?
Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain converted to Christianity in 1999. There’s
an online game promoting the new album. You can play it HERE
Rating:  out
of 5
Related Reviews:
Iron Maiden - Death on the Road
Bruce Dickinson - Tattooed Millionaire
-- Jay Roberts
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