Iron Maiden – Book Of Souls – BMG
By Jeffrey Easton
To survive 5 minutes in this business is one thing but over 35 years and now with 16 studio albums then you must be Iron Maiden. Surviving every trend, all the ups and downs and everything else in their way they have delivered one of their best albums With Book Of Souls, a serious contender for Metal Album Of the Year. From the euphoric opening of If Eternity Should Fall you get that eerie feeling that Maiden gives you and once the trademark galloping riffs kick in you are back in that safe place that only metal can give you. Iron Maiden are always plowing deeper ground when they write but that doesn’t mean they cant visit classic sounds and they do that well with the anthem in the making Speed Of Light. Opening with cowbell and breaking into Bruce’s trademark scream, you know it’s the Maiden you always banged your head too. The Spanish guitar intro to The Red And The Black adds depth to a massively heavy song and makes the riffs that crash into it all that heavier as it sears into another trade mark lead that will stick in your head like Run To The Hills did . The album does take many paths sonically but never fails at giving the listener the real Maiden at its heart as with The Red And The Black, the title track leads you in with a sinister flamenco that is torched with flame thrower riffs as Maiden blows your speakers out with possibly the best title track since Fear Of The Dark. And where as Book Of Souls feels fresh, different, new and even heavier, Shadows Of The Valley harkens back to Somewhere In Time with its feel and solos and Bruce’s lyrical pleading. With Book Of Souls, Maiden does deliver some of the best interplay amongst Janick, Adrian and Dave to date. That is most evident on the 18 plus minute album closer Empire In The Clouds. The lilting piano gives way to a beautiful string section with the guitars hinting in the background. The riffs overtake both channels as the solos glide effortlessly through the mix taking you on the journey that Maiden has set on with Clouds. Empire Of The Clouds will go down as the modern Maiden anthem, an instant classic that will be screamed for live. Maiden is a legend, the band that immediately falls off the lips of any true metal fan as one of the true inspirations of heavy metal and with Book Of Souls they have delivered an album of pure Maiden and what will be long remembered as a pure fucking classic.
Official Iron Maiden Site
BUY Book of Souls
BUY Book Of Souls On Vinyl
By Jeffrey Easton
To survive 5 minutes in this business is one thing but over 35 years and now with 16 studio albums then you must be Iron Maiden. Surviving every trend, all the ups and downs and everything else in their way they have delivered one of their best albums With Book Of Souls, a serious contender for Metal Album Of the Year. From the euphoric opening of If Eternity Should Fall you get that eerie feeling that Maiden gives you and once the trademark galloping riffs kick in you are back in that safe place that only metal can give you. Iron Maiden are always plowing deeper ground when they write but that doesn’t mean they cant visit classic sounds and they do that well with the anthem in the making Speed Of Light. Opening with cowbell and breaking into Bruce’s trademark scream, you know it’s the Maiden you always banged your head too. The Spanish guitar intro to The Red And The Black adds depth to a massively heavy song and makes the riffs that crash into it all that heavier as it sears into another trade mark lead that will stick in your head like Run To The Hills did . The album does take many paths sonically but never fails at giving the listener the real Maiden at its heart as with The Red And The Black, the title track leads you in with a sinister flamenco that is torched with flame thrower riffs as Maiden blows your speakers out with possibly the best title track since Fear Of The Dark. And where as Book Of Souls feels fresh, different, new and even heavier, Shadows Of The Valley harkens back to Somewhere In Time with its feel and solos and Bruce’s lyrical pleading. With Book Of Souls, Maiden does deliver some of the best interplay amongst Janick, Adrian and Dave to date. That is most evident on the 18 plus minute album closer Empire In The Clouds. The lilting piano gives way to a beautiful string section with the guitars hinting in the background. The riffs overtake both channels as the solos glide effortlessly through the mix taking you on the journey that Maiden has set on with Clouds. Empire Of The Clouds will go down as the modern Maiden anthem, an instant classic that will be screamed for live. Maiden is a legend, the band that immediately falls off the lips of any true metal fan as one of the true inspirations of heavy metal and with Book Of Souls they have delivered an album of pure Maiden and what will be long remembered as a pure fucking classic.
Official Iron Maiden Site
BUY Book of Souls
BUY Book Of Souls On Vinyl