Iron Maiden
A Matter Of Life And Death

As is now customary, around every Iron Maiden album release, an almost spasmodic anticipation is created, and this album was no exception.

More than ever these years, this band is under the vigilant and relentless eye of every metalhead scrutinizing the quality of their releases, often with skepticism... Nevertheless, the work I am about to review is one that, instead of trying to please everyone, goes its own way... yes, because the Maiden once again seem to want to reaffirm the concept on which their production ideal has been based for years, namely: "we do what we like and that’s that".

“A Matter of Life and Death” thus presents itself as a countercurrent product, ambitious, and in a certain sense also risky. In fact, except for the opener, the entire album is based on rather long tracks; there are no immediate pieces like "2 minutes to midnight", "the evil that men do", or "run to the hills". The whole album is built on the magical formula invented in the previous album 'Dance of Death' with the track "Paschendale", a slow intro, crescendo, solos, slow outro but proposed in a creative sauce of various musical styles (blues, folk, metal..). In essence, with this album, the Maiden, despite their status as untouchable symbols, have embarked on a path that almost dissociates them from a past of which only a certain nuance remains at the level of sound and some compositional-structural solutions.

Already the opener DIFFERENT WORLD, although being the most immediate and shortest of the album, uses a type of chorus and pre-chorus in Thin Lizzy style, something completely unusual for them, with low vocals, in some ways difficult to assimilate but also apt and exciting, in any case, this turns out to be an excellent opener but very far from what follows.

THESE COLOURS DON'T RUN is the classic Maiden track, perhaps the only one on the album; it starts slow but rhythmic, increasingly grows in speed and power. This track talks about the figure of the soldier, an ordinary man who risks his life for his work, and the chorus is a call to courage that surely many will sing loudly at concerts. After the second anthemic chorus, the guitar solo section takes off, taking us back in time to the '80s, with masterful fantasy and execution, music to the ears.

BRIGHTER THAN A THOUSAND SUNS... speaks of the atomic bomb. In fact, it really is a bomb, heavy, very heavy, with Metallica-like guitar sections, growing in fury... and then suddenly it dies out in the chorus... Bruce's whispering voice that seems lost in infinity, only to resume with power and intensity. Suddenly, the tempo changes, the gallop, the solemn and resounding voice, the confusion, a series of crossover solos, the calm, again the power... the almost contemplative chorus again, as if wanting to express a child's amazement at the rise of that terrifying light in a slow-motion scene... the final explosion, the last low-voiced almost dying remark "holy father we have sinned... ", a track that holds the power of a punch in the stomach and the delicacy of a mountain flower, brilliant, brighter than a thousand suns.

THE PILGRIM: A quite particular and interesting rocker track, with a difficult-to-access chorus and solos with almost Egyptian flavor, it takes you back to the powerslave period but in a completely different way, excellent.

THE LONGEST DAY: surely one of the absolute masterpieces of the album. A dark bass line takes us to the beaches of Normandy, the soldiers encouraging each other; the time has come to challenge death for the good of the world. The track grows, increasingly determined, the boats approach the shore, the soldiers throw themselves into the water, and with them, the song explodes in solemnity, the chorus arrives, and Bruce's voice seems to surpass infinity, beyond the barrage of bullets pouring against fragile bodies, beyond that hell, up to the sky... the instrumental section starts, excellent, engaging, brilliant, returning to the vocals, the song does not seem to find a true end, what remains of those soldiers, whether they survived or joined in rest in the red waters only God can know. Excellent, it will become one of Maiden's great classics.

OUT OF THE SHADOWS: a caress after the previous moral slap, it is more similar to a classic Bruce solo track than one of the Maiden's... and indeed in this track Bruce perhaps gives his best in many years. It is a semi-ballad, engaging, with a chorus that perhaps recalls a bit 'Tears of the Dragon', really interesting and well-conceived, the instrumental part with a blues flavor, in essence, a more than great track.

THE REINCARNATION OF BENJAMIN BREEG: starts atmospherically, Bruce's narrating voice, the calm before the storm, suddenly the explosion, the guitars go heavy, the rhythm is fairly static and the structure is simple overall, but with great impact, a hymn to suffering, a good track.

FOR THE GREATER GOOD OF GOD: the other absolute masterpiece of the album. The intro is brilliant and impactful; what you believe to be the chorus actually is not, because at a certain point it is Bruce's powerful and resounding voice that will brand it into your mind, and the instrumental section is wonderful and original, also quite engaging, a very long track, but you’d hope it never ends.... a track that reflects on man and war, I dare to define it the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" of the new millennium.

LORD OF LIGHT: strange, unusual... but very interesting I would say, it has folk veins and brilliant compositional ideas, catchy and with a biblical flavor the chorus; in fact, this track talks about Lucifer and God, it is not an easily accessible track, personally it's the one I had to listen to the most to appreciate it, but it was worth it.

THE LEGACY: a small nonconformist masterpiece in Maiden's discography. It has a medieval atmosphere, Bruce seems like a minstrel at the King's court, the ideas contained in this track are lightning, peculiar and impactful is the chorus, and well-crafted the instrumental part, it closes as it started, in a dark and sinister atmosphere. . . great final test, very interesting and masterfully successful.

IN CONCLUSION

LYRICS: In terms of lyrics, this is easily the best album in Maiden's history, all very inspired and impactful.
MUSIC: At times made of strokes of genius and brilliant outings, experimental, yet never gaudy; note the great and passionate spontaneity felt in many parts of the album, reminiscent of Somewhere in Time in this respect.
PERFORMANCE: exceptional, an album where every single member is a great protagonist
SOUND AND PRODUCTION: more than excellent production, clean, powerful, compact, and atmospheric sound; the amazing thing is that this album was recorded live and has not undergone additional manipulation after mixing.

PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS
The album itself is excellent, full of well-conceived and executed ideas, a masterpiece? I certainly won't be the one to decide it; the arduous sentence is left to posterity. The fact remains that these are the new Maiden, there is no longer time for the usual headbanging... no more time for the concept of heavy metal. The Maiden have stopped playing the part of the canonized Irons to be something coherent yet completely different at the same time. The Maiden, today more than ever, emphasize that they are Iron Maiden and that's it - no more laminated labels to pin on them like in the past, no more simple definitions to package them into a predefined concept… Maiden only!

What this album is based on is the narrative power of six men in the prime of their age of reason. It is an album that has many things to say and requires an audience willing to sit down and listen to it calmly and coherently. It's an album that needs many listens; someone at first impact may remain perplexed, confused but should not jump to hasty conclusions... take your time and let the music slowly grow in you. It is a very introspective album, written from the heart, by those who still have something to tell us... by those who still want to make us dream. In essence, I consider it the best album released since the '80s, I believe a notch above even 'Brave New World', which is another great work... however, I already know there will be those who will complain about this new product, but one thing is certain; the Maiden have stopped making metalheads happy for about fifteen years... but fortunately, they continue on their path without listening too much to people.

Because the truth is only one; their audience does not remotely know what they really want to hear or what would really make them satisfied. Then I say; for the nostalgic ones, you have their old albums. Stick them in your stereo and indulge in regret. For those instead who do not follow clichés, this is yet another spectacle of an album.