Iron Maiden
Dance of Death

THE REVIEW

The life of all of us is dotted with some irreversible constants: the sun rising every morning, yet another weekly quiz by Mike Bongiorno, Andreotti voting in parliament... in addition to the albums and concerts of Iron Maiden, of course!

The importance of "Dance of Death" lies in it being an album that finally sounds different compared to the previous yet valid "Brave New World," since the three guitars are fully utilized in an attempt, I'd say perfectly realized, to create an interesting and original soundscape. While in "Brave New World," the three guitarists simply alternated in playing various riffs and solos, in "Dance of Death" there are instead passages and continuous references between one guitar and another that appear of fine quality, giving the played tracks a truly unique sense of rhythm. In fact, many of the songs on the album are filled with numerous baroque elements that never tire; indeed, it is only after several in-depth listens that one grasps all the sound nuances present in it.

Additionally, a factor that I believe contributed to the success of this album is the renewed harmony among the band members, which contributes to raising the overall level of the compositions, an aspect that might have been somewhat lacking in the previous album, where each member of the group limited themselves to doing their part without trying to connect their contributions to those of others. In "Dance of Death," fortunately, a different, more cohesive atmosphere can be felt, as one perceives how much the members themselves enjoyed playing it.

The most representative songs of the album are the title track, along with gems like "Paschedale", "Montsegur", and "Rainmaker": particularly, the first two are superlative tracks, built on a game of fits and Chinese boxes with continuous changes of tempo and melody, in a hypnotic alternation of riffs and guitar solos that only the Maiden could conceive. Dickinson's voice captivates from the start, with his manner of acting like a minstrel telling, respectively, the events of a strange nightmare in the first and a famous battle in the second case, then speeding up in the middle of the track. A truly great piece, indeed, it had been since the times of "Fear of the Dark" that Iron hadn't composed such original and fascinating songs, and even then, there was a story to tell about a nightmare with the connected fear of the unknown and death!

The good form of the band is evidenced precisely by these two tracks, in which a quantity of melodic lines and riffs are condensed that, if properly developed, could fill an entire album of metal music.

With "Montsegur", it feels like being back to the times of "Powerslave" or thereabouts, for the energy and intensity inherent in this piece; it couldn’t be otherwise, since it talks about the persecution of the Cathars by the Holy Inquisition, a theme dear to Dickinson who indeed writes a truly inspired and not at all rhetorical text.

The rest of the album travels on good standards (a praise goes to "No More Lies"), except for the opening track, written by Harris and Smith: the painful notes not only of this but of many of Iron’s recent albums stem precisely from the opener, which should have the thankless task of introducing the other tracks. Unfortunately, since the times of "Fear of the Dark," where the splendid "Be Quick Or Be Dead" appeared, Iron hasn't nailed the opening track, and "Wildest Dream" wavers between mediocrity and self-plagiarism, or worse, of others (as occurred with the unfortunate "The Wicker Man", a fusion of "Spreading The Disease" by Queensrÿche and "Running Wild" by Judas Priest). It's an insignificant track musically, a banal musical exercise by Harris and Smith that goes in one ear and out the other without leaving any trace. Much better it would have been to start immediately with "Rainmaker", a tough track with a chorus that immediately imprints itself in your mind for its musicality and simplicity.

Ultimately, this is a great album that if it had just a slightly better opener, could have aspired to the status of an epochal album, but even so, it's worth listening to both for the most die-hard fans and for the lovers of hard and pure music in general.