Iron Maiden
Senjutsu

IMPORTANT PREMISE: It's clear that tackling an Iron Maiden album as your first review ever is a significant act of courage. If the reviewer (in other words, myself) is still very young, then this act can be almost seen as naïveté. Nonetheless, it wouldn't have made sense to start with a project with less hype around it, and I consider this a challenge more with myself than with others.

INTRODUCTION: Firstly, I find it imperative to immediately praise the band for a great reason: this is the second double album of their career, following the previous The Book Of Souls (which I found to be a good, at times excellent work). The fact that a band now made up of sixty-year-olds has this great desire to compose and produce new music is fascinating, and above all, it is commendable that their first two double CDs came respectively with their sixteenth and seventeenth studio albums, a sign of the band's excellent health, at least from a creative standpoint. But, on the other hand, expecting another "The Number Of The Beast" is pure utopia; not having any expectations in anticipation of its release means being in bad faith, because the Maiden, whatever they say, still have a lot to say, certainly much more than all the pseudo-bands circulating today and pretending to be the new pioneers of rock.

Senjutsu (a title that can be translated as "tactics and strategy") apparently presents itself as a work that retraces the style already embodied by almost all the post-2000 works (including Brave New World): long and complex songs – mainly by Harris – alternating with gallops typical of the Maiden style. In fact, the album lasts 82 minutes, making it the second longest album in their career (right after The Book Of Souls). Over the weeks and from the very first reviews, it was understood that this new work would assimilate within itself much more varied songs compared to recent albums (including a semi-ballad like "Darkest Hour"). Overall, Senjutsu proves to be an extremely refined, complex, and very enjoyable album that alternates numerous different emotions. Not perfect, this is quite evident, but it's nonetheless an album that can only grow with repeated listens, offering 1 hour and 22 minutes of excellent, sometimes even magnificent music.

The album opens in a nearly "unprecedented" way for Maiden: with a title track over 8 minutes long. Strange, one might think: never before has there been an instance where they began with the title track, and furthermore, such a lengthy song. The eponymous "Senjutsu" turns out to be one of those tracks that might betray your expectations: on the first listen, it didn't entirely convince me. I expected a biting, edgy song. A punch; actually, the song isn't as fast as one might expect (and want) from an opening track. Not bad, but perhaps one of the less incisive tracks on the album, although it grows significantly with multiple listens.

Next up is "Stratego", one of the two tracks that were already available for listening before the album's release. A good track, one of the only two that evokes the band's classic style. Not an absolute masterpiece, but surely a very pleasant track that flows nicely and, although the mix is at times embarrassing, the song holds its own and turns out to be a very enjoyable track. Guitar-wise, it deserves at least an 8.

We then arrive at the first single that anticipated the release of this album, which is "The Writing On The Wall"; a song with a vaguely western flavor, its sound embraces more hard rock than heavy metal atmospheres. However, the track is nice, really takes off after a minute, following an effective and always pleasant acoustic guitar introduction, succeeded by a nice electric guitar riff. The solo part is very interesting, reportedly the longest that Adrian Smith has ever composed. Although this is a fairly unusual track for Maiden, there are phrases that very much reflect the band's signature sound, which are always a pleasure to find again in new productions. Taken singularly, the track is really excellent; seen within the context of the whole album, it might not perfectly fit.

After the first 3 tracks, which are particularly useful for immersing the listener in the mood of the album, it stands out definitively with the arrival of the fourth highlight in this work, and here we begin to unleash the heavy artillery: "Lost In A Lost World", from the very beginning, presents itself as the first elaborate piece of the collection; a track over 9 minutes long, the sole work of Harris (obviously), has, as expected, a "Harris-like" intro. Acoustic guitar reigns supreme, with E minor and D major progressions for about a minute and a half; there's also some "oooooohhhhhhhhh oooooohhhhhhhhh" which, in this case, doesn't seem jarring particularly, because it adds further drama to the mood of the song. Then, the track predictably explodes, and proves to be a great gallop, an extraordinary expression of the sentiment narrated in the song's title and also by its lyrics. The instrumental part is wonderful, where the lead guitars paint frescoes of pure emotion. In the finale, the guitars (obviously) stand out again, extraordinary and stirring. It can only grow with listens, and although the production leaves something to be desired, the guitars are magnificent, superb. A gripping, compelling track, one of the best songs in their recent productions. Another profound gift and seal stamped by Harris. Thank you, truly. But, after all, we've only just begun...

To allow the listener to recover from the intense experience just lived, here comes the fifth track, the shortest song of the batch (only 4:03, even shorter than "Tears Of A Clown" from the previous record).

The track that most struck and thrilled me immediately was undoubtedly "The Time Machine": a grandiose masterpiece, without any ifs or buts. A wonderful and exciting cavalry in which almost everything is perfect (production aside naturally). It begins with two guitars, one acoustic and one electric, doubling each other. Shortly after Dickinson's entrance, the track takes off and carries us away throughout its duration. Seven minutes of magnificence, and I like the album more and more.

Dramatic and desperate is the seventh song, "Darkest Hour", which talks, as has happened more than once before, about Winston Churchill. An extremely dark and powerful song, there are truly exceptional points; the chorus proves to be wonderful. The solo section is magnificent, where the guitars offer an overwhelming emotion. A great episode, once again signed by Smith (how great is this guitarist) and Dickinson and, indeed, their touch is well recognizable in this song.

We thus come to the final triad of songs that close the work. A marathon of emotions, precisely because we are talking about the longest tracks of the album: all three are over ten minutes long. The first, "Death Of The Celts", is perhaps the only one that needed to be slightly shortened. A good track, at times excellent, with interesting ideas, but among the three, it is perhaps the one that tends to excite the least, even though it is a fine piece.

Infinitely better is "The Parchment", an extraordinary song (with lousy production) that has a lot of medieval vibes and also a vaguely oriental flavor. A great introductory guitar riff, before the track unexpectedly takes off. It's the longest track on the album, but its 12 minutes are all worth it. An extraordinary solo section, and yet another masterpiece signed by Steve Harris.

To close the album, another extremely ambitious track. "Hell On Earth" is probably one of the top three episodes of the whole album (alongside "Lost In A Lost World" and "The Time Machine", personal opinion eh!). 11 minutes of everything, everything one could desire from a heavy metal track. A song containing infinite class, it made me think that, always in the series that in life you can never predict anything, it could be the last song in Maiden history. If so, it would be a splendid closure for an equally glorious career. Glorious, just like this song.

A very delicate album, which must be handled with care and needs to be fully understood. If you are someone who loves the long and complex tracks that Maiden usually offer today (like me) and good music in general, this album will offer you an intensely filled hour and a half (approximately). It is the most particular and different record that Maiden has ever made, perhaps the most varied, and for this reason one of the most interesting. A final word I'd like to spend on this extraordinary and timeless band, which has been offering spectacular music to its audience for 40 years now, but what makes them better than all the others is that they try to evolve with every record; they don't obsessively seek to return to their roots to satisfy nostalgic fans (did anyone say Metallica?), but continue a coherent and wonderful discourse, which, although we all hope it is not the case, may unfortunately have come to an end with this seventeenth studio album. The seventeenth chapter of a wonderful story. Thank you so much as always, dear Maiden. Thank you for everything!

Rating: 85/100