Iron Maiden - Senjutsu ALBUM REVIEW
Okay, who gave Eddie the sword?
Iron Maiden is one of the most iconic and beloved metal groups ever. They don’t need much of an introduction, so I’ll just leave it at that. They recently dropped their first album in six years, Senjutsu, and it’s reportedly one of their more progressive releases. Having been more in the progressive rock/metal area more recently, I find this to be pretty exciting. The shortest song on here is just over four minutes, while some of the longer songs reach eleven, twelve, and even thirteen minutes long. So, can the British outfit capture lightning in a bottle once more? Let’s find out with Senjutsu.
Let me just say this one thing about the album: I can really appreciate that the band isn’t taking the safe route with their music. They never seem to stay boring when it comes to creating music and simply putting it out there for not only them to enjoy but for their fans to enjoy. This is the time for pretty long albums, and this is no different with its 82-minute runtime. Unlike their past albums, most of these songs are pretty long, like what I mentioned above. In the metal community, it’s been pretty split on the reactions to this. Personally, I mainly end up on the positive side of this spectrum. The biggest gripe I have with this is Bruce Dickinson’s vocals, honestly. I think they were pretty strained and while there were times that he sounded relatively good, it could be a case of him simply being past his prime. Outside of that, I really enjoyed the contributions from the rest of the band. If you’re curious, the members now are Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers, Steve Harris, and Nicko McBrain.
Overall, I think Senjutsu is a pretty cool comeback. I think it expands more on Iron Maiden’s last album, Book of Souls, impressively well. Where this album will divide you is the progressive aspects of it. You’ll either love it or hate it based on that fact, and I ended up loving it, even if there are some little problems with it.
8/10
Listen here
YouTube Music
Senjutsu is a Parlophone release.
Iron Maiden is one of the most iconic and beloved metal groups ever. They don’t need much of an introduction, so I’ll just leave it at that. They recently dropped their first album in six years, Senjutsu, and it’s reportedly one of their more progressive releases. Having been more in the progressive rock/metal area more recently, I find this to be pretty exciting. The shortest song on here is just over four minutes, while some of the longer songs reach eleven, twelve, and even thirteen minutes long. So, can the British outfit capture lightning in a bottle once more? Let’s find out with Senjutsu.
Let me just say this one thing about the album: I can really appreciate that the band isn’t taking the safe route with their music. They never seem to stay boring when it comes to creating music and simply putting it out there for not only them to enjoy but for their fans to enjoy. This is the time for pretty long albums, and this is no different with its 82-minute runtime. Unlike their past albums, most of these songs are pretty long, like what I mentioned above. In the metal community, it’s been pretty split on the reactions to this. Personally, I mainly end up on the positive side of this spectrum. The biggest gripe I have with this is Bruce Dickinson’s vocals, honestly. I think they were pretty strained and while there were times that he sounded relatively good, it could be a case of him simply being past his prime. Outside of that, I really enjoyed the contributions from the rest of the band. If you’re curious, the members now are Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers, Steve Harris, and Nicko McBrain.
Overall, I think Senjutsu is a pretty cool comeback. I think it expands more on Iron Maiden’s last album, Book of Souls, impressively well. Where this album will divide you is the progressive aspects of it. You’ll either love it or hate it based on that fact, and I ended up loving it, even if there are some little problems with it.
8/10
Listen here
YouTube Music
Senjutsu is a Parlophone release.
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