Iron Maiden- The Book of Souls (2015)

Iron Maiden- The Book of Souls (2015)

“Rock music should be gross: that's the fun of it. It gets up and drops its trousers.”

Bruce Dickinson

By: Ghost Writer

A few years ago there was agitation in the world, a supposed Mayan prophesy signaled the end of the world, it was all due to a major misinterpretation of a Mayan calendar, that in fact didn't mean a definite end, but a new beginning, the Mayans also believed in the eternal life of the souls once the body died, so in a way this new Iron Maiden record entitled The Book of Souls perhaps linked that idea with the fact that after the Maiden is gone the music will live forever, if not, ask the band's mascot Eddie for his Mayan depiction on the cover.

This might be a great year for traditional heavy metal as we have received not only a great, great Motorhead record, but now an Iron Maiden record true to tradition, powerful and epic.

Many thought that Maiden's future was on peril after singer's Bruce Dickinson was diagnosed with throat cancer, but Dickinson like The Scorpions' Klaus Meine before him, proved that he was born with a metal vocal chords and throat, he survived the illness, prompting the band to return to the studio and waste no more time and make a new record, the result, a double one, most of it recorded in a hurry, in the least time possible and trying to capture a live feel.

I felt opener If Eternity Should Fail a little lost in its intro, a little bit if proggy clichéd stuff, but the band quickly resumes into familiar Maiden territory, Maiden is not known exactly for innovation, but for endurance and passion and the theme pus both in display.

But all fears are gone in Speed of Light, which shows the Maiden muscle in top form and Dickinson voice ready to carry memorable melodies and turning them into something astonishing, all this while Harris and the rest of the Troopers create those classic galloping rhythms inherited from the great UFO, and that triple guitar attack put at full display and glory just as in the following theme called The Great Unknown, to me a triple guitar attack like in the case of Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Eagles or Radiohead is a bit too much, but somehow the Maidens have learned to use it and adapt it well to their approach and to their well-known dynamic mystic.

Again the Maiden´s tendency towards progressive rocks appears in The Red and the Black which also catapult us into the realm of epic sounding cascade-like guitars, and some lines that remind me of the great Mother Russia of the awesome No Prayer for the Dying record, but a real breath taker arrives in the form of When the Rivers Run Deep, with its ultra-fast guitar lines and high speed drums and bass.

A sign that you can't count out the Maiden is clearly shown in the hard hitter Death or Glory, with Dickinson high wailing and the band enduring rhythms and crunchier guitars.

The Book of Soul is an admirable record for a band well in its decade number 4, proving that the band is in top form and in full possession of a sound unique and a particular epic universe without need of fixing it, fear of the end can be definitely put away as this maiden made of iron is far from rusting in peace.