The Book Of Souls is the sixteenth studio record by English
Heavy Metal band Iron Maiden and was released on September 4th,
2015. Now anyone that is even remotely into Heavy Metal knows who Iron Maiden
is. They have made some of the most popular records of the genre as a whole and
are major influences even still today. Their last record The Final Frontier was
released five years ago and was pretty good but felt a bit stale in a few
parts. Two huge world tours followed and then this record was announced just as
fast as it came out. This record also clocks in at 92 minutes easily being
their longest yet. However, does this mean just a long boring album full of
proggy classic Metal or a new milestone for Maiden? Let’s find out!
Track Rundown
1.If Eternity Should Fail- the beginning of this song really
sets up quite an epic atmosphere and I really like that. However, as soon as
the song starts it kind of trudges through and I may be the only one that feels
that way but it just feels like the band is just going through the motions, it
does pick up a little but I don’t love it as an opening track. The chorus however
I find pretty catchy.
2.Speed Of Light- The first single of the album, this song
sounds like typical Iron Maiden which isn’t bad and it would probably make a pretty
cool live track on the next tour. The only problem that I start to see is the
production feels a bit muddy. This is a problem mainly with the bass levels counter
acting with the rhythm levels and it feels it pushes too much bass.
3.The Great Unknown- I really like the intro of this song
because it sets up a great mood. The main section is pretty good as well and
Bruces lyrics through the whole album are still ace and I also love the chorus
on this song more than the first two as well as it has a lot of melody within
it.
4. The Red And The Black- This is by far my favorite song on
the album for its sheer epic feel and the tight catchy writing around it. The
mix still irks me in spots but on this track it really does not bother me that
much. The only flaw I have here is it is 13 minutes long and has that epic
feeling of a true album closer, however, its placed almost right in the middle
actually a bit too early. However this song is amazing to me and definitely a
big highlight.
5.When The River Runs Deep- This song picks up the speed a
bit more and has a Somewhere In Time feel to it which I like, there are also
some interesting riff choices in parts as well. I kind of get lost in the solo
at points because it actually runs for quite long in this track and I get kind
of blindsided.
6.The Book Of Souls- This is my least favorite song on the
album because it is just too trudgy for me and feels predictable by Maidens
standards to me as well, it just feels boring. The beginning I really like
however but I usually skip this track it doesn’t do much for me.
DISC TWO
7.Death Or Glory- This feels like it should have been the
album opener, for me anyways. It is just such an epic song a la The Trooper.
The verses are extremely catchy as is the chorus. Another standout song.
8. Shadows of The Valley- This songs opening sounds just
like Wasted Years, however, the rest of the track takes a life of its own
thankfully and is pretty catchy and another song I really like. I also love the
chants placed at the end as well.
9.Tears Of A Clown-
This is a different sounding track for sure and I really like the lyrical
content as well. This song feels a bit boring to me unfortunately and the production
also kind of hurts this song in parts as well. A so so song.
10.The Man Of Sorrows- This is another so so song for me as well
it kind of just feels again like the band are going through motions and isn’t really
a track to keep me interested long enough and the soloing feels a bit flat as
well but I do like the use of keyboards in parts.
11.Empire Of The Clouds- This last track is pretty good
musically wise. For the record it is eighteen freaking minutes long and has a
lot of meat and really stretches beyond being a heavy metal song and I applaud
it for that. My favorite part is the lyrics because of the rich tragic story
the song tells. This being Iron Maidens longest song ever, it feels like a
track or two could’ve been dropped for this behemoth.
Overall, I give this album a 6 out of 10. Really this album
for me felt all over the place and didn’t feel like it flowed as good I had
hoped. There are some real great songs on here as well which is why it gets
such a high rating but I felt that there were points that were too long and
drawn out too much and the production hindered certain parts from really
shining to me. It is an okay effort but not without its problems. Also, sorry
this review took so long as I had to listen to all 92 minutes to get the full
effect and in this world that’s not easy to do.
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