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Iron Maiden - A Matter Of Life And Death CD (album) cover

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

Iron Maiden

 

Prog Related

3.65 | 484 ratings

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Zitro
Prog Reviewer
4 stars Yet another strong and sophisticated album from Iron Maiden. They keep getting better and better! This is in my opinion their strongest album, tied with the debut and "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son". The style of the album is a combination of Dance of Death and X-Factor, making this album their proggiest in my opinion, and one of their darkest. The production is a slight letdown, but not enough to annoy the listener. Most of the songs are somewhat long, but not enough to bore the listeners. I do not think that this album has 'filler'.

Different World begins the album as the typical straight ahead rocker like Wicker Man or Aces High. Nothing too special but never dull or irritating. These Colours Don't Run begins with an inspired mellow acoustic intro and develops into a dynamic mid-lengthed Iron Maiden song with time changes, extended instrumental section, strings, and effective double guitars. Brighter Than a Thousand Suns is a menacing, multi-segmented epic with beautiful heavy riffs and solos, making it the heaviest song of the album. The Pilgrim is an enjoyable rocker with an eastern feel, and a main guitar riff that recalls Led Zeppelin. The Longest Day is a mid-paced epic with a catchy chorus and a very memorable guitar riff playing during the verses. The instrumental section sounds a bit like Dream Theater without the keyboards, very technical. Out of the Shadows is a lighter song, almost like a ballad with electric guitar in parts. A very pleasant listen and a break from the heavier songs. The Reincarnation is a song where its riffs are the best element about it. Like most songs here, it starts softly. The vocal performance is very good here. The Greater Good of God is slightly repetitive, but the musicianship is great, the chorus very memorable (guitar and vocal-wise), the other chorus where the title of the song is chanted has a great guitar riff, and it has a great instrumental section too. Lord of Light is a typical mid-lengthed Iron Maiden song that could have been in their previous album, not a highlight, but not weak either.

The Legacy is the highlight of the album along with "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns". Again, i think of Dream Theater here. The acoustic part I mean. While this song doesn't have Dickinson's vocals on par, the acoustic introduction is as effective as the one in "Dance of Death". It is a symphony of acoustic guitars, the fast paced theme being very beautiful. Also, the epic riff uses wonderful chord progressions, and sounds dramatic when they put the other layers in it. The rest of the song is heavy metal and has excellent songwriting and musicianship. The ending brings back the acoustic guitars and a very powerful last chord that ends the album.

Iron Maiden keeps getting better and better. I highly recommend this album to fans of prog metal.

Zitro | 4/5 |

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