DANCE OF DEATH

After the return of Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith to Iron Maiden on the very good "Brave New World", the English band released their thirteenth album, "Dance of Death" (2003), three years later. Without being a concept album, the sombre scent of death is present throughout much of the album, from the title itself and reinforced by the disturbing, masked characters on the controversial and much-criticised cover art half-designed by David Patchett (UK graphic artist) and digitally completed by the band's communications team.

Beyond the tracks that correctly meet the band's recognisable standards, such as the fast-paced "Rainmaker", the dark and raw "Montsegur", and the simple "New Frontier" and "Gates of Tomorrow" (the latter closer to digestible hard rock), there are a handful of powerful and highly accomplished developments on "Dance of Death". Carefully elaborated structures and virtuoso instrumental displays with the inclusion of synthesizers to enrich the atmospheres in the style of "Somewhere in Time", stand out clearly in songs like the intense "No More Lies" and the similar bass lines of Steve Harris to "The Clansman" ("Virtual XI" album), the haunting encounter with death in the spectral and medieval "Dance of Death", the progressive epic referencing the horrors of the First World War in "Paschendale" dominated by the guitar trio's enormous showmanship and Nicko Mc Brain's persistent hi hat, and the tempestuous and soaring "Face in the Sun" where McBrain shows off an infinite double bass drum accompanying Dickinson's strained singing, could be part of the best of Iron Maiden's discography without a doubt.

And to round off the album, the band captained by Harris surprises by completely leaving aside the distorted guitars and thousands of volts so that the peaceful "Journeyman", an unplugged and orchestrated melody adds an additional nuance to the sonic universe of the maiden.

Weighed down in part by the controversial cover, given the important role that aesthetics always played in the band's overall approach, "Dance of Death" may not have transcended as much as, in my opinion, it deserved to.

4 stars

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