Newest Iron Maiden album “Senjutsu” was worth the six year wait

Iron Maiden’s output in the twenty first century is consistently good. It’s also really, really slow. After 30 years, it’s become clear the band can’t maintain the album-every-year schedule of its early career, and they’ve certainly decided to take it easy. Look at the gaps between albums since the dawn of the new millennium: three years, three years, then four, five, and finally a glacial six year waiting period leading up to “Senjutsu.”

I heard “The Book of Souls” back in freshman year of high school, and now I’m a sophomore in college. If this release schedule continues, the next Iron Maiden album should be out around 2028, just in time for the birth of my first child. Iron Maiden have established themselves as a legendary household name, and with nothing to prove, anything they do now is just running up the score.

It’s no surprise that they’re not in a hurry. But frankly the wait is worth it. “Senjutsu” is the band’s second double album, after 2015’s “The Book of Souls”. Clocking in at over 80 minutes, it should hopefully be enough to hold fans over until the band’s next album comes out in a decade.

One thing that stands out here is the theme. Much of the inspiration for Iron Maiden albums seems to be putting their mascot Eddie in different historical and cultural settings on the cover. The band has released albums inspired by outer space, ancient Egypt, the Great War and everywhere in between. This time around, they’ve decided to focus on Japan.

Several of the song titles are (Latizined) Japanese, and the album’s artwork features the band’s signature mascot in Samurai regalia. Iron Maiden doesn’t usually dedicate an album’s focus entirely to one theme, but the references that were included are interesting, nonetheless.

So how is the music? About as good as Iron Maiden has ever been, which is high praise. While it’s an odd duck in the band’s discography the album is a gem nonetheless. It’s important to note that double albums generally tend to have upwards of, say, 15-20 songs. For Iron Maiden to create a double album with just ten tracks was certainly a bold and ambitious move, and it could only be achieved through a strategy few are brave enough to take: making the songs REALLY, REALLY long.

The last three songs on this album are each upwards of ten minutes long, and could probably justify a release on their own without the other seven tracks to back it up. There’s only two tracks below six minutes in length.

Iron Maiden is no stranger to writing epics like this, of course, but the idea of making an album essentially dedicated to them certainly must have posed a challenge. The song structures are a lot less refined, with a lot of blank space that contrasts strongly with the very tight and stripped down structures of many other progressive-minded bands now on the scene.

Nicko McBrain defends his position as one of the most underrated drummers in the world with beats like the one on the title track tastefully incorporating the toms into the main rhythm alongside elements of a traditional
four on the floor beat. Bruce Dickinson’s voice has aged like wine.

The three guitar attack remains a force to be reckoned with and Steve Harris, while a bit back in the mix compared to previous records, is still one of heavy metal’s most adventurous bassists, in addition to contributing keyboards to a number of tracks. These keyboards, alongside a number of string arrangements, provide something a lot of modern metal tends to lack: atmosphere.

I’m a fan of a lot of modern heavy metal but the fact of the matter is that many of these bands are focused entirely on capturing huge guitar tones through multitracking, leaving less space in the mix for anything else. But “Senjutsu” production is still heavily inspired by the techniques of the past–less low end, fewer tracks and more gain. Steve Harris’s bass playing doesn’t dominate the mix like in the past but it’s still given a prominent
position and the tone retains the volume and clarity it’s always had. Even with more experimental songwriting, the classic feel of older albums shines through in the production.

I appreciate the slower, acoustic driven moments as well as the instrumental passages, both of which are featured in “Lost in a Lost World,” my current favorite track from the album. Those are two elements of the classic Iron Maiden song a lot of fans tend to neglect, and I’m glad to see their inclusion was a focus on this album.

Overall, “Senjutsu” is a dark, foreboding album. Now elder statesmen, Iron Maiden are willing to take risks and branch out, and the result is a rewarding new entry in the band’s already-acclaimed discography. Both the songwriting and the production are top notch, and I’d recommend this album to both new and old fans of the band, as well as any metal fans in general.