The sheer scale of Empire of The Clouds in every aspect, from the lyrics to the huge dynamics to the constant change in atmosphere, make it a mind-blowing listen. Epic motifs and a prominent use of piano fill the 18 minute runtime of this song. Empire of The Clouds is fitting as it symbolises Iron Maiden at the absolute peak of their progressive ideas and their most ambitious right at the end of their run of 2000s/2010s albums before Senjutsu would come along as a spanner in the works. Just as If Eternity Should Fail was the perfect opener, the closer is perfect too. However, the closer and possibly the most iconic song on this record, Empire of The Clouds, is mostly slow. There is an emphasis on rhythm in this album, the iconic gallop is present on every song and instead of the drums and bass following the lead guitars, it's something of the other way around.įeeling much less contrived than The Final Frontier, as well as featuring a major increase in the average tempo, there has definitely been rejuvenation in the writing process of the band's material. With that being said, this is probably the only Iron Maiden album where the longer tracks exclusively are the highlights, but somehow the band manages to sustain this quality throughout songs that fall well over the 10 minute mark, and would be mind-numbing slogs had they been written at any other point in the band's career. The album as a whole exudes a very heroic and powerful nature. While it does seem like the record's runtime is consistent with the massive gaps in quality between these songs, the music generally never falls below the standard of excellent, with the primary cause of this inconsistency being that the longer tracks naturally contain much more content, while the less grand songs definitely refrain from being filler, still nailing these key elements but in a more simplistic way. Add a great wordless chorus to this, and you have a track that will be viewed in the same league as Rime of The Ancient Mariner and Hallowed By Thy Name in 10 years. Bruce's frantic vocals on this song, mimicking the guitar melody is utter perfection. On the subject of this song, it is another highlight of the album, with an epic and consistent structure. Steve Harris' performance in particular is a highlight, and while it's shocking that he only wrote one song, The Red And The Black, this track shows his skill as a bass player and composer. The production is very muddy, but the guitar tone has been severely improved, and there is a much wider range of dynamics with an EQ that gives each instrument more clarity. These songs are admirable in that they show off great riffs with surmountable energy and a great atmosphere, adding to the songs' memorability. There is a surprising mix of shorter, catchier songs and longer, more ambitious songs on here, with Speed of Light and Death Or Glory acting as flashbacks to classics like Flight of Icarus and Tailgunner. While the rest of the album doesn't exactly match the perfection of the opener, this is to be expected. The chorus is excellent, the solos are amazing, and the spoken-word outro coupled with the acoustic guitar truly solidify If Eternity Should Fail as Iron Maiden finally nailing their ideas perfectly. When the actual rhythm section kicks in, the track explodes into one of the absolute best examples of how Iron Maiden revolves a simple riff and gallop over amazing melodies. The use of a flute and triumphant synths over a dramatic vocal delay effect immediately show the influence of the Mayans on this album's general theme. If Eternity Should Fail is the perfect opener for this mammoth of a release, and it may be my favourite Iron Maiden song. Why do I hold The Book of Souls in such high regard? Well, right from the beginning of the opening track, it's noticeable that the band are now able to show fluent substance and fresh concepts without relying too much on over-repetition. With unparalleled riffs and melodies on this record that manage to stay consistent, it isn't really a competition with the exception of A Matter of Life And Death.
#FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH GOT YOUR SIX GETMETAL FULL#
I can say with full confidence that this is their best release since Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. In the midst of a run of albums that seem to stretch songs and ideas just a bit too much, The Book of Souls seems to be Iron Maiden at the peak of their output and ability to create music that stands as exceptionally well-written and emotive enough to retain your attention despite the extremely long song lengths.
0 kommentar(er)
