The British metal titans are back with a bang and how! This time it’s a monster of an album with sounds dotted with slow-building atmosphere and progressive song structures that resonates of the live-wire energy of their previous biggest albums. The band’s 17th full-length album, Senjutsu is another treat for their fans all around the globe.
Like every 21st century quintessential Maiden album, Senjutsu shares its central sound theme with the refined melodies and epic scale of their previous record-shattering albums. According to the band the album title is derived from Japanese word meaning “strategy” or “tactics”. Beginning with the martial drum pattern and thunderous riffs of the title track, Senjutsu is a revelation of all sorts. “Remember that patience is no sin,” sings Bruce Dickinson a whole three minutes into Senjutsu’s “The Parchment” which is one of the album’s standout single.
Maiden is at their imperious best on Senjutsu when they rise to their sounds and riffs bearing burning ambitions. They recount Belshazzar’s Feast from the Old Testament on “The Writing on the Wall,” reassess Churchill’s shortcomings on “Darkest Hour,” and ruminate on the end of the world on “Senjutsu” and “Days of Future Past.”
“The Time Machine” is a seven-minute wonder that fuses the band’s guitar motifs with a fist-pumping chorus that stands up to any of their Eighties anthems. “Death of the Celts” weaves lighter musical themes with lilting heavy riffs while Dickinson narrates a tale of Celtic warriors willing to sacrifice themselves for glory and sheer immortality. And the album’s most stunning song, “Hell on Earth,” builds from a new-age sounds into one of Dickinson’s most cutting vocal performances in years as he screams about feeling “lost in anger” around the eight-minute mark.
A little more than 40 years ago, Maiden established themselves as one of the most original metal bands to emerge in the wakes of Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. About midway into the Eighties, they adopted a more progressive approach to their music — writing longer, more intricate songs with even more fantastical lyrics — without compromising an ounce. They also invented the instantly recognizable “Maidenesque” riff — jagged, economical, almost Bach-like melodies that capture minutes of drama in just a few seconds — which have echoed in the music of bands from Metallica to Papa Roach.
The album is without doubt progressive in the most literal sense, as they transition masterfully from one Maidenesque idea to another. The album feels like the victory moment they’ve been singing about for years and decades. Needless to say, If listeners have the patience and time to invest fully, Senjutsu surely emerges as one of the most rewarding and vital albums in Maiden’s glorious catalogue.
