Review Summary: A Matter Of Life And Death is a solid Iron Maiden album. Enjoyable on the very first spin and every single song can be described as having an energetic moment and/or other particularly wonderful noteworthy moment.
It is said that Rock has The Rolling Stones and that Metal has Iron Maiden, so with that in mind, I think that there’s really no need to go into a longwinded history lesson of the band. Simply knowing that the band’s original line-up of more than two decades ago is still intact is enough information for the uninitiated or casual listener.
The album opens with an energetic rocker and the boys continue with the headbanging barrage and onslaught one excellent track after another. There are absolutely no surprises to be found here. For me, song compositions are more straightforward, there is a very lively feel to the album and the music is a little less repetitive than past offerings. For instance, the band is well known for their repetitive passages often lasting 8 measures or more. Although still present here, they are fewer and far between and less stuffy overall.
There’s a wonderful flow from track to track that is undeniably smooth, coherent and well developed throughout the disc. Yes, there are three guitar players, all individually capable of fronting a metal band on their own. But here, you’d never really know it. One could easily argue that all the guitar work done on this album had been performed by one guitarist. The reason being is that you can’t always distinguish the work of all three guitarists. You’ve all heard it said before that sometimes less is more, well, that description fits perfectly here. In my view, the band sounds heavy without necessarily sounding heavier than past offerings. Everything is less cluttered, clearer sounding, making the album appear less complex but the band has included more pace changes and more intricate song structures to keep everything more interesting and moving along nicely.
Introduction to most songs are often soft and slow moving but the build up to the verse and the chorus is never so lengthy as to make you loose interest or fall asleep. Once the song gets going though and the band reaches its full stride, all one can do after that moment is to enjoy the ride. And what a great ride it is!
