Iron Maiden – Senjutsu
3/5
Iron Maiden has recently released their 17th album in 2021. The album is called Senjutsu, and there was quite a bit of hype leading up to the album’s release. There were cryptic posters and flyers, video messages, and images leading up to the album’s release, which caused quite a stir in the metal community. When it was announced that Senjutsu would be released, I felt nervous as usual with all Maiden releases. Would they knock it out of the park, or would it be a complete strike out? Would it be full-on amazing, or would it be full of filler songs that should’ve been left on the cutting room floor?
The last time Iron Maiden released a double album was the previous release, Book of Souls, which I thought had a significant amount of filler that could’ve been left off to make one great album. Well, how would Senjutsu measure up? Let’s jump in song for song:
First, I will review each song as a composition. Then I will follow with my thoughts regarding performance and production.
Senjutsu
This song completely caught me off guard. Usually, I find that Maiden comes out of the gates guns blazing with some intense, upbeat metal, but it’s a slow, ploddy, dark, and heavy delivery this time around. The song has a very Eastern-inspired tribal vibe, which makes it really heavy, but leave it to Maiden to slip in a chorus that takes it to another level and actually gave me goosebumps. The song is definitely one in a long line of epic “title tracks” from Maiden, and this is one I would love to hear live.
5/5 Windmill Kicks to the Face
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Stratego
Now, this sounds like it could have been the album opener, but it works in this sequence. When I heard this song on its own, I didn’t love it but hearing it on the heels of “Senjutsu,” I found myself loving it. In some ways, this is where I can hear Maiden starting to come full circle and actually influencing themselves. Let me explain. While “Senjutsu” sounded like a slightly new direction, “Stratego” reminds me of something that could have been on Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, which is funny because it was co-written by Janick Gers (who wouldn’t join Iron Maiden until the next album) w/ Steve Harris. It has an “Evil That Men Do” vibe to it. Janick gets a lot of hate from fans, but the truth is that this fucker can write a song that is every bit as epic as any other Maiden track. It’s cool to see a Janick composition once again, but unfortunately, it’s only one of two of his.
5/5 Samurai Swords
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The Writing on the Wall
A Maiden song with a full-on acoustic intro. Absolutely stunning. Released at the first single with one of the coolest videos I have seen a band put out, “The Writing on the Wall,” captured my attention and drew me in for what I hoped would be a sign of things to come with the rest of this album. Once the song kicks in, it sounds like it was written to be embraced by a live audience. I can hear the audience chanting and thrusting fists in the air. This song sounds like it could’ve been on Fear of the Dark but in a good way as it has that same dark kind of vibe similar to that of “Afraid to Shoot Strangers.” Without looking, I could’ve sworn that this would be a Steve Harris composition, but it is an Adrian Smith/Bruce Dickinson piece. This would also explain why this song is so fucking badass because those two together are just a great writing team.
5/5 Walls with Symbols Carved Into Them
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Lost in a World
Ok, so this is where things start to get a little bit uninteresting. This just feels like a re-hashed collection of musical progressions from past Iron Maiden songs. I am getting an “Afraid to Shoot Strangers” meets “Mother Russia” vibe. To me, the best part of this song was the last part where Bruce serenades over Steve Harris’ signature bass chords. Not a terrible song at all but just nothing exciting or interesting.
3/5 Lost Steve Harrises
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Days of Future Past
Four Words: Ghost of the Navigator. While that song is one of my favorite Iron Maiden songs, I have to say that this song just kind of sounds like a continuation of that song musically. It’s hard for me to hear this as a new song when the chorus is almost identical to “Ghost of the Navigator.” It’s a Smith/Dickinson composition, so it’s a well-done song and doesn’t have the typical (and sometimes annoying) chorus sung 23 times in a row that is found in a Steve Harris composition. It’s not a bad song, but like Lost in a World, it just didn’t do much for me, if anything.
3/5 Past Days (Running outta puns)
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The Time Machine
Now things have gotten interesting again. Janick Gers is back in the saddle for his second of two compositions, and this is a stellar song. Clocking in at 7 minutes and some change is an example of “less is more” that Steve Harris could practice more. The odd time signature of the song is something that pulled me in and kept me engaged. The song’s solo section has a great change, and I love hearing Smith, Gers, and Murray all showcased. One of the strongest songs on the album, without a doubt, and another one that I would love to hear live.
4/5 Tardises (Good Pun, no?)
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Darkest Hour
The final of three Smith/Dickinson compositions, and this one is absolutely fantastic. This song sounds like it could have been a Bruce Dickinson solo song, ala Tyranny of Souls. It has a very dark, mellow kind of vibe that reminds of of “Wasting Love” from Fear of the Dark. However, Dickinson gives Harris a run for his money as a vocalist when left to his own device. Bruce’s lyrics are less literary than Harris’s but still seem to possess a prophetic nature. These two are such a fantastic team together, and honestly, I’d love to hear another Bruce solo album with these two steering the ship.
5/5 Hours that Happen Just Before the Dawn
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Death of the Celts
Well, here we go again. This is another one of those “we are fighters/soldiers, lead us to victory, etc.” Steve Harris has written so many amazing songs in Iron Maiden, but this one just kind of sounds tired and lifeless. Even Bruce sounds like he’s bored to tears. At 10:20, this song just got more and more boring. Nothing about this one feels good. If anything, I am kind of annoyed while listening to this one. This is one that I could do without listening to. This is some fat that needs to be trimmed.
2/5 Bloody Tunics
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The Parchment
Wow. Talk about a bummer. This song is so drab that I found myself literally wandering around my basement not long after it started. I was dusting. I went and put a few records back in their appropriate place and then returned to my desk, asking myself, “What song is this?” This song is probably the least unexciting/uninteresting song on this album. Even as I write this, the song is playing for the 2nd time, and I still can focus on it. This song definitely should have been left off.
1/5 Pieces of Old Ass Paper
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Hell on Earth
The melancholy intro for this song is so hypnotic, and once the band kicked it in with some outstanding alternating guitar work, this song instantly woke me up from my stupor. I can honestly say that this song is what saved this album from ending on a drab note. The song is a bouncy, galloping signature Steve Harris composition, but it doesn’t sound tired or overdone. Lyrically it is killer. It’s got a very mystical and, dare I say, esoteric vibe to it? A solid song to close an album that was nearly victim of being pulled down by two disappointing pieces back to back.
5/5 Galloping Satans
Final Thoughts:
Senjutsu has some great moments, but as a whole, the album really could use to be trimmed down. I don’t know if it’s ego or just an overlooked case of self-indulgence, but this is the 2nd album in a row that suffers from being way too fucking long. At least three songs could have been shaved off of this album and made it a quite good album. I don’t feel that it is anywhere near as spectacular as The Final Frontier, but I find it to be slightly better than its predecessor, Book of Souls.
The biggest disappointment to me about this album is SURPRISE, the production. Kevin Shirley should be fire, and on top of that, Steve Harris should be barred from being anywhere near the control room during the mixing process. The mix is so muddy, and it sounds compressed to the point that there are zero dynamics to the music. Everything sounds so boxed in. Also, why is one of the best drummers in metal mixed to sound like he is playing on Tupperware containers? The drums sound lifeless, and this is a real bummer.
Another big bummer for me is Bruce Dickinson’s vocals. With this, I have two significant issues:
1. Why is Bruce’s voice so low in the mix and, again, compressed to the point that it just sounds like he’s singing underwater?
2. Why is the greatest vocalist in metal straining to hit notes in his upper register?
Long-time Maiden fans all know that Steve Harris is a man that is set in his ways. He doesn’t like change and doesn’t like doing things differently. Unfortunately, Bruce sounds like he is fighting so hard to make it up to that upper register that it sometimes sounds painful. Even live, I can almost hear the physical strain on his voice. Tuning down a full step would be such a benefit to Bruce’s voice and it would also take the music into an even heavier, darker realm. I doubt that Steve Harris would ever allow this to happen, but I sometimes wonder if Bruce has even approached him about this. There is video footage of Bruce’s book tour for his memoir “What Does This Button Do?” where he would do an acapella version of a solo Bruce or Maiden song at the end of each evening. Hearing him sing these songs in a lower key where he could deliver them with flawless power makes me wish that eventually, Harris will support this change before it’s too late.
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