Iron Maiden’s seventeenth studio album Senjutsu arrived six years after their previous one (2015’s The Book of Souls) on 3 September 2021. For the second time in a row, a new Maiden album set the record for longest break between albums. On the other hand, the last two albums have also been their longest, both of them being 2CD/3LP releases, featuring a lot more music than their albums of yore.
While the wait for the new album has been long, the album has actually been ready for a while.
Perhaps contrary to expectations, given that the album was released at the tail end of a long-lasting global pandemic, this isn’t a “Covid album”. The process started in 2018 with Kevin ‘the Caveman’ Shirley producing again (as has been the case for the past 20 years). The album was completed in early 2019 during a break in their Legacy of the Beast tour.
The album was recorded in Paris at the Guillaume Tell Studio. This used to be a cinema, which gave the building a unique and inspiring vintage look. It is also very suitable sonically, with a really high ceiling providing lovely acoustics and a nice ambience to the overall sound. The band quickly fell in love with the naturally relaxed vibe of the place, which might have inspired the diversity of the results.
As with most Maiden albums, Senjutsu is primarily still the sound of the band creating and recording the music together. While ideas are often brought in, sometimes even close to full and finished songs, the band always finish and rehearse them together. When a song has found its final form and is well rehearsed, they usually record it straight away while it is fresh on their minds. When they have the take, they will move on to the next one.
This approach was probably especially useful on Senjutsu. In the album’s press release, Harris says: “There’s some very complex songs on this album which took a lot of hard work to get them exactly as we wanted them to sound. The process was at times very challenging, but Kevin is great at capturing the essence of the band and I think it was worth the effort!”
The band did a good job of keeping the album under wraps. No news of the album’s existence has leaked over the three years since the project started, although the odd hint would slip out. During Maiden’s summer 2019 North American tour, Dickinson told the crowd at the group’s Oakland, California concert: “New Iron Maiden songs [will come] sooner than you think.” At Maiden’s Nashville show in August 2019, Dickinson said that fresh music from the band wasn’t “beyond the bounds of possibility,” adding that a new Maiden record was essentially a “certainty.”
Obviously, the pandemic delayed things more. So much for the best laid plans – or should that be ‘strategies’?
A lot of the Maiden albums have a theme or concept attached to it. When Adrian Smith visited Steve Harris ‘to knock about some ideas’ early in the process, he brought the outline for a new song he was writing which would be introduced by booming Japanese taiko drums. In his head, he explained to Harris, he envisaged the dramatic, stirring music as a soundtrack to an epic battle set during the time of the samurais. And with that, the cornerstone of what would become Senjutsu‘s overall theme and concept was laid in place. It also cemented the direction for that initial song, which would become the album’s title track.
When Mark Wilkinson was once again tapped to create the artwork for the album sleeve and overall campaign, Harris requested a samurai-themed artwork with Japanese typesetting and the title Senjutsu (loosely translated as “tactics and strategy”). The resulting artwork is spread across numerous album formats, including a limited edition Super Deluxe box set featuring the 2CD version of the album, a Blu-ray disc, exclusive memorabilia art cards, a poster, a lenticular poster, origami sheet and a 28-page booklet.
Fans would speculate about the extent of the band’s dabbling with oriental musical themes, but at the end of the day, the results are unashamedly Maiden. Senjutsu is no more oriental than, say, Powerslave is Egyptian. But it’s interesting how having a song or two leaning in a certain direction, and having the artwork point the same way, can influence how the entire project is seen. It’s enough to make people create connections in their minds.
What can be said about Senjutsu is that it’s a magnificently progressive album. The songs are intricate, often epic, and frequently building and stretching beyond what’s normal even by Maiden standards. At the same time, the songs are really on point – I never have the feeling that anything is drawn out. The music is always interesting, with tons of ideas that just keep emerging the more you listen.
In many ways, it follows the outline established on the previous album. Maiden were clearly stretching on the previous album The Book of Souls as well, coming up with interesting parts and being as innovative as ever. Their longest song to date is on that album, showing that they were pushing the envelope there as well.
The interesting thing is that I was never in danger of falling as hard for that album as I’ve now fallen for Senjutsu. I played Book solidly for weeks, but it slowly but surely fell out of circulation and hasn’t really been played much since. I can still pull out that album and enjoy it, but those songs simply have not stayed with me the same way the new ones do.
The simple truth is that the songs on Senjutsu have that something extra. Not in the way of immediate or catchy earworms (although the first single Writing On the Wall does have some of that), but they simply keep pulling me in even after months of listening. I still notice new themes and small parts that stand out. The songs have interesting transitions and builds that I keep wanting to return to. The songs and their arrangements are of such quality that you never quite get done with them – they are alluring and keep drawing you back. The basic songwriting is sound and of high quality, and the detail on top is incredible.
Simply put, this album has turned out to be a continually fascinating listen for far longer than most of their albums over the past few decades. Heck, far longer than most artists’ albums.
The fact that the songs contain a lot of exciting ingredients is reflected in the overall song length. Ten songs are spread across two discs, of which only three are below seven minutes long. At the same time, only three are over ten minutes, so there is a reasonably constant average song length of eight to nine minutes. The songs still don’t feel “long” in that sense. For an album of longish songs, they all feel surprisingly to the point. They spend every minute of every song well, and every song is packed with music.
Perspective is a funny thing. In the 1980s, the band typically had a longer song on most of their albums, but they were rarely that long really. On an album with mostly 3-to-5 minute songs, a song of seven and a half minutes was seen as downright epic. On Powerslave, the band recorded Rime of The Ancient Mariner at a staggering near-14 minutes, which at the time was the epic to end all epics. While no song surpasses this length on Senjutsu, several of them touch on it. It’s become part of the band’s normal development.
On the new album, this is reflected right away as the opener and title track lasts a very representative eight-and-a-half minutes.
Several Maiden albums start with quick, fast tracks to set a good pace right off the bat, including post-reunion openers such as The Wicker Man, Wildest Dreams, and Different World. This time, Senjutsu proves to be a different beast altogether, starting with an ominous drumbeat that sounds like big Japanese taiko drums, proclaiming a gathering of armies. “Beat the warning, the sound of the drums / Set the beacons afire for them all” Dickinson sings, calling to arms to fight for the glory of the dynasty.
The song has a slow, menacing, droning feel that constantly pushes the drama outward. Although solidly mid-tempo, it’s never comfortably so. The arrangement (and those continual drums from the intro running throughout) is such that it never loses momentum. The song is a solid slab of dramatic musical storytelling, intense and foreboding. The rush of energy that this song is able to instil is immense. The guitar solo, courtesy of Adrian Smith, is dramatic yet moody and fits the song to a tee.
Rallying round to the call
We can hear far away are the sound of distant drums
And they need everyone at the wall
So the day of our judgement has now begun to fall
Hear them coming – Ready now we wait
Must be steadfast – Must be patient
Must believe in – That we can win
What will save us – The great wall
Maiden have rarely opened an album quite in this way, and it is very refreshing.
The song with the thankless task of following up this mighty epic is more than up to the task. Stratego is more straightforward Maiden which mixes a comfortable galloping rhythm with a melodic shine. It keeps up the theme of strategy/tactics by its references to the board game of the same name. Stratego the game is similar to chess in many ways, being a slightly modified version of a late 19th century game called Japanese Military Chess. It also adds elements from an early 20th century French game, L’Attaque (“The Attack”).
Interestingly, the song title does not appear in the lyrics, which seem to describe a type of personal challenge as well as attempts to put together a strategy to overcome them. It may very well look at one’s approach to life’s challenges as yet another strategy, similar to that of the game mentioned in the title.
The album campaign was kicked off by the next track Writing On the Wall. It was the first single, launched by way of an acclaimed animation video. It was made by BlinkInk based on a concept by Bruce Dickinson.
The song has a mixture of influences, both Celtic and bluesy. It has a strong melody carried both by the vocal and several lead guitar lines interspersed throughout.
Dickinson delivers a message of upcoming doom and destruction, warning that terrible times are around the corner although not everyone can see that a storm is coming. He implores the listener to take heed of the signs.
Across a painted desert lies a train of vagabonds
All that’s left of what we were it’s what we have become
Once our empires glorious but now the empire’s gone
The dead gave us the time to live and now our time is done
Now we are victorious, we’ve become our slaves
A land of hope and glory building graveyards for the brave
Have you seen the writing on the wall?
Have you seen that writing?
Can you see the riders on the storm?
Can you see them riding?
Things start off more ambiently with Lost In A Lost World, which turns out to be quite the experimental 10-minuter. Largely acoustic at first, it features a keyboard backdrop, the sonics of deep vibrating guitar strings, and harmony backing vocals. It is quite effective, setting up a captivating yet haunting mood.
When an interviewer from allfamous.org told Dickinson that the intro to this song reminded them of Pink Floyd, the vocalist agreed. “Totally at the beginning, oh yeah. It’s the whole thing – you have actually walked into a prog-rock album from 1973. And then you just get hit over the head with a mallet unexpectedly.”
That mallet appears after a few minutes in the shape of a firm transition into Maiden metal. The song still retains some of the established feel, carrying us through additional changes with a feel related to how it started even as it moves towards additional interesting places. The song is a trademark Harris composition, which means several time signature changes and arrangements out of the ordinary.
I have seen people calling out how the song gets a lift after the mid-song transitions, but that really sells the initial mood and set-up short. I love it from the get-go with its brooding, ambient atmosphere. Combining moods is one of the things Maiden does best. What would a song like Fear of the Dark be without its intro section, for example?
Days of Future Past is the shortest song on the album at just over a mere four minutes, making it noteworthy for that alone. This turns the situation from the early days of the band on the head, when the lone “long” song on the album would get extra attention. Interestingly, this song has the same wide scope as the longer ones. Dickinson sings out the chorus in dramatic fashion while the verses and solo sections have a touch more intensity. A good song about a sinful fallen angel condemned to walk the Earth and observe its slow death until the Rapture.
Adrian talks Writing On the Wall, Days of Future Past, Darkest Hour, Senjutsu
The Time Machine is a stunning track with an interesting intro, where weird guitar tunings add a lot of extra colour. It develops into quite the adventurous track, containing a lot of musical elements from the usual brand of Maiden metal to the more folk-inspired, edgy, progressive and also very ambient and acoustic bits in places. This is storytelling by music – whatever the song requires to set the right mood for what is going on from a story perspective, it shall receive.
The song shares its title with H.G. Wells’ famous novel with the same name about time travelling. The song could well be inspired by that novel, but it seems to at the very least provide a take of its own. In any case, this is a good example of Maiden (by way of Janick Gers and Steve Harris) penning their very own prog rock opera.
The lead guitar theme that frequently plays alongside Dickinson’s dramatic vocal is especially a lovely touch, creating a tapestry underneath that enhances his vocal rather than getting in the way. While the music keeps developing, at times undergoing rather drastic tempo changes, it always finds its way back to the main theme.
This is the point where you switch CDs if that is your preferred format. CD2 opens with Darkest Hour. A Maiden-style ballad through and through, reminding me a little bit stylistically to Dickinson solo tracks like Man of Sorrows. This is meant as a solid compliment, as I think both tracks are of undisputable quality.
The song is written from the perspective of an ailing and depressed Winston Churchill who reflects on the sacrifices and the high price that is involved in fighting against fascism. Written by Adrian Smith (music) and Bruce Dickinson (lyrics), the song features many melancholic yet lovely melodies, performed in a mournful style. There’s room to talk about both the glory and the losses involved. Every loss is really too high a price, yet it’s a fight we’d always take again. A very poignant track, especially if you know the stories behind it.
This takes us into the homestretch of the album. Three songs are left – all of them over the ten-minute mark, all of them written by Steve Harris. On this part of the album you will find some of the most complex and most grandiose pieces of music the band has ever recorded. These songs have enormous scope and more musical passages than normal even by Maiden standards.
“It’s funny,” Adrian Smith told Guitar World. “Steve will have these ideas and then look at me, Dave or Janick. The ideas are usually quite complicated, so sometimes you might see guitarists hiding away behind their amps, waiting for the others to take up the gauntlet and learn these super-complicated parts! But we all do our bit. It takes a lot of concentration to play Steve’s stuff. Honestly, it can be quite a challenge.”
Death of the Celts is a Harris song through and through. Thoughts immediately go to their classic track The Clansman – not just because of the obvious connections thematically, but the songs also start off similarly with an atmospheric build-up and contain Celtic influences. Dickinson sings in a curiously lower-than-normal register, similar to how then vocalist Blaze Bailey sung The Clansman. In every way, Death of the Celts feels like a follow-up – one that even lives up to the standards set originally.
Like most Harris-penned Maiden epics, the song goes through several sections. It’s got an intro, a build-up, different verses, several unique musical themes, bridges, pre-chorus sections, yet different verses… before the five-minute mark, the song has gone through enough musical ideas and sections to fill half an album by an average artist. The song does not stop there, ultimately leaving the familiar build-up to go through new and interesting instrumental changes. This includes some surprise shifts from minor to major and back again.
Following now where god can’t explain
Bidding farewell, the life I’d have gained
Following those who came from hell
Came to witness the death of the Celts
When recording a song, the band likes to rehearse it properly and play it through from start to finish when it’s fresh in their minds. This was hard to do for some of the songs on this album, especially the longer ones towards the end of the album. “There were so many melodies and riffs floating around in the studio,” Janick Gers told Guitar World. “Songs like Death Of The Celts were done in parts. Sometimes we’d be playing three-part harmonies together. And there were a lot of tempo changes. Steve would have a riff and melody for us to memorise, then there would be a tempo change, then we’d be back to the melody but a different tempo! It wasn’t an easy album to make.”
Things do not get easier for our musician friends on The Parchment. In some ways it is a more straightforward song as far as tempo changes, but it contains even more musical passages and there certainly is a lot to remember. It is the album’s longest track, approaching 13 minutes. It covers so much ground that it’s hard to remember how it began when you’ve reached the end.
The music starts with a lovely Egyptian feel to it, bringing forth imagery of shifting sands and exotic landscapes (at least from a Norselands perspective). This is music designed to transport the listener. The sounds are evocative and certainly leaves room for the mind to wander. The song features several instrumental sections with a lovely, almost mechanic droning to the riffs over which several lovely lead lines are played. There are traditional solos, but also large sections of decidedly melodic (and well-defined) patterns. The song feels huge – grandiose, even.
When the moon will rise again
Until we read the Parthian skin
Broken fears warring days are here again
‘Fore we all to dust descend
Heaven knows when life will end
God to know in the mire, put out the fire
Dickinson makes the most of his vocal moments on the track, gradually building his vocal power and strength throughout. His final salvo is spine tingling as he reaches for the heavens. This is his shining moment on the album, which contributes to this being my current favourite on the album – although this is certainly still changing regularly!
The final song is where it all comes together. Hell On Earth has already been hailed by many as an all-time classic, and it’s easy to see why. It’s even easy to agree.
The song has a build-up not too unlike several other Harris-penned tunes, but there is something about the insistency of the melodies and playing that makes you sit up and take notice. It is interesting that it takes a while for the vocals to come in. After a while you wonder if this is an instrumental song, but it keeps building to something as well. I particularly love how all the guitars interact with each other.
This continues as the band amps it up and launches into things – the vocal melody feels different and more insistent than normal, the combination of ambient backdrop and galloping band… there is something unique and somewhat different that’s coming together here. It feels very fresh, highly dynamic, and extremely cinematic.
The track is lyrically dark, as one can imagine given the title. The lyrics are full of reflections on war and death; on the futility of a life lived in anger and of seeing loved ones on the other side. All the while, the music feels hopeful and encouraging, giving a nice countereffect.
I wish I could go back
Will never be the same again
Bled for all upon this hell on earth
And when I leave this world
I hope to see you all again
On the other side of hell on earth
“It’s about the shit state of the Earth,” Dickinson told Kerrang. “It’s almost nostalgic for something other than the situation we find ourselves in right now. It was all written pre-Covid and lockdown and everything else, seeing the way the world is going, how things are depersonalised and trivialised. There’s so much choice, you don’t know what to do with yourself…”
The final passage of the song leaves you with a sort of musical after-image, like you’ve stared directly into a violent explosion that left strange images on your retinas for days afterwards.
This effect also describes well the imprint this album could do on your brain having listened through it all. It’s a powerful album with so many thinks to take note of, think about, and just enjoy. You know you’ve heard something special, and quite possibly you know you need to go back to it. You’re not done with it yet. And it will amaze you all over one more time.
The most pleasing thing about Senjutsu is that you will get a lot out of the album immediately just by listening to it a couple of times, but even if you keep going back to it a hundred times, it will still be giving you a lot each and every time. It just does not wear out, or at least not that quickly. The treasures it contains are immediate, yet lasting.
It is too soon to say much about where Senjutsu will end up being ranked within the band’s back catalogue. It is also near impossible to rank new releases against any band’s “classic” catalogue, when nostalgia and other factors mean as much as the music itself. This is certainly amongst the very best albums the band has released after the 1980s, and that alone should be saying something. It is also without question one of the best albums of 2021.
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