Anytime Maiden release something, whether it be a new album, concert DVD, their own airplane, the Trooper beer, etc, it is always met with excitement and respect. This, understandably so because they know how to do things with imagination and class, and not for a publicity stunt. With ‘Book Of Souls’, Iron Maiden keep within the creative wheelhouse of their last three albums "Dance of Death", "A Matter of Life and Death" and "The Final Frontier”, as long time (primary) director Steve Harris opts for subtle slow builds, as opposed to riffs as the song’s core melody and infrastructure. Mind you, riffs are still there, but post-“Brave New World” (pun intended), Maiden’s arrangements are centered more around a prog aesthetic, than traditional heavy metal and the guitar riff.

With that, ‘If Eternity Should Fall’, written by Dickinson, begins with organic synth sounds and earthy woodwinds to go with the Mayan artwork and Eddie’s design, as Bruce’s vocal narrates to the rest of the arrangement. When the riff and rhythm does kick in after a minute and thirty seconds, the chugging and guitar harmonies will recall their roots in the 80s, as with the upped tempo (where Nicko throws in a splash of Clive Burr influence) for the solo. First single/video ‘Speed Of Light’(Smith/ Dickinson) kicks up the liveliness in traditional Maiden form, pulls in the focus more on the riff, and Dickinson’s scream shows tongue cancer had no effect on his voice as he soars even more during the chorus. This one carries a familiar delivery to ‘Wildest Dreams’ and ‘Different World’. At first, the bass line begun ‘The Great Unknown’ instantly sent me back to the title track of “Killers”, and then even ‘Prodigal Son’ given the clean guitars (but that was short lived), still, a nice tip of the hat to an album that doesn’t nearly get enough attention in the live setlist. ‘The Red And The Black’ is such a Harris track at fourteen minutes with Steve kinda showing off for thirty seconds, setting up the arrangement’s riff and guitar melody leads carrying the tune. ‘When The River Runs Deep’, the second of three written by Smith/ Harris, is more straight forward with urgency to the verses and rhythm. Title track ends disc one, guitarist Janick Gers getting co-writing with Harris, would have been a stronger presentation just getting right to the riff out the door instead of again opting for the quieter intro. Nice use of accenting darker keys though, guitar melodies, and tempo switch pre-solo.

On to disc two, possible my favorite writing team, Smith/ Dickinson, bring the focus back to Maiden’s 80s heyday and the riff starting ‘Death Or Glory’, still would be nice for the lone focus on just the guitar, not combined with the drums and bass. So still, I’m looking for a memorable riff to be the driving force of the song. Adrian (Smith) again collaborating with Harris on ‘Tears Of A Clown’, the man keeps Maiden from forgetting often songs under five minutes are more to the point, and don’t forget those riffs are the foundation. And while not a Smith tune, ‘Shadows Of The Valley’ (Gers/ Harris) leads borrow from ‘Wasted Years’ at the start. My other melody man, Dave Murray , the other half of the tandem with Adrian, puts his two-cents in for the moodier balladish ‘The Man Of Sorrows’, and the introduction of piano, strings, for ‘Empire Of The Clouds’ adds some different colors to the Maiden pallet.

Overall, “The Book Of Souls” is an excellent body of work and a strong culmination of composition post “Brave New World”. I’m sure Maiden has one, or two, more albums in em. I hope they can return more to their roots in the 80s, pre-“Somewhere In Time”, where the riff (‘2 Minutes’, ‘Powerslave’, ‘Flight of Icarus’, ‘Wicker Man’, ’22 Acacia Ave’, ‘Prowler’) was the focus of the songs, not a bass line, singular or twin guitar lead, or keys.