THE BOOK OF SOULS

Iron Maiden surprises us with their first double album in more than 35 years of career. At first glance, given the extensiveness of several of theirs compositions, one might think that their progressive influences-Steve Harris and bandmates have recognized that Jethro Tull, Genesis, and Yes among several other legends have been an important part of his musical training-would master this work, and the answer is partly yes, but not completely.

Rather, it is a combination of sharp and direct themes typical of heavy metal and hard rock, with others of more complex developments, clearly related to the progressive genre.

Within the first group, we place the most typical Iron Maiden songs: tracks full of energy and dominated by galloping guitars that lead to dizzying and sharp solos. These include the initial and somber If Eternity Should Fail (Harris's excellent bass line), the short but forceful guitar-solo of The Great Unknown and its long final curtain, Tears of Clown, the magnificent tribute dedicated to Robin Williams after his fatal demise, a demonstration in turn that for a song to be epic, it is not necessary to prolong it to infinity but to have a solid structure and a well- conceived rhythmic base, and finally, the first minutes of the quasi ballad The Man of Sorrows, with the dying voice of Bruce Dickinson in excellent form.

On the other hand, the progressive vein also occupies an important part of The Book of Souls, with the excellent Red and the Black, heir to the legendary The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a splendid instrumental development throughout the second part of the song and grace of the guitar riff until its end in which it takes up Harris's initial bass strum to round it out. The Book of Souls that gives the album its name, gives us a forceful halftime and an aggressive rhythmic section to end with an imposing guitar duel, and finally the super progressive Empire of the Clouds, the longest song on the album and the entire Iron Maiden discography. More than 18 minutes in which it costs at times to recognize the more traditional Maiden, given the introduction of the piano, the more baroque style of the guitars, the pauses and the lack of urgency to rush the subject, factors that combine to cover an insurmountable song that tells the story of the failed flight of the British R101 zeppelin in 1930, a tragedy far less well known than the famous 1937 LZ137 Hindenburg zeppelin in New Jersey that Led Zeppelin immortalized on their debut album.

The Book of Souls was long overdue for 5 years, after 2010s The Final Frontier, but they were well worth it. An excellent album and within the best of Iron Maiden of the 20th century.