Please post reviews and thoughts on Senjutsu here

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DoctorDee said:
The guys from Tyr are really harsh on Senjutsu:

Kind of hurt, as they're one of my favorite bands after Maiden. :)
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I hate this band, Tyr, as they support the grindagrap in Feroe Islands. Moreover, they always can criticize Maiden, but they are doing very shitty music with the same melodies and lyrics and so on... While Maiden are always doing something different on each of their albums...
 
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"Pointless arrangement" at the start of Darkest Hour.
That's rich coming from the words of a power metal band guy.

I went on YT, their 10million video contains a song that's typical power metal sauce with 0 nuances in the arrangement or development of the song. Bog standard riffs, 'exotic' scales that are used in overused patterns thus they don't come out exotic at all. But that's typical power metal. What got me here is that these people have 0 groove too. I can hear the clicktrack in my head, they're not playing together there's no groove anywhere to be found.
 
DoctorDee said:
Kind of hurt, as they're one of my favorite bands after Maiden. :)
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This is one of the aspects why it is hardly done. Another is that you rather do not want to look bad in the industry.

At the same time, if this is what generates popularity or extra views, kudos to them.
 
Yeah, I'm kinda on the same level here as Forostar. This is probably just for some hate clicks. Or love clicks, I bet there's people out there who want their negative opinions of Senjutsu validated. Whatever, man, just enjoy the album. Or don't.
 
Forostar said:
It is quite unusual that a band is commenting on (recent) music by other bands, in public, and especially when it is a negative opinion.
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Especially a band who have done nothing in metal and have such a cliched name. Not the first time this has happened and won't be the last. I remember One Minute Silence taking a pop at Maiden in the single reviews in either Kerrang or Metal Hammer.
 
Magnus said:
Steve's repeated attempts to create The Ultimate Maiden Epic (Harris) during the last decades has been discussed previously, and Maiden's latest album shows he wouldn't mind one or two Skyclad epics as well apparently. Fragments from his - so far undelivered - magnum opus seem to float through space though, occasionally hitting innocent bystanders. Recent casualties include Lost In A Lost World, a song that might have been fantastic but, due to the aforementioned collision, is now sadly reduced to the tripartite structure of [lovely intro]* - [Lost In Terest]** - [very good outro indeed].
Fortunately, there are five songs on the album (ranging from good to great) that flow in a deliciously effortless manner just like in a millennium now long gone, four of them with H in the credits incidentally. Afraid To Shoot Strangers' heir, Hell On Earth***, could have been there as well with some minor trimmings, and so would The Parchment if it weren't for the "The prodigal has returned [...] That the same will happen - searching for gold" part but yeah, those lyrics had to go somewhere after all.

So: Is Senjutsu a masterpiece? Not in my opinion but it comes close, and could have come even closer with some trimmings to Hell On Earth (minor), The Parchment (some more), and Lost In A Lost World (quite some), plus leaving out the two Skycladish songs (which are great fun nevertheless, and feature some really good parts): speaking in Ancient, an album with 8 songs and 2 b-sides. Is it Maiden's best album since Seventh Son? Hell yeah, and once again listening to a new Maiden album is a pleasure rather than a chore. I think I've already played it more times than all the reuninon albums combined. Everything I dislike about those has been greatly reduced (yes, there is recycling, and occasional fits of Harrisitis, that disease of songs manifesting in lots of words over lots of chugga chugs, again and again, but it could have been worse, and it has been). It's a daring album, going into territories unusual for Maiden, and, most importantly for me at least, it feels fun, and alive, once again.


* Planet Caravan, The Moody Blues and Pink Floyd have been mentioned in reviews, but it reminds me of Dust In The Wind for some reason.
** When listening to the album in its entirety, this is the first bump on the ride.
*** The "Love in anger, life in danger" part is out of this world. It's been a long, long time since I got goosebumps from a new Maiden record - unless you count Darkest Hour a few songs before.
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What this album miserably failed in, though, was bringing back @CriedWhenBrucieLeft and @Black Wizard which is a shame.
And, refraining from Death-of-Celts jokes here would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: My bad, it did bring Cried after all, but I was abroad and not paying attention. :(
 
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