Now we go to my two favorite songs on the album and one of their best duos to close an album ever in my opinion. Steve Harris has done it again. I'll save the Hell On Earth comments to its thread, of course, just wanted to point out that these are my favorite tracks of the entire album. Now, about the monster that is The Parchment:
This song is a bloody experience. It's very atmospheric and it takes me instantly to the ancient middle east. From the haunting beginning to the explosion with the main riff. Bruce's delivery is also very good on what is a great vocal melody. It's even hard to find a word to call those riffs and melodies, but I think the best one would be
hypnotic. They just hook you in and don't let you ever lose the attention. Yeah, maybe they get repeated a little bit but that doesn't bother me in the slightest, it's a very cinematic track and I can almost see the "prodigal" traveling through the desert, I think the repetition is intentional and it immerses me even more on the song. I think it's what The Nomad always tried to be but fell short. Best instrumental section they've done in quite some time, Dave's solo in special is great, but all of them are lovely.
The melody starting at 6:45 is also hypnotic, Bruce's return is great and then we go on to a crescendo that keeps going until the amazing "
meet me theeeeeeere". Again, the cinematic feel is very strong here. I can almost visualize the return of that prodigal character going towards his revenge. Then the tempo goes up unexpectedly and Jan simply
shreds like there's no tomorrow. Amazing solo, good melody at the end as well with a loud 'Arry bass that sounds great. Then the haunting ending again.
Overall, this one was already one of my favorites after first listen and even then it's one of the biggest growers for me. It's like everytime I hear it I discover new stuff. Amazing track, that's all I can say. I don't think it's that likely but really hope they play that one live, would love to see the lads playing those instrumentals. Hard lyrics for Bruce to remember for sure though