Senjutsu
| Iron Maiden
Senjutsu
Senjutsu (Japanese: 戦術, loosely translated as "tactics and strategy") is the seventeenth studio album by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 3 September 2021. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Kerrang!
Metal legends Iron Maiden make a stunning surprise return with their 17th studio album, Senjutsu.
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Rolling Stone
Long-running metal firebrands have matured their sound on LP 17 without sacrificing any of their epic grit.
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Pitchfork
The British metal legends return with their dark and patient 17th album. While their influence looms large in heavy music, no other band sounds quite like this.
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Sputnik Music
Unsurprisingly, it's another very solid and enjoyable Iron Maiden album.
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Sonic Perspectives
Six seasoned veterans of original heavy metal have somehow delivered one of their strongest albums of the last twenty years. It is brave, it is ambitious, it is unapologetic, and it is most definitely Iron Maiden.
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Louder Sound
a remarkable album from a band with plenty to say.
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Antichrist Magazine
Senjutsu is not a masterpiece like Fear Of The Dark or The Number Of The Beast but I don’t think it was the main goal of the band – they already have enough masterpieces in their discography. But I can’t say it’s bad. It has some lacks but there are much more advantages, as I can see it. Of course, some will say “Iron Maiden ended in 2000 (or even earlier) and further they started to play something incomprehensible” but as I said in the beginning, such bands can even not release a new music because they have an old good one. Nevertheless, they still do it and do it good. Not bad, at least.
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NME
an imaginative instant classic.
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mxdwn Music
Iron Maiden is a band that keeps rolling, and Senjutsu shows how the band can still make the metal music fans yearn to hear.
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The Soundboard
The problems that could’ve been ironed out from the band, y’know, listening to their own album are obvious throughout, and that’s what makes this an even more sour listen, maybe above anything else. It’s one thing to make a genuine well-meaning failure, but to not even care enough to address that possibility is something to expect better than.
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Mikeladano
Senjustu, the surprise album that we didn’t see coming, is Iron Maiden doing what they do. There are a few twists and turns, but this is the album we would have expected from them if we knew they were making one! There are fans who miss the old days and wish Maiden would put out an old fashioned heavy metal album one more time.
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Rock Music Radar
Overloaded as the record may be, this is next-level stuff that goes beyond the tinny production The Book of Souls was able to throw our way. In a way, it appears that the band now arrived at a place where they want to be. A spot where stories are told. Expertly, professionally, and exactly as they want them. Conventions, die-hard fans, and the past be damned.
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Popmatters
Iron Maiden’s Senjutsu is not without its share of bumps and plenty of familiar scenery, but after more than 40 years, the band are as exhilarating as ever.
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Wall of Sound
Senjutsu is better balanced and the Smith tracks on Disc 1 really lift the album with some interesting songwriting. It is nice to have Harris back with his focused epics, and having them near the end makes getting to them less of an adventure. Some editing could have seen this be a one disc affair, but as it is, this is a terrific Maiden album.
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Cryptic Rock
Senjutsu is among their stronger albums, and while the band’s classic period in the ’80s is as unassailable as it is legendary, this one can sit proudly alongside anything they have written. In the more relatable metric of albums that Iron Maiden have produced since the dawn of the 1990s, an argument can be made that Senjutsu will come to be regarded as the best of the bunch, or damn near it.
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Commedia
“Senjutsu” may not compare to Iron Maiden’s more prolific works, but it still will blow a fan’s mind and entertain metalheads everywhere.
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Distorted Sound Magazine
It is an album in which displays IRON MAIDEN’s best song writing in recent years, proving again why they can still smash record sales and fill huge venues worldwide after so much time doing what they do. Senjutsu proves just how crucial this band has been, are, and continues to be to heavy metal. If you want to know why this band of almost 50 years is so special, just take a listen to this.
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Green and Black Music
a new Iron Maiden album is a moment to commemorate.
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Last Rites
No, Maiden does not exist in a realm outside of criticism, but the modern interpretation remains very worthy of fans’ hard-earned cash, and that includes Senjutsu. And if any media outlet or individual attempts to make you feel miserable—you devoted and ever passionate fans—for continuing to love and pledge fealty to metal’s most prominent storytellers, understand that those individuals are likely just miserable with themselves.
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The Quad
“Senjutsu” is another masterpiece from Iron Maiden. For those of you expecting another “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son,” or “Number of the Beast,” you will be disappointed. Maiden has taken a new approach in the last 20 years, and they have turned into more of a progressive rock band. This album takes a lot of patience to listen to, but it takes you on an hour and a half-long journey, as do all Maiden releases nowadays.
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The Rockpit
Double album; not very common but hey, it’s Maiden! They made us think since the beginning, the loudness of our exploding hearts went on decade after decade and now they give us more time to think, as everyone’s different, as the world we live in is crying but no one who stomps on her is listening. Doom’s day is not far. What’s written will take place and hopefully we will get to feel the lyrics of this new album, somewhere, in ancient memories we didn’t live, in a travel in Time!
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Hotpress
Epic, explosive and, most importantly, exciting, Senjutsu once again affirms that Maiden are still the kings of metal. Long may they reign.
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Cult of Dan Peach
Senjutsu isn't the album that I wanted but at this point in their career and lives, I'm grateful to get any new Iron Maiden full stop. In fairness, the more I listen to it, the more I'm starting to like it.
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Owl Radio
Senjetsu is not an album that sounds like classic Iron Maiden, however, it has already cemented itself as a Maiden classic. The British band’s best album since Reagan’s presidency takes you on an emotional rollercoaster from the battlefields of Japan, Ireland, and Europe, to the plains and jungles of the Americas, through different periods of time, and everywhere in between. If you have the patience to sit through the nearly 82 minute run time, which I hope this review has compelled you to do, not only will you not be disappointed, but you will be made an Iron Maiden fan for life. Up the irons!
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All About the Rock
Senjutsu doesn’t quite reach the highest level Maiden have hit in the past, but it gets pretty close on a number of songs. There are new sounds, technics and effects that really brighten up Maiden’s sound and I think. the album is all the better for it.
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AllMusic
Bruce Dickinson may not have access to the upper registers of his youth, but his voice is still plenty powerful, and it's become richer with the weariness and wisdom of age. When he wails "Love in anger, life in danger" over the anthemic closing moments of the latter track, it resonates as the story's protagonist is no longer a seeker but a seer.
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Stereoboard
Although it would be deeply unwelcome, Iron Maiden could use the external perspective of a John Kalodner figure. The tough love and sage notes that legendary A&R man gave to bands back in the day, including Maiden, would almost certainly have elevated this ambitious, often outstanding, record to classic status.
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The Moshville Times
As mentioned earlier I’ve been an Iron Maiden fan for most of my life and to be perfectly honest I probably wouldn’t be writing this without discovering them. Is it their strongest album of the last few years? That’s going to debated for years, is it one of their most ambitious? I certainly think so. Do I think it’s unfairly criticised for being long and boring by people who haven’t even listened to it? Unfortunately, yes I do. Sure, the vocals are quiet in places but it shouldn’t take away from what is a well-rounded release.
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The Guardian
an ambitious, eccentric masterpiece.
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Gigwise
A work of reliable genius.
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Loud
Iron Maiden’s progressive proclivities stretch right back to the beginning of their career but it’s really been in the last decade and a half where they have truly let themselves off the chain.
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The Arts Desk
17 albums in and a slightly portly old Maiden has still got some sizzle in her.
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Clash Magazine
On paper, an overblown piece inspired by feudal Japan made by a load of Brits in their 60s shouldn't be rocking so hard in 2021 - but that's Iron Maiden for you. They persevere, they entertain the masses and have well-earned the mantel of legends. Trend and time can’t touch them, and with ‘Senjutsu’ they’ve produced one of their best albums of the past 20 years.
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Riff Magazine
There’s just not a lot of originality, or even much returning to the glory of Maiden’s best, on Senjutsu. It’s worth a listen for fans, but likely won’t win them many new ones.
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