We're talking about the band that inspired Margaret Thatcher's moniker. The band that gave us classics such as "The Number of the Beast", "Run to the Hills" and "The Trooper". The band that recently was the victims of a blatant show of disrespect at last year's Ozzfest. The question is after such a long and eventful career that spans near a quarter of a century, can England's (and Scotland's in Janick Jers' case) still put out albums that are significant in today's heavy metal landscape?

The answer right from the get go is a loud and resounding "YES"! Album opener "Different Worlds" launches into the kind of riff that is instantly recognisable as Iron Maiden. Clocking in at just over 5 minutes, this is actually the shortest song on the album. Obvious single” one would say. Surprisingly not, at least not lead single. That honor is bestowed upon the far lengthier and somewhat less commercially viable "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg"’ (for those asking 'who the f is Benjamin Breeg', Google is your friend). Whilst the song itself is far from terrible, it's not as convincing as other songs on here and is not a very good choice in lead singles.

A Matter of Life and Death has been described by the band as their most progressive album ever. A statement that can be both agreed and disagreed with. Agreed in the sense that there is many a rhythm change in each song and nearly all of them enjoy a mid-song tangent that leads back into the original tempo. Not to say that the Irons are out to become Dream Theater, but there are a number of progressive elements included to have musicians nodding in approval. However, there’s nothing here to compare to past 10-minute-plus head-scratchers such as "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" or "Alexander the Great". In fact, there's rarely even a stray from 4/4. Considering that it's Iron Maiden that we're talking about, this is all forgiven, for we all know that Maiden can say they're going to make a hardcore album and whatever the result is will still be above average.

It must be said that this album is no Number of the Beast. Now that I’ve addressed that, I can follow up and say that Maiden probably wouldn’t be able to make another Number of the Beast, even if they wanted to. Those days are gone; this is Iron Maiden in the naughties. Be that as it may, they still have the uncanny ability to come up with some infectiously good songs. Tracks such as "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns" (which is about setting off nuclear weapons), "The Longest Day" (as in the D-Day landings) and "These Colors Don't Run" (the patriotic war anthem, no Maiden album is complete without one) have the kind of hooks and melodies that will stick in your head for days after hearing them. Couple tracks of this quality together with Kevin Shirley's stellar work behind the sound board and you’ve got an earful of goodness to enjoy.

In conclusion, if you were not a fan of Brave New World or Dance of Death and preferred the days of Piece of Mind, this album won't appeal to you as much as it has a very similar flavour to its two predecessors. If you're willing to look past the fact that Maiden's hey-day is past, you will still enjoy this album greatly. All we need now is for Iron Maiden to finally announce an Australian tour.