Entertainment

Andrew’s Judgmental Album Reviews: Iron Maiden – Senjutsu (2021)

The JAR goes from the youngest artist covered so far, to probably the oldest! Iron Maiden’s newest album Senjutsu is up! Are their tactics and strategy good enough for a favorable judgment?

Published

4 years ago

September 4, 2021

Andrew Balaz

The JAR goes from the youngest artist covered so far, to probably the oldest! Iron Maiden’s newest album Senjutsu is up! Are their tactics and strategy good enough for a favorable judgment?

Iron Maiden needs no real introduction, right? Even if you don’t like the type of music, Maiden is one of the pioneers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal sound that erupted in the late 70s and 80s.

While I may not be screaming “Up the Irons” or revering Eddie as a religious icon, I do appreciate a good bit of their music and obviously have had them in the rotation to a degree (Hell, 2 Minutes to Midnight was my go to driving song in GTA: Vice City). Now last time I really gave them any attention was with Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg, and the A Matter of Life and Death album. From what I remember, it wasn’t bad, a little over indulgent, but so is all progressive/power metal.

Either way, given the fact this album was just released on September 3^rd, I figured it would be nice to have another timely review with a band that is pretty much a household name.

Artist: Iron Maiden
Album: Senjutsu (2021)
Label: Parlophone – Warner

We kick off with Senjutsu, which given Eddie looking like a samurai and the word senjutsu loosely meaning tactics and strategy, the fact that it has a bit of a march works nicely. As an intro song I understand the slow build and the grinding aspect of marching to battle but it’s a little too slow. I suppose it sets the general tone fairly well, but on its own merits of a song, it just lingers more than moves. Stratego, is the second track and it does two things well. It applies the signature Iron Maiden galloping guitars and stays in the strategy/war tone that Senjutsu set. The gallop isn’t quite where it used to be, and sounds more like dressage practice, but it still SOUNDS like an Iron Maiden song.

The Writing on the Wall umm…did they just get done watching Firefly? Lyrically this ties back to fighting, and the western vibe does work for the overall gimmick so far, but it’s a little unexpected. The gallop is a slightly present, but they really turn into the western feel, especially using the line of “can you see the riders on the storm’, I mean, damn no subtly there. Lost in a Lost World is very somber, almost haunting. Which is very fitting since lyrically it revolves around death, spirits and holy ground. It uses a lot of Native American or Shinto imagery in the lyrics going on about scared elements and the planet. So the tempo shifts in the songs feel really cool and come off nicely given the war theme. A lot of interesting breakdowns, bass lines and instrumentation as it navigates the different elements of the song. Very cool song with a lot of nice elements, lyrically is moves well with the tone of the guitars and this is just a great song. Too long for radio at nearly 10 minutes, but it’s definitely a great song.

Not to be confused with the X-Men movie, Days of Future Past, seems to take a perspective of falling in battle but staying in a battle beyond the grave. It also picks up the tempo to the classic sounding gallop, and it’s a solid song. Time Machine continues the odd time talk mixed with death. Lyrically it plays in the realm of someone basically watching their life flash before their eyes and recounting some of their past deeds. Talking about having a time machine and a long life filled with dark deeds. Not sure if one was supposed to be more of a “good outcome” and the other is the “hell perspective”, because as the song goes on the tone gets darker and more chaotic. Hits a small run that reminds me of Operation: Mindcrime era Queensryche, which plays nicely into what I’m interpreting as a not so noble person passing to the sword.

Darkest Hour is yet another death song, so yes I think we all know war only leads to death. The lyrically angle here seems to burying children, yet the war is still raging on even after being told it will come to a head soon. The Magic the Gathering nerd in my popped a little on the lyric of “turn the plowshares into swords”, if you also play Magic, you’ll get it too. If you know, you know. While this song isn’t a bad song at all, we have hit this awkwardly somber, dark and billowing section of the album that started off with strategy and war and now it’s just 4 straight songs about death. The chorus is beautifully sung starting with the line of “Here I sit, in a serenade of glory” – ending the song with ambient noise of waves crashing the seas and birds is a nice touch given the subject matter.

I lied, 5 straight songs about death since the next song is Death of the Celts. Thankfully, this song dovetails the concept of burying your dead but having a war to finish and this is more of a prayer for victory. Lyrically it’s like a rally of fighting for the fallen, the burden of the bloodshed. It definitely has more of a folk tone, which is nicely done with the Celts mention. It reminds me of a Alexander Adams/Heather Alexander March of Cambreadth. This drives well along the lines of emotion with psyching yourself up because you have to and then getting up and going.

The Parchment keeps a nice marching drive again. So coming out of the sullen bleak aspects of the past 5 songs, it seems like something as steeled the nerves and fueled the song of revenge. Using parchment basically as the concept of a royal decree/draft or some object to rally moral and coscripts makes logical sense. It seems to linger a little in the tone of motivating onesself for the fight before finally breaking the tempo and hitting a nice almost shredding run into a classic dual leads harmony with notable bass underneath. The lingering hurts the song; being an 11 minutes song the lull definitely is almost enough to put you to sleep before the crescendo at the end.

Hell on Earth summarizes this album and hits the lyrical notes it was aiming for by denigrating war. The beauty of war, is that these lyrics are both general and pointed since every war is fought between two sides with opposing views; so no one is inherently evil in the midst of battle. Musically its very driving early on, then as we start to reach a peak you get a little more of a battle feeling between the guitars. “Love in anger, life in danger – Lost in anger, life in danger” are simple yet poignant enough to put a bow on what can be considered the concept behind the album. The songs winds down like the last few sparks of a fire, like the fire that burns to fuel battle, and it just fades out.

Now everything I’ve read doesn’t claim this is a pure concept album, just has a lot of interlinking imagery. With that said, this does a solid enough job at still sounding like themselves, if not maybe slowed down to points where the songs feel tedious. That does bring me to a discovery though, if you play the album at 1.25 times speed, it sounds more akin to Powerslave era Iron Maiden. So it’s funny just a little quarter tweak in tempo and some of these songs that languish would actually be much more tolerable. So given the quarter discovery and the fact this wasn’t bad, if not a little droll at points. I think I’ll add a quarter point to what I would give the album on it’s normal merits.

It’s still not a bad album for a band that’s been playing in 5 decades, just definitely shows the age of the musicians. Nothing is terrible, self indulgent as I thought at times, pretty decent all things considered, with Stratego and Days of Future Past being stand out songs; but surprisingly really good at x1.25 speed.

Final Judgment: 6.25/10

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Mitchell’s Hyrule Puro-Resu News Report! (5/9/25)

June will be electric!

Published

2 days ago

May 9, 2025

Steven Mitchell

Prepare for the most electrifying even of the HPW calendar!

While the stage is set for Blood & Thunder 4 and the HPW World Trios Championships, HPW must also address the return of KAGE!

Thundra Plateau is ready.

Wrestling is Life, but life has its stormy weather. The rain is going to be hot in June, but will the reign continue through the Summer? The Dark Forces may have failed to take the Undisputed Triforce World Championship from Zelda, but they still have the World Trios Championships. Harlequin, Lupay & Glutko will step inside the double ring, double cage to defend their gold. On one side, Arrow Club’s special combination of Fin Balure, Torbevito & Bad Croc Scaly. On the other, a new combination of its own in Cia, Lana & Midna.

Speaking of Cia, Lana & Midna…

The three of them are together, dressed in workout attire, in what appears to be a dance studio. This is a collaboration stream for Midna and Lana as they’re both big presences on the internet, aka “influencers.” Lana and Midna wave and say hi, and they give introductions, including Cia, who is reluctant to be standing there. Cia doesn’t know why they need to do this. Lana says they have to improve their teamwork. They may have won against Los Taros Locos, but it was really sketchy there for a second. Midna adds that doing a dance routine together is great for their timing and coordination.

Cia says she didn’t mean that, she meant having to stream it! Oh, well obviously, combining Midna’s viewing audience with Lana’s, and HPW’s overall, this makes huge numbers! So? And huge money…! Cia raises her eyebrow and says, “Oh really?” The trio sets up, and Lana says obviously they first have to learn the steps. Midna brings up, “Wait, what song are we dancing to?” Oh, good point. Lana was thinking something from Lulu. Cia asks, “Lulu? From the Indigo-Go’s?” Midna says Lulu’s got a great solo album. Lana agrees! That’s so great that they like the same music. Cia isn’t as familiar with her solo stuff, so she’ll rely on them for this.

Lana suggests they go with Energetic Me. For one, it has the most energy, duh. And it still has a dance vibe, which is the whole point. Midna says she might’ve gone with Royal Discotheque or Ten Outta Ten, but she sees Lana’s point. Lana shows them the dance moves she has in mind. Left arm up, bent at the elbow, and the hand up against the side of the chest. Then they switch so the right arm goes up to mirror that position while the left hand goes back to the hip. Maybe add a little hip pop as that happens. Do that a couple times, and then turn to the right. This puts the left hand on the back of the hip, right hand on the back of the neck for a sexy pose.

Then you turn to flip it the other way, then do a 360 with a big neck whipping, hair flipping move. Then finish with feet apart and double V’s up by the eyes, maybe with a wink. Cia says, “Yeah, okay…” while Midna says, “I like it!” Midna says she’ll set up in the middle. Cia asks why Midna is in the middle, and Midna says it’s symmetry. She’s the tallest, Cia and Lana are about the same, it makes sense. Yeah, but it also means Midna is the center of attention. Well, that’s just coincidental. Lana says it doesn’t matter, the point is them doing it all in synch. Cia sighs and says, “Fine.” Midna is in the middle, Cia is on her right, and the music plays.

Left arm, right arm, left arm, right arm, pose to the right, pose to the left, 360 spin and neck whip, then double V. Midna nailed it, but Cia was lagging. Cia defends she was not, but Lana says it’s alright, they’ll just keep trying. They run through it a couple more times, they do tighten it up, and all three feel really good about how that went.

The Dark Forces are watching.

They aren’t impressed by the “little dance party.” Harlequin says the Faces of Evil are way better anyway. Especially with the classics like the Thriller dance and Macarena. Zant says, “The Macarena? Pfft, and people think I’m a dork…” Harlequin says, “Don’t you dare mock the Macarena!” Harlequin changes tabs on the computer and starts playing the song! After the introduction, he lifts his right arm up flat, then his left. Then he turns the right hand up, the left hand up, puts his right hand on his left shoulder, left hand on right shoulder, then moves right hand up behind his head, and then his left.

Now his arms crisscross, right hand on left hip and left hand on right hip, to then switch so right hand on right hip and left hand on left hip. And of course, he swivels his hips in one big circle to go with “HEY~ Macarena! AIGHT!” Zant rolls his eyes while Harlequin keeps going, jumping 90 degrees to his left. Ganon walks in, Ghirahim following behind, and he tells Harlequin to “turn that crap off.” Harlequin pouts but he does as told. Ganon seethes as he takes a seat in his big arm chair. “Needless to say… Wrestling is Life didn’t go how I’d hoped. What was Kage even doing there?! Did either of you have any idea he was going to betray us?!”

Zant and Ghirahim are a bit flustered. Zant isn’t even sure Kage was part of The Dark Forces at the time Ganon took ownership. He’d kinda gone rogue at some point, didn’t he? Ghirahim agrees, it didn’t seem like he was even aligned with Cia and the others. All the more reason for Kage to keep his nose out of Ganon’s business! If Kage cared about the Dark Forces, then he would’ve helped them fight back at HyruleMania, or any time since. Kage clearly just wants the title, same as Ganon, so he’s a dead man walking. Speaking of that… Where’s Kevin? He came back in April, why isn’t he here?

Somewhere dark and spooky…

Heavy footsteps can be heard echoing as Kevin Gibdo moves down the hallway. He speaks with a low, airy voice, “Majora… Your madness… spread like wildfire… You thought by setting me ablaze… I would crumble into ash… You were wrong! Instead, I have been purified…! Purged of flaws and weaknesses… I now come forth… as gold!” There’s a light at the end of the hall, and Kevin enters a grand hall, with treasure gleaming in the light. At the center is the sarcophagus. Kevin walks up to it, opens it, and then his burnt and tattered bandages fall away before he steps inside. The sarcophagus closes, then the eyes on it begin to glow… Then the entire thing glows!

The glowing becomes a shining light, and that shining becomes so bright that nothing can be seen. It is clear things between Kevin and Majora are not over. Will the Masked Monster even stand a chance once the Gibdo of All Gibdos is restored to full strength?

Back to the Dark Forces…

Shabonne says, “I’m sure Kevin is just fine doing whatever Gibdos do on their time off.” Tali says, “What matters is what I’m about to do to that tiny little weasel with the Goddess Championship. If The Dark Forces is gonna have all the gold, then I need to squash her like a bug and take that title off of whatever’s left!” Ganon nods and says he likes the initiative. Tali will start on her own Triple Crown as the Dark Forces will make Hyrule Pro-Wrestling their kingdom! The group cheers while raising a toast! And then Harlequin gets Glutko and Lupay to join in on the Macarena, to which Ganon groans and facepalms.

And so, the ThunderStruck card is set!

The double ring, double cage will rattle with Blood & Thunder as the HPW World Trios Championships are on the line! The Gerudo Ace looks to settle a grudge with the Hero’s Shadow! And now, the Million Rupee Championship and HPW Goddess Championships will also be on the line! Will the Dark Forces absolutely dominate the Summer? Be ready to endure the heat on Friday, June 20th!

About Chairshot Radio Network

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THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

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All Shows On Demand

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Bandwagon Nerds

Bandwagon Nerds #287: Filling A Void

The Nerds review Thunderbolts*, check out the latest trailers, and celebrate Star Wars Day as only they can!

Published

6 days ago

May 5, 2025

PC Tunney

The Bandwagon is stripped down this week as Dave and PC Tunney helm the ship for a big week in the Nerdosphere. Naturally, we are covering Thunderbolts as Dave, Tunney (and the rest of the Bandwagon, for that matter) all saw the latest entry into the MCU. What was the consensus, and did the longest post-credit scene in MCU history push the Universe in the right direction? In other MCU News, we discovered why Hawkeye had no second season. From there, the guys head into the Trailer Park to look at the latest, including a sizzle reel for Netflix’s TUDUM event, Dwayne “The Rock ” Johnson’s latest movie, The Smashing Machine, and a very creepy look at Weapons. GTA 6 got delayed, again….but could that be a blessing in disguise? But this Episode was recorded on Star Wars Day, and to commemorate the event, Dave tries his best to convince Tunney to watch Andor, while Tunney tells Dave what he likes most about one of the most successful franchises of all time. All that, plus Dave tells you why The Last of Us is the best show anywhere on TV. Dave & Tunney cover a lot of ground in an action-packed episode of BWN, so make sure you tune in!

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PROWRESTLINGTEES.COM/TheChairshot – Makes a GREAT GIFT!!!

About Bandwagon Nerds

Join Patrick O’Dowd, David Ungar, PC Tunney, Rey Cash, and DPP as they keep everyone up on all things nerd and maybe add some new nerds along the way. It’s the Bandwagon Nerds Podcast!