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Released only a year after the magical Accident of Birth, Bruce Dickinson manages to create an album that is just as good as that one. That doesn't mean that this is a carbon copy of what he did before as The Chemical Wedding is a vastly different record. Its major difference is the much darker overtone of it, in both the lyrics and sound department.

Bruce Dickinson has always been mostly an intelligent lyricist, rarely writing songs that were stupid or retarded but here he takes things up a notch. While he still has the tendencies of over repeating the choruses, the album has that lyrical wizardry that we got with the earlier Maiden material (poet William Blake is a big time influence here). Musically this is darker as well, it seems that Dickinson along with Roy Z and Adrian Smith took an epic songwriting approach as the tracks here have that feeling. Songs like "The Tower", "Killing Floor" and "Book of Thel" brought me a smile, as I didn't expect that those guys could do create such dense songs.

This album has the same lineup as Accident of Birth and it shows. There isn't a trace of sloppiness to be found and you can feel the band grow as a unit. Everything here sounds better than before, from the guitars, the rhythm section to the vocals. Style-wise this isn't that much different, if you are a fan of Dickinson then you'll know what to expect. If there is a weak spot on the album it is at the end of "The Alchemist" where you have to wait two plus minutes after the song to hear a verse, terrible waste of space.

Nevertheless, with the Chemical Wedding Bruce Dickinson has managed to create a worthy follow up that should be in every metalhead collection. There is something to remember from each track and with the complete lack of filler this feels once again like a full album instead of just a bunch of songs. If you do not have it, get it now as this is as essential as anything you own.