PAUL Di’ANNO – The Book of the Beast (2024) *HQ*

PAUL Di’ANNO, the iconic former frontman of Iron Maiden, releases his brand new album “The Book of The Beast” where the singer celebrates his entire career, featuring 5 previously unreleased tracks alongside re-mastered and re-imagined classics from his time with Battlezone, Killers, and his solo ventures.
A standout feature of the album is the darkly reworked versions of two Iron Maiden classics. Paul is joined by former Black Sabbath vocalist Tony Martin on a haunting rendition of ‘Remember Tomorrow‘, and ‘Wrathchild‘ features original Dragonforce frontman ZP Theart on a powerhouse duet with Paul. Both recordings also guests the drums of Russ Gilbrook (Uriah Heep).
With a career that spans over four decades, Di’Anno’s influence on heavy metal is undeniable. While the first two Iron Maiden albums (‘Iron Maiden‘ and ‘Killers’) cemented his place in metal history, ‘The Book of The Beast‘ reintroduces fans to his solo work. Tracks like ‘Madman in the Attic‘, ‘The Living Dead‘, and ‘Children of Madness‘ have been meticulously re-mastered, bringing new life to these often-overlooked strong heavy rockers.

Rather than act as a chronology, ”The Book of the Beast” tracks are organised in a far more organic manner: opener, The Beast Arises, dates from the Killers’ Murder One album back in 1992, and features a dual guitar attack reminiscent of Priest at their finest; Paul’s voice, while not Halford, has a far more metallic sound than his Maiden work.
Mad Man in the Attic jumps us forward to the beginning of the millennium and the Nomad album. The hefty crunch, ironically, does conjure the Halford self-titled from the same year.

Also taken from Nomad comes the balladic, Iced Earth-vibes of The Living Dead, showing the Di’Anno voice might be different from Dickinson’s, but Paul certainly always had the chops to at least compete with Bruce. The record’s title is the third and final song from that album and shows that there is much to appreciate in them-thar-tunes.
The second Killers’ album, Menace to Society was released a mere two years after Murder One, yet the pair were a world apart when it comes to style. Both Die by The Gun and Chemical Imbalance have foregone the traditional Metal sound in favour of a mid-Nineties crunch and grooving guitars. Got to say, even though it might be seen as a way to remain relevant in those days, neither song sounds forced or gives the feel of Paul moving outside his comfort zone.

The oldest song on offer here is Battlezone’s Children of Madness from the 1987 album of the same name and is closer to Dio or Priest, as opposed to what his former colleagues were doing on Somewhere In Time or Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. The fat, meaty guitars get down and dirty as Paul’s voice soars.
The other Battlezone tunes are taken from the 1998 album Feel My Pain, with the title-track being, again, era-appropriate and the ballad, The Forgotten Ones bringing us back to the more traditional sound.

The second half of the album is a collection of odds, ends and rarities which go into giving a bigger picture of the creative process. Covers of T-Rex’s Children of the Revolution, as featured on the Murder One album, while Venom’s Black Metal – from the sessions for Menace to Society – goes balls-out to challenge to original’s unrelenting speed.
A short-lived project from 1999, The Almighty Inbredz, found Paul exploring his Punk side on the previously unreleased The Serpent and the Shrew, showing the influence of the UK82 scene on his style.

Elsewhere, there’s the demo of The Beast is Back from 2003, on which Paul and guitarist, Chris Evans, were working on songs for what was going to be a new Killers’ record, a rip-roaring galloping tune; an acoustic version of Murder One’s Dream Keeper, recorded for radio broadcast in 2002, and a rehearsal recording of Menace to Society’s Three Words, captured as the band were preparing to tour with Metal Church, Vicious Rumors and Zodiac Mindwarp.

While this is essentially a post-Maiden collection, there’s still room on the compilation for a couple of the old standards, Remember Tomorrow and Wrathchild.
On the CD version, former Black Sabbath frontman Tony Martin lends his pipes to Remember Tomorrow and one-time DragonForce / Skid Row singer, ZP Theart, duets on Wrathchild.

On the back of a productive twelve months, which saw Paul opening for KK’s Priest, his own headlining tour, and a set at the Stonedead pre-show last month, it feels we are witnessing the long-overdue renaissance of Mr Paul – The Beast – Di’Anno.
Is the Beast back? Well, he never really went away, and long may he continue.
Highly Recommended

1. The Beast Arises – From the Killers album Murder One
2. Madman in the Attic – From the Di’Anno album Nomad
3. The Living Dead – From the Di’Anno album Nomad
4. Die By The Gun – From the Killers album Menace To Society
5. Children of The Revolution (T Rex Cover) – From the Killers album Murder One
6. Feel My Pain – From the Battlezone album Feel My Pain
7. Chemical Imbalance – From the Killers album Menace To Society
8. Nomad – From the Di’Anno album Nomad
9. The Forgotten Ones – From the Battlezone album Feel My Pain
10. Children of Madness – From the Battlezone album Feel My Pain
11. Remember Tomorrow – Iron Maiden song feat Tony Martin & Russ Gilbrook
12. Wrathchild – Iron Maiden song feat ZP Theart & Russ Gilbrook
13. Black Metal – Venom Cover
14. Dream Keeper (Acoustic Version) – From the Killers album Murder One
15. The Serpent and the Shrew – Almighty Inbredz song
16. Three Words (Rehearsal) – From the Killers album Menace To Society
17. The Beast is Back (Demo Recording)

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