made his songwriting debut on
Dance of Death.
Dance of Death is the only Iron Maiden album to date in which drummer
Nicko McBrain has a songwriting credit, having co-written "New Frontier". This also makes it the only Iron Maiden album to date in which every member of the band receives a songwriting credit. Dickinson, who wrote the song's lyrics, states, "There is so much great stuff and so many great stories throughout history that you can make parallels with the modern day – particularly when history repeats itself as often as it does – that it makes for some very colourful subject matter." It features strong
progressive rock elements, including its length and detailed structure. Dickinson comments, "the beauty of 'Paschendale' isn't in the epic-ness of the song – although you have to admit it is a powerful and stirring body of music – but the detail." According to guitarist
Janick Gers, the album's title track was inspired by the final scene of
Ingmar Bergman's
The Seventh Seal, at the end of which "these figures on the horizon start doing a little jig, which is the dance of death". "Face in the Sand" is based on the media coverage surrounding the
Iraq War, taking place as the album was being recorded. although
Mick Wall describes it as "a wistful tale of
carpe diem". The song was originally recorded with electric instruments, however, as Dickinson states, "after all the battering that we've given the listener over the last hour of music it just seemed right to play out with something totally unexpected and left field." The original version appears on the
No More Lies EP. ==Artwork==