Iron Maiden – ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ Digipak

‘A Matter of Life and Death’ is the fourteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released on August 25th, 2006, in Italy and Finland, and on August 28th worldwide, excluding the United States of America, Canada and Japan on September 5th. It is the first album in Iron Maiden’s career to enter the United States of America Billboard charts in the top 10, achieving significant chart success in many other countries.

The album cover was created by Tim Bradstreet, an American artist, best known for his work on the ‘Hellblazer’ and ‘Punisher’ comics. A lifelong Iron Maiden fan, who drew much influence from Derek Riggs’ artwork for them, Bradstreet described the opportunity as “one of my wildest dreams”. He had a tight schedule, receiving for reference the songs to listen to and key art done by Peacock Designs UK, who directed the booklet’s artwork.

While not being a concept album, war and religion are recurring themes throughout, as well as in the cover artwork.