Iron Maiden and I are very dear, old friends.

I loved Killers so much 40 years ago (or at least the cover) that 13-year-old me took the bus to another town to buy the T-shirt. They had nothing in my size, so I bought the small one into which I barely fit, (apparently not understanding the whole exploding puberty thing about to take place. I stubbornly wore the shirt until it literally ripped at the armpits. So when I think of that shirt, my chest constricts and I start evaluating whether I’m having a heart attack.

Which is OK. I want Iron Maiden to make me feel like I’m having a heart attack. That’s part of their job.

But on new record, the band’s 17th studio effort, Senjutsu … nope. No chest pains.

Maybe a bit of chest tightness early on, but few and far between. There’s a pretty clear Far Eastern warrior theme taking place throughout, which is a fresh idea, first live record Maiden Japan notwithstanding.

I want Iron Maiden records to exhaust me. I want to hear fantastic and vicious players track those wild metalcoaster rides of old, where each member was trying to keep up with the last as the song went careening and flipping upside down and ending up trying to destroy your face into the ground at the climax.

Despite six years between studio records, much of Senjutsu sounds tired.

The opening title track is appropriately dramatic and methodic in a “yay, we’re marching off to battle again” way. It could be an outtake from the Powerslave days, which was good news, early on. Nicko McBrain’s drumming was unusually bulky and the solos dipped and dived just where they were supposed to. Certainly nothing new, but not bad coming out the gate.

“Stratego” brought a smile to my face: the record’s first galloper. Even for a band that specializes in the metal gallop, it’s a good one. Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers run some guitar harmonies under the vocal line, and things seem A-OK in Maiden world.

Until singer Bruce Dickinson takes a dive on whatever he’s passing off as a chorus—sounds like a swing and a miss on a “Wasted Years” type of thing—and the song almost stalls, until more metal gallops save the day.

Third song “Writing on the Wall” is kind of a left turn. A more straightforward riff veers into Saxon territory. It’s effective, even if Dickinson again chooses to get hysterical with his vocals (I love him, but does everything have to sound like he’s channeling Shakespeare while yelling at the New Wave kids to get off his lawn?)

“Lost in a Lost World” sounds like Spinal Tap’s Renaissance phase for a minute, like lite foggy forest music with a man in tights strumming a guitar under a tree … until the Maiden riff kicks in, and suddenly it sounds like men with hammers pounding the trees to death. But it’s still a bit pedestrian, until some dynamic shift changing in the middle, with guitars suddenly finding a nasty mood. Dickinson, as usual, yells until he doesn’t, at which time he sounds almost pleasant.

“Days of Future Past” and “The Time Machine” prove to be a bit confusing, and not because Dickinson sounds hysterical again. But … two time travel songs? The latter has a bit of relentlessness that Dickinson follows nicely, but ultimately things are starting to get tedious by now.  “The Time Machine” would be better if you already hadn’t heard it on six or seven other Maiden records.

“Death of the Celts” is weird, even for Iron Maiden in a weird mood. It’s a solid song, but Spinal Tap was supposed to be funny, and I’m starting to visualize dancing hobbits.

“The Parchment” sounds like a Judas Priest outtake and tired. “Hell on Earth” at least sounds like Iron Maiden again, even if it could be another band trying to sound like Maiden.

There’s just not a lot of originality, or even much returning to the glory of Maiden’s best, on Senjutsu. It’s worth a listen for fans, but likely won’t win them many new ones.

Follow music critic Tony Hicks at Twitter.com/TonyBaloney1967.