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''Dance of Death'' is Iron Maiden's thirteenth studio album, released first in Japan on September 2 and rest of the world on September 8, 2003.

This album marks the first participation in songwriting by Nicko McBrain, who co-wrote the song "New Frontier" and also is the first (and so far only) time that all members of the band get a songwriting credit. It is sometimes mistakenly said that Steve Harris performed all the keyboard parts on the album because no credit is given to usual collaborator Michael Kenney, but this is actually due to an oversight in the printing of the album booklet (no instrument credits are given to any of the full band members either). The band's usual message in every album (a variation on the line "Up the Irons!") is absent too.

The Dance of Death World Tour was the tour supporting the album. ''Dance of Death'' once again brought costumes to Maiden's stage show. During "Dance of Death," Bruce Dickinson would wear theatrical masks and a cape while moving around the stage; at the end he would dress as the Grim Reaper for the final chorus. During the song "Paschendale", Dickinson would sometimes wear a traditional British Infantryman suit as worn during World War I and act out his death onstage during the song.

The title of the album refers to the late-medieval allegory on the universality of death: no matter one's station in life, the dance of death unites all. This philosophy is more commonly known as ''Danse Macabre''. - Wikipedia

For a band whose recording career has now lasted a quarter-century, Iron Maiden certainly sound revitalized and refreshed on Dance of Death. 2000's Brave New World might have been the first record in nearly a decade to feature legendary vocalist Bruce Dickinson, but as someone memorably said, it resembled a dodgy chow mein: it was mostly noodles, with too many prog-rock epics indulging Steve Harris' Wishbone Ash fetish, and hardly a single song to be found.

That's a deficit that Dance of Death corrects half a dozen times over. Sure, the epics are still present, but instead of allowing the three-guitarist lineup to duel themselves to death, the more sprawling numbers add a surprisingly understated, sometimes sombre acoustic feel to their eight-minute lengths, as on "Journeyman" or "No More Lies." Even better yet, Maiden have rediscovered how to write the sort of piledriver anthems that used to be their trademark in their 1980s heyday. Whether they're going over the top on "Paschendale" or cruising down the highway on "Wildest Dreams," the galloping bass, skirling guitars and human-air-raid siren vocals are all present and correct. But best of all are tracks such as "Gates of Tomorrow" and "Age of Innocence," revealing catchier songwriting instincts always present in the fertile minds of the Maiden sextet but not always allowed full rein, with stunning results. The influence of Iron Maiden on today's underground bands has been so all-pervasive and virulent, you sometimes have to pinch yourself to be reminded that this isn't, in fact, Iced Earth or In Flames you're listening to; but when Maiden really deliver, there's no mistaking them for anyone else in the world.