I never felt the darkness on The X Factor much except on "Sign of the Cross". The typical Maiden melodies and chord progressions quickly gallop on in to squelch any grim moods that develop. A Matter of Life and Death manages to pull the atmosphere off much better, although it sticks to a more detached and outside-looking-in view of sorrow and suffering, and makes major changes to the Maiden formula the likes of which haven't been done since Piece of Mind. Often there were times when the lyrics sounded like they were written for a different song from the one that Blaze was singing.
