The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and eventually reaches Antarctic waters. An albatross appears and leads them out of the ice jam where they are stuck, but even as the albatross is praised by the ship's crew, the mariner shoots the bird: The crew is angry with the mariner, believing the albatross brought the south wind that led them out of the Antarctic. However, the sailors change their minds when the weather becomes warmer and the mist disappears: They soon find that they made a grave mistake in supporting this crime, as it arouses the wrath of spirits who then pursue the ship "from the land
The Book of Souls subject of particular praise, with PopMatters calling it a "masterpiece" and "every bit as spellbinding as 1984's 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' [from 1984's "Powerslave"]". AllMusic described it as "a heavy metal suite, unlike anything in their catalogue". Although Blabbermouth.net and "NME" did not agree that it matches "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", the former stated that it is "worth every single minute as a cinematic-sounding encapsulation of the band's career", while the latter called it "the pièce-de-résistance". It also received a positive response from "Classic Rock", who deemed it a "stunning piece of work", while "Billboard" labelled it "a