I can happily report that
Manowar are back and they're in fine form. The new album is an awesome piece of work. After listening to it too many times to count it has pretty much reached the same status as their other albums. There are a couple of things keeping it from reaching the true classic status though.
Some of the songs on the album have an epic feeling that reminds me of the Into glory ride - Hail to england - Sign of the hammer period. Great! The sound of the album is somewhat raw and not as polished as on louder than hell. That's definetely a good thing. Most of the songs on the album are mid tempo but at the end the band has thrown in three very fast songs.
The album starts with the majestic
"Call to arms" A cool heavy riff plays through the song and makes a great background wall for the rest of the instruments. The riff is very similar to of blood of my enemies though... It's a heavy, powerful song with a great chorus. This song makes me want to grab a case of beers and sing all through the night. Call to arms is up there with the best of the
Manowar songs from the past. I hope they will play this one live.
Fight for freedom starts out slow with just nice piano melody and Eric singing. The song is dedicated to all those who died on the 11th september. It gives me the same great feeling as when I hear Courage. It is a powerful song that brings hope and is full of positive emotions. The drumming makes it sound almost like a marching song (March for freedom anyone?). Great guitar solo in the middle.
Nessun Dorma is an awesome demonstration of Eric's voice. I first heard this song when I got a live video of their performance at the Gods of metal festival in Italy in 1999. Since then I always hoped that they would record it in the studio. Well, they did it and they did it right. An awesome piece of music. Eric has never sounded this good. When the rest of the band kicks in the song gets very powerful and it feels like a moment in music heaven. Of course it all ends in a huge scream. Perfect! The live version did have some more power as I remember it, but maybe that's because it was the first time I heard the
Manowar version...
Swords in the wind has become my favourite song of this album. It has a short choir intro
Valhalla which builds the perfect atmosphere for the song. The song starts out with a slow and atmospheric acoustic guitar part and Eric singing about warriors and the nordic gods. It's all very epic and just has to be heard. Close your eyes and let the music guide you away. It's almost like listening to Mountains for the first time... The song slowly grows and the electric guitar soloing in the background builds another level to the great atmosphere. Eric's voide is huge and emotional throughout the song and makes this song a true classic. The way he sings lines like "Destiny is calling, immortality be mine" and "magic stars our guiding light" gives me the chills... And when that happens I know that the music is special... I would say that this song takes the best parts of
Heart of steel, Mountains and Master of the wind and creates one of the ultimate
Manowar songs ever. This is one song that I can't help but sing along to whenever I hear it...
The first time I heard
"An American Trilogy" I thought "What the F... is going on here". Definetely not like anything they have ever done before, this song is a tribute to the king of rock'n roll Elvis Presley. It sounds like a mix of a bedtime song and a church hymn. I read somewhere that they had been wanting to do a song like this for many years, so I guess they needed to get it out of their system. After reading the story behind the song, or compilation of three songs as it actually is, I think it was the right time to do it and to put it on this album. Give it a listen just to hear Eric's glorious singing. This just shows that
Manowar do what they want to do and somehow they always pull it of. That along with their ability to create divine music has earned them my undying respect. I get a smile on my face every time I listen to this song.
Next follows and Instrumental piece
"The March" that is the bands tribute to Richard Wagner. It reminds me of Wagners music without sounding like a rip-off and I mean that as a pretty big compliment. Great instrumental track that leads into the first single from the album
"Warriors of the world united". The first single and definetely the most accessible song on the album. Some of my non-metal friends thought this song was great when they heard it, so I guess it shows that it is a great choice for a single. It is a great
Manowar hymn about fighting for what we believe in and standing together (Yes, nothing new here). The slow middle part is like a journey to the past right back to Battle Hymn and March for revenge. But why the hell did they have to distort the vocals slightly???? Too bad as it almost ruins it for me...
The last three songs are the fast ones of the album. Here the band goes all out crazy and delivers three heavy speedy battle hymns of power.
Hand of doom is filled with anger and hatred. A great heavy and powerful song in the tradition of Hail and Kill and Black wind, fire and steel.
The start of
House of death definetely reminds me of The oath from Sign of the hammer. There is a great heavy guitar sound during the verses and then the oath inspired riff is back in the chorus with Erics screams of DIE!!! Great song!
Fight until we die is the fastest song on the album and the screams and vocal melodies on show here just have to be heard. Another favourite and a great closer for the album that leaves me wanting more...
At first I thought that the order of the songs was pretty weird. Putting the three fast songs at the end, but now I think this way the album has a nice way of evolving.
If I had to say something negative about the album then it would have to be that it's just too damn short. The album's running time is about 47 minutes and it only contains 7 actual
Manowar songs which together have a running time of about 36 minutes. I have waited 6 years for a new manowar studio album and this one only contains 7 new actual songs. Still quality is always better than quantity, so I can't really complain as every one of the 7 songs are of such high quality. I just hunger for more... I hope the rumors are true and they will release another album in 2003.
Anyway it looks set to be a great
Manowar year with
Hell on Earth Part 2 & 3 on their way along with the live show from Brazil.
If you are a fan of
Manowar you probably already have this album. For everybody else this is a good place to start.
Hail!
Written by
Steen Friday, June 14, 2002
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