"Nessun Dorma" is a song by Pavarotti, it's basically nothing on this album. Things go bad with "Fight for Freedom", the intro drags a but and Eric's tone is a bit weird (the arrangements don't help either). Some songs are very good, starting with "A Call to Arms" a powerful and groovy opener. This album is a bit appalling at first because it has some of the most amazing stuff I have heard in years by Manowar but also has some of the worst stuff I have heard in years, but the good stuff strongly makes up for it. "Warriors of the World" makes me think of "The Triumph of Steel" because of its uneven nature. We shall go through this album song by song. The truth is, Manowar who claim to be "Kings of Metal" actually get less and less metal with every release. In 2002, Manowar signed with a new label (Nuclear Blast) with a pretty stable line-up. So what can you expect by the most manliest and "loudest band in the world" 20 years after they first hit the scene? Well, let's find out. Their flatulence the cause of some forest fires and to top it all off the tale spreading around the internet that Eric Adams is so metal, that he survived 5 abortions before his mother finally gave up. Manowar: The manliest band ever, the band that eats live animals, usees Tabasco sauce as eye drops, as well as using the blood of virgins as pizza sauce. What's good, is fantastic, but there's too much "other" stuff here for me to give this album a 5, even though buying it is a no-brainer.Review Summary: This album has some of the best stuff Manowar have done in years and also some of the worst. "Fight until we Die" is faster than "House of Death" but not as heavy and proves to be a great exit piece for this album. Brutally fast and heavy this is Manowar at it's most ferocious and I love it !!! "Hand of Doom" starts things off with pure power and aggression and things only get more brutal and heavy on "House of Death", easily the albums best song. It's almost as if they recorded the first 8 songs and someone noticed that the album was awefully soft and un-Manowar-ish. "Warriors of the World United" is a real Manowar anthem in the same vein as "Kings of Metal". "Valhalla" is an instrumental leading into "Swords in the Wind" an awesome Manowar ballad-like tune that really captures that Viking feeling. So that leaves us with the good stuff ! "Call to Arms" is an excellent intro song and a classic Manowar tune. "Nessun Dorma" is somewhere in the middle and once you read in the liner notes that this is a tribute song for Eric Adams mother who passed away during the recording of this very album, you can't really dislike the song can you ? I reserve the opinion that it just sounds that way, because I don't want to believe they did sell-out, but it sure does sound that way.Īnyway, so the low points are "The Fight for Freedom", "An American Trilogy" and possibly "The March".
And the timing and the lyrics themselves just sound like a sell-out. Now if you buy this album now, it may not bother you too much, but this album came out sho rtly after 9/11 and while I was rolling my eyes at all the dozens of seemingly "patriotic" songs that all of a sudden flooded the airwaves in the country and pop genres (like I believe it for a second guys, you were cashing in on the latest fad!!), my favorite band to "NOT" sell-out wrote "The Fight for Freedom". Personally, while the Elvis cover would have probably better belonged on a single, it isn't the one that I feel is Manowars low point, that would be the song "Fight for Freedom". This album didn't disapoint, but there is some headache-inducing filler here as well. Manowar has a very distinct sound and when you buy a Manowar album, certain things are expected. Now, I'll be honest, I review Manowar albums very differently from how I would review other albums. And while in general this is a great album, there are certain songs and elements to this album that drive me up the wall. Well, I guess one can expect that when a group like Manowar starts doing Elvis covers there's bound to be some falling out.