Before I even get started, we need to get one thing clear...you're either a Manowar fan or you're not. You'll either think that they are kings of metal or the court jesters of it, and no matter what the band does you'll either be apart of the army of Manowarriors that will stay true to their idols through thick and thin....or you'll think that this whole Spinal Tap cheesiness is a bunch of bollocks and you wont care what this and other Manowar albums are like, you'll just write it straight off without giving it much of a thought. Me though, I fucking love 'em.
5 years we have been waiting for the call, 5 long years after the bands last studio effort Gods of War hit us right in our ear pussys and blew our balls...well some of us anyway. Many fans thought it was a bit of a lackluster and didn't really appreciate all the spoken interludes or symphonic tones of the album, so when the news came around that this latest offering was going to go back to the ass-kicking roots of Manowar of old, this naturally got alot of fans excited. Then came all the hype that the band put behind the album. With quotes such as "It's going to melt your face" and "It's going to shake the ground and explode you're balls", it got the many legions of fans hungry to finally get their hands of Manowars latest offering....and well....it was kind of a let down to be honest.
I pre-ordered the Metal-Hammer Steel Edition magazine which came with the digital download of The Lord of Steel album which was released on the 16th of June, and it is also comes with the CD of the album, which is the only way to get the hard copy of it for about 3 months (we'll come to that later). The first time I heard the album was about 6am in the morning, I'd just woke up, grapped my laptop, browsed through my email (also known as spam) and about 23 credit card applications down, I had an email with my download. Needless to say I got that shit on my computer as fast as my crappy internet connection would let me and prepared myself for the onslaught....and it never came. After my first full listen of the album I was absolutely mortified, I couldn't believe that this was all that Manowar could come up with.... disappointed didn't cover what I felt. Then I gave it another go, and another, and after about the third play through of the album, I really started to enjoy it for what it was. Its back to basics metal with a modern Manowar twist. It's not what everyone wanted (including me), it's not the strongest Manowar album by a long way either, but it does have some nice strong points.....and some pretty bad ones aswell, which I'll go through now.
BAD POINTS
1) Joey DeMaio's bass tone- Just fucking horrible really. I really don't know what he was thinking when he decided to sound like a fuck-ton of hornets had nested in his bass amp. Its been the major point for alot of criticism for the album and it will be of mine. The distorted buzzing just kills a good number of the songs by playing over alot of the guitar work and the vocals.....which in a Manowar album is something you don't wanna hear. I think it really took me by surprise the first time I heard it and is most likely the reason why I disliked the album so much at first....I just hope that Joey doesn't use the sound live.
2) Eric Adams's singing (or lack of)- Don't get me wrong here, the man has still got the pipes from hell and after seeing them live twice last year, I would say he can still hold it better than Bruce Dickinson or Rob Halford can these days....but that's just the problem, Eric doesn't really go for the high notes in this album. There's no shrieking , no screaming and no sky splitting wail in this record, and that has been the Manowar/Eric Adams trademark for so long that its a real shame to not hear it.....especially knowing that he still can.
3) How the album was released- What the fuck? That is pretty much all there is to say about the matter really. I don't know who's idea it was to release it as a download first and then not to bring it out on CD until a good 3 months after...but whoever it was should get a fucking man slap. I'm not really someone who downloads music, I like to have the hard copy of things and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in that sentiment, so to just make people wait for the CD is pretty dumb...its not going to make people buy the download first and then buy the CD aswell, its just going to make people download it illegally first and then if they can be arsed....they may buy the CD when it finally comes out. Not a good move at all.
4) The bands effort- The whole album seems a bit half-arsed really. The solos, the riffs, the lyrics (yes, even for Manowar the lyrics are a smidge too naff) and the production on a whole just seems completely uninspired. Alot of people say that for 5 years work its really disappointing, but to be honest, after line-up changes, Joey pulling a Nathan Explosion and deleting a bunch of finished songs to start again and then the band rerecording Battle Hymns...it was probably only about 2 years work at the very most, which coming from a band that did two great albums in one year back in the 80's, is still pretty bad.
5) Needs more fast songs- Well....it needs more fast songs, enough said.
GOOD POINTS
1) Manowarriors- The second song on the album and the first good one. The first song and title track is OK I suppose, but it just seems kinda lacking in enthusiasm. Manowarriors on the other hand is a fast paced, crowd pleasing sing along of a mother fucking song that although pure cheddar in lyrical terms, it just makes you wanna grab a beer and rock the fuck out with your friends....also the bass sound kinda fits in on this track.
2) Righteous Glory- Song four is a Manowar balled of the highest standard. Manowar do these slow, epic numbers like no other and this was probably the first saving grace of the album for me. A typical song about a fallen hero being carried to Valhalla by a Valkyrie and being called by Odin and so on, but its wonderfully done and I think will be a fan favourite live. My only critic is that unlike many of the slower songs on Manowar's past, Righteous Glory doesn't have much in the way of a notable bass line, which on things like Mountains from Sign of The Hammer really makes the song....but considering Joey's bass sound on this album, that's probably a good thing
3) Touch The Sky- Song 5 is a tasty little mid-paced number with a really catchy chorus and and has really upbeat feel to it that I think will go down well live....aslong as Joey doesn't use that cunting base tone that really hurts the song on the album version.
4) Black List- Song number 6, and probably one of my favourites of the album. A slow and heavy bastard along the same vain as Bridge of Death from Hail To England, but sadly not as good.....I cant describe it, but its doesn't have that "Ooooooooooo" factor BoD has. Still a fucking good track if you ask me and the bass sound fits in pretty well here aswell.
5) Annihilation- Second to last song of the album and probably one of the only songs where Eric really belts out the chorus "Annihilatioooooooooooooooooon!". The riff is a pretty good lick, the lyrics are kinda by the book, but fit well enough. Nice and catchy and again its something that will please live. Annihilation also has the best solo of the album.
SUM-UP
The rest of the songs on the album are also really worth a listen, and to be honest, there isn't really a "bad" song on the album.....just nothing that stands out too much either. If all the little problems I listed above were sorted, we could of had a better record, but sadly that's not the case and we're left with another sub-par Manowar album....but to me its their own fault for setting the bar so high for themselves anyway.
This is a real grower, so if you didn't like it the first time, don't give up on it.
Rating- 6.5/10
