Manowar are famed for their loyal fanbase, record breaking live shows and slick leathered up baby oil warrior style. Fans have been awaiting another classic Manowar album to add to their generous discographies for years now and finally, The Lord of Steel has been released The album launches straight into a fast paced and hard hitting intro for title track ‘The Lord of Steel’. Featuring simple yet effective pounding drums, on further listening the bassline doesn’t quite work as it crackles and falls into a tone that sometimes sounds like an 80s arcade machine.
But ‘Manowarriors’ will perk up your hopes with another great intro and some interesting guitar work comes into play. However the strange fuzzy bass tone reappears and continues to haunt the album like a giant bass powered metal mosquito. This strange bass phenomenon will hopefully sound much better louder and live on the band’s famously loud sound system. ‘Righteous Glory’ hearkens back to the epic sound and mythological exploration which Manowar owned in their glory days. But this is soon stamped out by the lifeless drumming and slow motion fuzz-bass would be more at home in a doom track than a Manowar song. ‘Black List’ finally throws out a new drumming pattern, which is then repeated monotonously for the entire song.
Thankfully some fancy guitar solos help to dull the pain until ‘Expendable’ buzzes into existence. ‘Expendable’ is certainly catchy and Eric Adam’s voice is full of raw energy while surrounded by dense chugging guitars. Joey DeMaio’s bass works surprisingly well in this song and begins to seem slightly less awkward. When ‘El Gringo’ comes around the track stands out and grasps your interest far more than it would on a solo listen. Finally ‘Hail, Kill and Die’ takes you through all the previous Manowar albums in a fitting reminder of what the band once were and what they could be. This is a painfully disappointing album for those who had high hopes for another classic from a band who are so serious about the continuity of their sound. But the album doesn’t do too badly overall with some potential growers and a few memorable moments. Hopefully the band will do this album greater justice live on their up and coming world tour.
The Lord Of Steel World Tour – Confirmed Dates:
Tue, Oct 09, 2012 – Zaragoza, Spain – Interpeñas
Thu, Oct 11, 2012 – La Coruña, Spain – Coliseum
Sat, Oct 13, 2012 – Barcelona, Spain – St Jordi Club
Sun, Oct 14, 2012 – Madrid, Spain – La Riviera
Tue, Oct 16, 2012 – Paris, France – Trabendo
Fri, Oct 19, 2012 – Kerkrade, Holland – Rodahal
Tue, Oct 23, 2012 – Prague, Czech Republic – Mala Sportovni Hala
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 – Pardubice, Czech Republic – CEZ Arena
Fri, Oct 26, 2012 – Zlin, Czech Republic – Euronics
Fri, Nov 23, 2012 – Worcester, MA – The Palladium
Sat, Nov 24, 2012 – Long Island, NY – The Paramount
Sun, Nov 25, 2012 – Long Island, NY – The Paramount
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