Manowar
Battle Hymns

THE REVIEW

Surely Manowar are not modest, but for this album a bit of pride is more than justified. It was 1982 when 4 muscular musicians (Eric Adams vocalist, Ross The Boss on guitar, Joey DiMaio on bass, and Donnie Hamzick on drums) forcefully carved out a niche in the new Heavy Metal scene.
Sound-wise, theirs was an unmistakable Heavy Metal, but it is the themes (made of dragons, battles, and knights) that conquer hordes of fans.

The album immediately kicks off with the classic "Death Tone," but this is quickly forgotten as soon as the group’s anthem bursts with the scream of "Metal Daze"; this song is a declaration of intent: for the Kings Of Metal, only Heavy Metal exists, and their greatest satisfaction is playing their pieces in front of screaming fans (have you ever heard the live version of this track? Its strength is raised to the 1000th power). The album then continues with two songs ("Fast Taker" and "Shell Shock"), which keep the tension high but do not give the same emotions. With the following track, "Manowar," the group sings us the story of the band, when, finding themselves together and with a passion for this genre, they decided to play together. "Dark Avenger" is then a sort of watershed between classic Heavy Metal and something never heard before. The first novelty is a very fast remake of a work by Gioacchino Rossini (I hope I got it right, I was undecided with Verdi), while the novelty number 2 is a kind of ballad, but it has nothing of the classic ballads of those years: if the latter were sugary love stories, Manowar invents the battle ballad; it is precisely in this track that the boys' fantasy attitude comes out, in a crescendo that stops only for a moment, then ends with the cry of KILL, KILL!

At first, I was very skeptical towards this group, often accused of fascism and of not being able to play, but by getting to know them, you can exonerate them from both accusations, indeed you must recognize a great merit to Manowar: exceptional involvement skills, that no great guitar phenomenon can provide.