Manowar
Into Glory Ride

THE REVIEW

Given the comments from the previous review, let's say it once again: Manowar almost never offer anything innovative, they continuously risk becoming a caricature of themselves, they aren't technically excellent (compared to renowned colleagues), and live, they certainly don't make anyone shout about a miracle.

Let's think then about the authentic energy they manage to convey, their exaggerations, without forgetting the splendid ballads with which they've enchanted us, and the even more spectacular mid-tempo tracks (one above all: "Army of Immortals"). In short, it might be predictable, but just say "Manowar" and your headache has already arrived...?
This album, with its gruesome cover, does not stand out as a particularly cohesive work, even though at least half of the tracks are more than valid. In fact, it's quite evident a brutal attitude, but not yet well-defined: our guys attempt to write "epic" pieces where the hyper speed ("in fashion" at the time) gives way to a kind of metal which, all things considered, is NOT yet metal. And the result is quite disorganized, it almost seems like listening to three bands in one: the first prefers the hard, cadence-heavy sound which makes up their trademark, the second goes wild only once with the fantastic "Warlord", and the third grapples with trying to find their own style, without fully defining it. The result is that much of the album passes in total boredom.

Indeed, the riffing is quite repetitive, and the drums certainly don't shine with originality (almost always in unison with the power chords): the soul is all in the immense voice of Eric Adams and the bass of De Maio, which in this work almost acts as a second guitar. It's quite unusual, moreover, to hear an album of this kind where the bass often and willingly overshadows the guitar - which in itself is fairly predictable (much to the chagrin of good old Ross "The Boss"). "Hatred" seems to be a contender for the worst track in Manowar's history, but just listen to it without haste to realize that all things considered, it's quite enjoyable, even if too long like much of the epic "dances" offered here. Unforgettable "March for Revenge...", along with the amazing "Revelation...", which has the merit of being the track based on which our guys created the immense "Hail to England".
The flaws are not lacking, beyond the banal songwriting: without discussing the artistic merits of Adams and De Maio, it seems to me that the somewhat rough distortion and not very varied riffing penalize a work that, for better or worse, made our guys famous as "epic metallers".

The least suitable album to start listening to Manowar (it was initially a demo tape), decidedly curious for those who do not know them well enough: if you then do not like them, resign yourself to the fact that you'll never like them...