Manowar
Sign of the Hammer

THE REVIEW

After 6 years, 6 long years of waiting interrupted only by the excellent live performances "Hell on Wheels", "Hell on Stage", and the first release of the live series "Hell on Earth: Part I", Manowar are back in the spotlight, this time with a fresh studio work. The new album, "Warriors of the World", is released 6 years after the moderate and much-criticized "Louder than Hell", which marked the return of the historic drummer Scott Columbus and the debut of the talented Karl Logan. This work, certainly anticipated, sparked criticism about the band just 5 seconds after the announcement of a new Manowar album. Indeed, few bands can ignite discussions like Manowar. But let's set aside the criticism and see what the 4 musicians of New York's true metal have to offer us. The album opens with "Call to Arms", a solid track supported by a heavy-as-few drums (and from Scott, a simple yet extremely powerful drummer, I expect nothing else), and a bass that backs up a voice laden with anger like Eric Adams'. A track that absolutely charges you up, a perfect opener I would say. After "Call to Arms", it continues with "Fight for Freedom", a semi-ballad in which Adams demonstrates the full range of his voice, angry and gritty at one moment, and sweet and gentle the next. A truly excellent track, also noteworthy is Logan's excellent solo. With "Nessun Dorma", Manowar pay their tribute to the Italian people, and it must be said that this song represents one of the peaks of the band. Eric sings in an absolutely fantastic way, the track gives chills and guaranteed goosebumps, a song so beautiful that it will then be reprised at the Gods of Metal of the same year, and in 2012. After the brief interlude called "Valhalla", begins one of the most beautiful episodes of the album, and probably one of the best ballads of the American quartet, second only to "The Heart of Steel". We are talking about "Swords in the Wind", a ballad in which all the instruments work perfectly, and Adams' voice... Well, I won't even start talking about it. One of the best Manowar tracks, absolutely. "An American Trilogy" doesn't deviate much from the previous ones, a good song, with an Adams still in great shape. After the brief "The March", there is a sudden acceleration in the album, and abruptly. The title track bursts with devastating drums and bass, in an intro of over a minute, and what emerges is a solid song, based on a simple but effective rhythm, and certainly one of the best songs to perform live. The triptych that follows, and takes us to the end of the album, is an anger that makes the ears bleed. "Hand of Doom" is certainly an excellent track, with a central break in which Adams makes his anger felt by the listener, it seems like a rabid dog on a leash just waiting to be unleashed and destroy everything. "House of Death" follows the same line, although after the second refrain it tends to become a bit repetitive. "Fight Until We Die" can be described in a single word: POWER. An Eric Adams at his best, Demaio with his bass, not too excessive, keeps the song at an excellent level, and Logan and Columbus "dialogue" greatly with the instruments. Great screams at the end for Adams, whom I consider one of the best metal singers ever existed.

The only flaw of this work, in my opinion, is perhaps the choice of the order of the songs. Because starting with an opener like "Call to Arms", only to follow it with 4 ballads/semi-ballads is slightly excessive, and tends to bore those who are listening to the album for the first time. Apart from this, the album is well-executed, and all the musicians are in great shape, including Adams. What can I say, criticisms for Manowar don't hold here, a truly excellent album. Not at the splendor of "Into Glory Ride" of course, it would be foolish to think so, but still very enjoyable.

Hail!