The steel has become a bit older, but the forging proceeds in the traditional vein, fact is that Warriors Of The World is yet another great and intriguing
Manowar album.
In general this album has a very direct and "in the flesh" approach, brilliantly represented with the opening hymn
Call To Arms. A thundering guitar riff, the bombastic chorus, ultra tight drums, a grooving bass and Eric showing his great vigorous vocal abilities, it just has
Manowar written all over it.
With
The Fight For Freedom we are giving a really cool ballad, a central element is the positive charged chorus, it's rather simple but that's also the charm of it, memorable and effective.
The easygoing vibe gets a great lift with the heavy section leading into a melodic solo from Karl; the ending being a bit stretched but nevertheless a very good song.
One of my absolute favourite songs is
Swords In The Wind, the acoustic guitar/keyboard setting sounds phenomenal and when Eric adds his soothing voice it gets really magical. The chorus has that special
Manowar force to it, taking no prisoners and being very melodic at the same time.
The days of the Vikings is portrayed with a heavy dose of epic flair, a true warrior's spirit immortalised in the skies.
Warriors Of The World United is another "to be if not all ready" classic
Manowar song, what an immensely powerful construction. The slow but raw pounding beginning works brilliantly as a spectacular appetizer, kind of like a warm-up before the grand scaled chorus and ultra heavy guitar riff sets in.
The bass from Joey is absolutely ground shaking and I have rarely heard such a deep and solid basic, simple but very striking. The slower part of the song fits in nicely, the distorted voice sounding not that great though.
Hand Of Doom is welcome speedy cut, raw power and a kick ass attitude being the mainstay. Lyrically and chorus-wise it gets a bit uninspired and monotone but the varied drums from Scott sounds really great and Karl throws in some technical lead stuff to stir things up. The huge break featuring machine gun paced rhythm guitar chords works out very well too.
House Of Death:
Well what can I say, Metal with attitude and huge intensity. It's not the most fascinating build-up but it seriously leaves you hammered deep into chair.
Lastly
Fight Until We Die sums up the uncompromising nature of
Manowar's music and lyrical sphere. Even though they can do something that is more thrilling this is still hard-hitting, powerful, well-played and vivid Heavy Metal.
Lyrically we get what we expected, classic
Manowar stuff like fighting for your beliefs, finding strength to get on with your life and the true essence of friendship.
It's not the most interesting and well-written lyrics but they mostly go well together with the raw and at times simple musical direction.
Production-wise we are treated with a fine and solid result, a deep and heavy sound blast from the speakers, still allowing room for more differentiated passages.
Not counting covers and instrumentals, Warriors Of The World numbers 7 "normal" songs, none of them being more than around 6 minutes, I certainly would have like a couple of cuts more.
I'm left with the feeling of wanting just a bit more epic and grand scaled compositions, but the power, spirit and ear for catchy melodies are found in plenty.
Written by
Tommy Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Show all reviews by TommyRatingsTommy: 7.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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