Manowar - Warriors of the world
I can happily report that Manowar are back and they're in fine form. The new album is an awesome piece of work. After listening to it too many times to count it has pretty much reached the same status as their other albums. There are a couple of things keeping it from reaching the true classic status though.

Some of the songs on the album have an epic feeling that reminds me of the Into glory ride - Hail to england - Sign of the hammer period. Great! The sound of the album is somewhat raw and not as polished as on louder than hell. That's definetely a good thing. Most of the songs on the album are mid tempo but at the end the band has thrown in three very fast songs.

The album starts with the majestic "Call to arms" A cool heavy riff plays through the song and makes a great background wall for the rest of the instruments. The riff is very similar to of blood of my enemies though... It's a heavy, powerful song with a great chorus. This song makes me want to grab a case of beers and sing all through the night. Call to arms is up there with the best of the Manowar songs from the past. I hope they will play this one live.

Fight for freedom starts out slow with just nice piano melody and Eric singing. The song is dedicated to all those who died on the 11th september. It gives me the same great feeling as when I hear Courage. It is a powerful song that brings hope and is full of positive emotions. The drumming makes it sound almost like a marching song (March for freedom anyone?). Great guitar solo in the middle.

Nessun Dorma is an awesome demonstration of Eric's voice. I first heard this song when I got a live video of their performance at the Gods of metal festival in Italy in 1999. Since then I always hoped that they would record it in the studio. Well, they did it and they did it right. An awesome piece of music. Eric has never sounded this good. When the rest of the band kicks in the song gets very powerful and it feels like a moment in music heaven. Of course it all ends in a huge scream. Perfect! The live version did have some more power as I remember it, but maybe that's because it was the first time I heard the Manowar version...

Swords in the wind has become my favourite song of this album. It has a short choir intro Valhalla which builds the perfect atmosphere for the song. The song starts out with a slow and atmospheric acoustic guitar part and Eric singing about warriors and the nordic gods. It's all very epic and just has to be heard. Close your eyes and let the music guide you away. It's almost like listening to Mountains for the first time... The song slowly grows and the electric guitar soloing in the background builds another level to the great atmosphere. Eric's voide is huge and emotional throughout the song and makes this song a true classic. The way he sings lines like "Destiny is calling, immortality be mine" and "magic stars our guiding light" gives me the chills... And when that happens I know that the music is special... I would say that this song takes the best parts of Heart of steel, Mountains and Master of the wind and creates one of the ultimate Manowar songs ever. This is one song that I can't help but sing along to whenever I hear it...

The first time I heard "An American Trilogy" I thought "What the F... is going on here". Definetely not like anything they have ever done before, this song is a tribute to the king of rock'n roll Elvis Presley. It sounds like a mix of a bedtime song and a church hymn. I read somewhere that they had been wanting to do a song like this for many years, so I guess they needed to get it out of their system. After reading the story behind the song, or compilation of three songs as it actually is, I think it was the right time to do it and to put it on this album. Give it a listen just to hear Eric's glorious singing. This just shows that Manowar do what they want to do and somehow they always pull it of. That along with their ability to create divine music has earned them my undying respect. I get a smile on my face every time I listen to this song.

Next follows and Instrumental piece "The March" that is the bands tribute to Richard Wagner. It reminds me of Wagners music without sounding like a rip-off and I mean that as a pretty big compliment. Great instrumental track that leads into the first single from the album "Warriors of the world united". The first single and definetely the most accessible song on the album. Some of my non-metal friends thought this song was great when they heard it, so I guess it shows that it is a great choice for a single. It is a great Manowar hymn about fighting for what we believe in and standing together (Yes, nothing new here). The slow middle part is like a journey to the past right back to Battle Hymn and March for revenge. But why the hell did they have to distort the vocals slightly???? Too bad as it almost ruins it for me...

The last three songs are the fast ones of the album. Here the band goes all out crazy and delivers three heavy speedy battle hymns of power. Hand of doom is filled with anger and hatred. A great heavy and powerful song in the tradition of Hail and Kill and Black wind, fire and steel.

The start of House of death definetely reminds me of The oath from Sign of the hammer. There is a great heavy guitar sound during the verses and then the oath inspired riff is back in the chorus with Erics screams of DIE!!! Great song!

Fight until we die is the fastest song on the album and the screams and vocal melodies on show here just have to be heard. Another favourite and a great closer for the album that leaves me wanting more...

At first I thought that the order of the songs was pretty weird. Putting the three fast songs at the end, but now I think this way the album has a nice way of evolving.

If I had to say something negative about the album then it would have to be that it's just too damn short. The album's running time is about 47 minutes and it only contains 7 actual Manowar songs which together have a running time of about 36 minutes. I have waited 6 years for a new manowar studio album and this one only contains 7 new actual songs. Still quality is always better than quantity, so I can't really complain as every one of the 7 songs are of such high quality. I just hunger for more... I hope the rumors are true and they will release another album in 2003.

Anyway it looks set to be a great Manowar year with Hell on Earth Part 2 & 3 on their way along with the live show from Brazil.

If you are a fan of Manowar you probably already have this album. For everybody else this is a good place to start.

Hail!

Written by Steen
Friday, June 14, 2002
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Comment by Metalchick (Anonymous) - Saturday, September 20, 2003
I love the fact that you introduced a new genre: "Manowar Metal".. Gotta remember that! Warriors of the world certainly proves once again that they are something special. These guys ARE pure metal inside-out. It's evident in all tracks of this cd - even "The American Trilogy". Can't imagine any other band making "Nessun Dorma" sound metal without spoiling the song. And putting "House of Death" on the same album is either insane or ingenious.


Comment by Steen (Staff) - Saturday, September 20, 2003
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Comments: 518
I would say ingenious :)

Posted by Steen (Staff)
Saturday, September 20, 2003

Comment by Deltran (Anonymous) - Monday, October 13, 2003
MANOWAR ARE GREAT AND THERE ALBUMS ARE GREAT, I HAD LISTEND TO WARRIORS OF THE WORLD ON THE INTERNET, WHICH MADE ME DETERMIND TO GET THE ALBUM, AND I CAN ONESTLY SAY IT ROCKS.


Comment by Adam (Anonymous) - Friday, May 7, 2004
A truly glorious and mighty Manowar record!


Comment by Alanna (Staff) - Wednesday, May 12, 2004
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Comments: 245
"Glory, glory hallelujah!!!!!!!" Was listening to this just this morning and had tears in my eyes. Eric Adams you do it to me again! Killer album just all over from start to completion. "Nessun Dorma" gives me goosebumps as well. These guys are so talented, I wish it didn't take them FIVE years or more to make a disc, but its always worth the wait.

Posted by Alanna (Staff)
Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Comment by ARTHUR (Anonymous) - Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Does someone know when manowar started ??? i need to know the date !!! - i cannot find it not even on the official site www.manowar.com


Comment by gizmo (Member) - Wednesday, October 7, 2009
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Comments: 140
Ratings: 4
This was not a good Manowar album they continued their downfall that begun on Louder than hell and hopefully ended with Gods of war.

The new EP Thunder in the sky promises well for the next album though, and for many many many years i am actually excited about a new Manowar album.

Lets not hope all the good tracks are on this EP from the forthcoming album as they were on the last release Gods of war, every single above average track were on the EP released prior to the album.

Posted by gizmo
Wednesday, October 7, 2009










Review by Steen
Manowar - Warriors of the world

Released by
Nuclear Blast - 2002

Tracklisting
01. Call To Arms
02. The Fight For Freedom
03. Nessun Dorma
04. Valhalla
05. Swords In The Wind
06. An American Trilogy
07. The March
08. Warriors Of The World United
09. Hand Of Doom
10. House Of Death
11. Fight Until We Die


Style
Manowar Metal

Related links
Visit the band page

Manowar - Official Website

Manowar - German Defenders of Steel

Other articles
The Triumph of Steel - (Tommy)

Warriors Of The World - (Tommy)

Band information - (Steen)

Into glory ride - (Steen)

Live At KB Hallen, Copenhagen - November 28th, 2002 - (Tommy)

The Dawn of Battle (Single) - (Steen)

Interview with Karl Logan - (Tommy & Steen)

Fire and Blood - (Steen)

Battle Hymns - (Steen)

Hell on Earth Part III - (Steen)

Hail to England - (Steen)

Sign Of The Hammer - (Tommy)

Hell On Earth Part IV - (Steen)

The Sons of Odin - (Steen)

The Day The Earth Shook - The Absolute Power - (Steen)

Live with Rhapsody of Fire and HolyHell in Germany, March 2007 - The Tour Report - (Steen)

Gods of War - (Steen)

Fighting The World - (Steen)

Gods of War - (Alanna)

Live At Birmingham O2 Academy, March 27th 2011 - (Stuart)

Hell On Earth - Part I (DVD) - (Steen)



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