Die with Honor

I applaud Manowar for their hard work in this new release of theirs, DIE WITH HONOR, and it's a pretty decent song, but I still get the feeling that they're losing their edge and their power. They always will have talent but they aren't up to par with the ass kicking, blow your head off stuff that they had back in the 80's. Let's examine the new single piece by piece:

Vocals: As usual Eric Adams shows that he can do a great job in delivering pretty much any vocal line that Mr. DeMaio writes for him. However it seems as though recently he's been consistently screaming less and sounding less and less brutal than normal. It's been maybe 15 years (?) or so since I've heard him pull off one of those mega high, brutal god like screams that seems to be getting, unfortunately, weaker as time goes on. Well I guess that's what aging will do to you.

Lyrics: Same old same old Manowar stuff. You gotta love it if you're a Manowar fan, but by the same token don't expect any thing new and original because we all know that Manowar regurgitates the same old lyrics over and over again. It will always be good, but sometimes I just crave for something new and exciting, and after a first time listen you get sorta upset to just hear lyrics that you heard in previous albums.

Drums: This is unusually slow paced for Manowar. I know that they have a lot of slower paced songs (secret of steel, each dawn I die) but in those other ones it seemed to work; they had a doomy, spooky atmosphere to them but this song does not. It's almost getting towards the direction of sounding poppy, and pretty boring overall if you ask me. During Scott's (I presume it's Scott on the drums here) time to fill you don't hear much brutality or hard pounding like usual. This guy has been known to break regular drum sets with his strength...where is that power now? Please don't tell me it's gone. Has he been hitting the gym enough lately?

Riffs/Songwriting: Well not bad depending on how you look at it. It's catchy enough and still can put that good fighting Manowar spirit inside of you when you sing along with it; it's a step up from Gods of War, it's more listenable, and you can learn to love it along with the rest of the Manowar legacy. There are different ways of delivering true, powerful metal. Just don't expect an old school 80's metal sound with this one. The epic chorus and the male singers towards the end still deliver enough to make you applaud the band for their attempt.

Solos: I think Karl Logan is Manowar's best guitarist. Really I do. It took me a long time to decide this but I think that his style and techinque are better than Ross the Boss or David Shankle. He writes terrific solos and does so in such a professional way. The way he communicates through music is great!

Overall, it's a good song. But let's just remember that this is MANOWAR and we have a long legacy and discography to compare and contrast this with. If you look at 80's Manowar, this fails. But seeing as though Manowar is my favorite metal band and greatest metal band in the world they have never sucked. A 71% is not a very nice rating but I did that for a reason because I know that they can do better. As a good rock song, it passes. As a Manowar song, it's still lacking in comparison to what they are capable of.

Manowar is back! This song says it. In the course of four minutes, the epic spirit of the band returns. The composition recalls the most glorious times of the group, and about it, I can write the following:

The song is a notable show of true/epic metal: good melodies, and an aggressive spirit for the battle. “Die with Honor” is the most appropriate name for a track with these features. The chorus is truly a magic moment: voices very inspired by the war, the legacy of Manowar, without doubt.

The song is not very original. But, it does not matter too much. The bass is simple but direct, the same happens with the voice. The theme also has an interesting guitar solo, and the drums is slowly played, which gives to the song a crushing atmosphere. This is Manowar: all the power in a single song, creating an incredible climate epic.

I Think that Manowar, is a great band, possibly one of the best in the history of the genre. And I also believe that this track is no exception. If you are fan groups, should enjoy it as much as I do.

This single was given out as a freebie at Magic Circle Festival 2008. It's not really any different from a bunch of other Manowar songs, but it's comforting to know that the band is still recording stuff. Who knows, we may not have to wait until 2012 for a new Manowar album after all.

The song itself is simple and offers no surprises. It's a bludgeoning, mid-tempo track of the sort that Joey DeMaio probably writes on the toilet. It starts out with a single-note bass riff, and then the vocals and drums come in, and the guitar enters part way through the first verse. The chorus is predictable but fun. There's also a backing choir as the song reaches its climax (the band sure loves their keyboards these days) and Karl Logan plays an excellent solo in the middle of the song. I will forever insist that Ross the Boss is THE Manowar guitarist, but Logan has got some serious chops.

The only really weak point with the song is Eric Adams' vocals, which sound very strained and tired. I thought his performance on Gods of War wasn't as flamboyant as usual, and here is even worse. He's no spring chicken anymore, and advancing age always hit vocalists the hardest.

Yeah, so basically if you've heard "Call to Arms", "Die for Metal" and blah blah, you've heard this. It's good, but extremely unnecessary. And since it's a "bare bones" single release, there aren't any live goodies or unreleased b-sides to entertain you. Okay, you can't expect musical genius from a free giveaway. I'm willing to make concessions. But despite this, it's hard to shake the feeling that the champions of true metal are getting just a bit too conservative.

Hail the Norse Gods, Manowar is back !

This new single, Die with Honor was presented for the first (fucking) time (in the world) at the 2008 Magic Circle Festival, were 20 000 copies were given away.

This song is a classical Gods of war-era Manowar song, very similar to Sons of Odin in some way. The song begins with the famous "do-do-do do-do-do” bass riff, already heard in Warriors of the world and Sons of Odin. It introduces a very grave, solemn verse, as if we were assisting a Viking death ceremony.

Then the chorus kicks in, epic and powerful as always. The choir is well exploited and gives an even more impressive feel of epicness and might. The solo is pretty good and include an amazing shredding part (2:36 -> 2:44) where Karl Logan really shines.

Overall, this song is all you can except from Manowar : Melody, Might, cheesy lyrics and epicness. It sounds like every other Manowar songs, but still manage to gasp our attention and make us pass a good, head banging moment. Oh and this song must be amazing live, thanks to the march-like chorus.

Hail and Kill !!!