Warriors of the World

Hate them or love them, Manowar are one of the most well-known (and talked about) metal bands on the planet. Warriors of the World is the Americans’ 9th full-length album, released in 2002 after a gap of 6 years from their previous LP, Lounder Than Hell. And if that record had already started to show a worrying involution in the band’s sound, Warriors of the World continues the inexorable decline, marking a new low in Manowar’s discography.

The band’s sound has not changed much over the years – forging that epic, loud brand of traditional heavy metal that has served as template for countless bands since the 1980s. While not very different from the rest of their discography, the tracks on Warriors of the World resemble more a faded photograph of Manowar’s sonic prototype than a 2.0 version propelled in the new millennium. The tracks have all the right ingredients – loud, steady drum beats, powerful bass and guitar riffs, epic vocal melodies -, but it is hard to shake the impression that we haven’t heard all this before already, but better. A ballad like “Swords in the Wind” pales in comparison to masterpieces such as “Master of the Wind” or “Heart of Steel”, lacking in pathos and delivery. The more uptempo and aggressive songs (“Hand of Doom”, “House of Death “, “Fight Until We Die”) fare somewhat better, but they too show the signs of time: Eric Adams’ roar, while still respectable, is just a tiny bit less commanding than on previous records; the guitar and bass riffs feel slightly recycled; and the arrangements are somewhat less vivid. In sum, it’s hard to see why one would prefer to listen to this over any of the band’s previous 8 records, if free to choose.

Of course, the fact Manowar might have written better songs and albums before, is no reason to consider Warriors of the World a bad record per se. However, it is hard to ignore some glaring issues it presents. First and foremost, the album contains a lot of fluff. And when I say “a lot”, I mean more than 50% of the material included here. This is mostly concentrated in the album’s first half, where we have two fairly insipid balladish songs (“The Fight for Freedom” and “Swords in the Wind”), two frankly improbable covers (a snippet of Puccini’s aria “Nessun Dorma” and Elvis Presley’s “An American Trilogy”) and two pointless, keyboard-driven instrumentals (“Valhalla” and “The March”). That’s a total of six slow, fairly pompous, slightly lethargic songs in a row! It would be enough to sink even the strongest of albums and, alas, the remaining five tracks of Warriors of the World fare just above average. The concluding lot of songs, from the title-track to “Fight Until We Die”, is by far the best the LP has to offer, although it’s hard to ignore the fact that “Hand of Doom”, “House of Death” and “Fight Until We Die” are essentially cut from the same cloth and have their own issues too (for instance, the ending chorus of “Hand of Doom” drags on way too long and “Fight Until We Die” really feels like a mere appendix to “House of Death”).

Overall, I cannot say I enjoy listening to Warriors of the World much. The first half is highly inconsistent and boring. The second half is better, but seems to have been written on autopilot, recycling familiar riffs and melodies (and lyrics, of course). Maybe Manowar should have tried to condense this material into an EP (with the covers + instrumental a b-sides, possibly). Either way, I cannot see myself playing this one very often, unless someone steals all previous Manowar’s albums from my collection.

"Warriors of the World" marked Manowar's triumphal entry in the 21st century, and what an entry it was! After six years since the previous "Louder than Hell", Manowar signed a contract with Nuclear Blast, releasing what is to this day probably the most famous and commercially successful album of their career. "Warriors of the World" set the blueprint for the sound of third millennium Manowar, and remains to this day their best opus among their most recent output: the guitars are downtuned to D standard tuning, the riffs are somewhat simpler and rawer, but still effective; the sound is much more polished and extreme than in the past, the guitars sound more distorted, there is a much wider inclusion of choirs and a shift towards a symphonic direction, testified by the inclusion of orchestral elements; the overall sound is more bombastic, epic and extreme than ever, also due to Eric Adam's shift to a lower, grittier register, which often trespasses in a sort of roar; nonetheless, he is still perfectly capable of belting some really high notes, his vibrato is as strong as ever and his high pitched screams sound more ferocious than ever before: his performance is simply stellar, both on a technical and interpretative/expressive level.

Joey De Maio doesn't shred as much as in previous albums, but still he complements the songs with some really nice bass arrangements and he often embellishes his lines with stylish phrasings, as seen in "Call to Arms", "Hand of Doom" or in "Warriors of the World United", where he displays his trademark fast slide technique; spot on his bass tone as well. The late Scott Columbus provided one of his best performances here: his style is raw, but it perfectly complements the compositions, and his ability with the double bass is unquestionable. Guitarist Karl Logan shines at his best, performing stellar solos, rock-solid rhytms and providing walls of feedback in the title track, thus proving to be a real master of the axe. The production, as mentioned before, is much cleaner and aggressive than in previous releases, thus perfectly complementing the change in the style of the compositions; the whole album sounds extremely epic, bombastic and anthemic, and the heroic, patriotic and macho lyricism furtherly underlines the general mood of the songs.

That said, "Warriors of the World" is a fantastic album, but it does have some flaws. First of all, out of an eleven-tracks platter, only seven are new, actual songs; the remaining four tracks split between two orchestral interludes and two covers. Considering that in the same year Manowar released the excellent "The Dawn of Battle" EP, including two of the very best songs Manowar have recorded in the new millennium, and that were featured as mere bonus tracks in the "Gold Edition" of the album, I sincerely believe that leaving them out of the main platter on behalf of two covers, although well-executed, was a mistake. People buy albums for the sake of the new material: I understand that the "Nessun Dorma" cover was a tribute to Eric Adam's late mother, and that "An American Trilogy" was meant to sound as a patriotic tribute to the USA, but "I Believe" and "The Dawn of Battle" really deserved a place on the album, and they would have definitely added to the final product, while the covers would have been better as simple bonus tracks.

Another flaw is represented by the odd structure of the platter: after the fantastic opening represented by the anthemic "Call to Arms", the tracks from 2 to 6 consist in ballads or semi-ballads, while track number 7 "The March" is nothing but an orchestral intro to the title track. This strange choice results in a sort of stagnation, musically speaking, of the first half of the album, while the last four tracks are "all killer - no filler", and indeed the second half of the record results significantly stronger and more engaging; still, the quality of the original material featured in "Warriors of the World" is unquestionable. "Call to Arms" is a fantastic way to start the album: the solo, the chorus, the stanzas, the galloping pace, its anthemic and martial attitude make it a real Manowar classic; "Fight for Freedom" is a patriotic, romantic semi-ballad, while "Swords in the Wind" is the most emotional and varied song of the lot: it's another moving ballad, talking about the ascension of the warriors into Valhalla after death, and it's one of the best songs Manowar have written after the year 2000.

Nonetheless, in with the last four tracks comes the real deal. "Warriors of the World United" is Manowar's most famous song; it's definitely atypical if compared to the rest of their catalogue, the solo is skipped in favour of a part where Eric sings alone, backed only by some keyboards and choirs, the riffing is extremely simple and almost industrial-sounding, the drumming is minimalist and the song in general sounds like a sort of hybrid between heavy metal, industrial metal and Opera music (due to the heavy use of the choirs), but that's probably the very reason why it sounds so glorious and unique: the crushing mid-paced attitude, the fantastic buildup of the intro, the aggressive, blood-pumping stanzas and lyrics, the glorious, anthemic and epic feeling of the choruses and the fantastic choral arrangements result in a timeless, classic piece of well-deserved fan-favourite reputation. "Hand of Doom" and "House of Death" are the darkest, fastest, most aggressive and heaviest songs of the album, completely packed with roaring vocals, ferocious screams, brutal, primitive riffing and unforgettable vocal lines, while the closing piece "Fight Untile We Die" is a real thrash assault, featuring some of the best riffing of the entire album and the most complex vocal lines, closing the feast with a real declaration of intents, in the most glorious way possible.

All in all, despite some minor flaws in the number of "fillers", some choices in which tracks to include in the album and in the structure of the platter, "Warriors of the World" is a fantastic effort, that will delight any power/heavy/epic metal aficionado and the most seasoned Manowarriors alike. If you're looking for self-empowering and adrenaline, pathos and epic, this album is for you!

Ninety percent for an album in which near half the songs could best be described as "eccentric" or "strangely endearing" at best, or "godawful" or perhaps "what the hell, an opera cover?" at worst, depending on mood. This probably requires some explaining; I guess the simplest way to put it is that an album is an album is an album, not merely a collection of random songs; thus, if the album as a whole gets my dick hard and my neck hurting, I can and will sing its' praises irrespective of how head scratchingly weird some of the song choices are.

The vocals here are a big part of what makes the filler tolerable and the better (heavier) tunes so excellent. Adams' vocals are always goofy, but always super earnest, as charismatic as Hitler, always passionate, manly as shiiiit and they always sound supremely excellent. Sure, 'Nessun Dorma' is nothing if not proof that opera is damn hard to pull off and best left to professionals, but how many other metal vocalists could make "An American Trilogy" sort of (sort of) work? It should sound awful, and I guess if you're looking at it objectively than it is, but as it's hard to hate, say, a retarded duckling, so it is hard to hate Adams' full on, give-everything-to-the-song-and-sing-glory-glory-hallelujah-unironically-over-and-over-again thing that he does in that tune. Despite the flute, piccolo bass, constant talk about living in Dixie and the fact it's some sort of super old civil-war era song or something I've apparently played it 11 times the whole way through. He even pulls off 'Fight for Freedom'- another one that should maybe sound like an Iced Earth b-side at best, but instead is perhaps the best 9/11-never-forget song ever written. Not that the competition's fierce, but still; it works; I think? It's catchy, it's patriotic without being too vomit inducing, and it's catchy, and it's really catchy. Thanks mostly, again, to the vocals.

So it's no real surprise that when there's actually good material to sing over, shit gets really off the hook. Interesting to note that there's not really many- if any?- good riffs at all throughout the entire album; there's a heavy 'Euro power' thing in that most every rhythm guitar part is just a chord progression for huge vocals. Function over form though; most of the songs aren't what you'd call complex but they work for what they are; simple, epic songs with tight arrangements, heaps of energy, and a solid production. Certainly some of the strongest choruses in Manowar's catalogue; 'Call to Arms' is a highly underrated song with a real rousing chorus, whereas the last few tunes on the album tend towards much speedier realms but with a similar dedication to cheesy metal valour. Again; Adams to thank. Shit lyrics, not many riffs; but a very angry american delivering cliche martial lyrics with such authority and enthusiasm that you'll fall in behind Manowar with no reservations.

But y'know, while the rest of the band (even DeMaio's pretty reserved on this album) are there mostly in service of the godlike vocals, they do a good job and serve the songs unfailingly, so credit where credit's due. I was previously only really familiar with Logan's work on the new Battle Hymns which suffice to say hadn't endeared me to him but here he sounds, if not particularly amazing, tight and fun to listen to. Nothing's particularly shreddy or crazy but whether it's the super fun soloing in Hands of Doom or the speed metal freight train (definitely the song with most of the album's riffs) that's House of Death, it sounds like he's having a fun time.

And perhaps that's what sums this album up- perhaps that's why I like despite the few fairly awful tunes, despite the general lack of riffs? It's catchy, it's energetic, and it's fun fun fun. Manowar sound like they're having a good time, and the material is catchy enough for it to drag you into it hook line and sinker. It honestly seems like disliking this album would take serious effort, as turning this up is such a pleasurable experience. A few very very goofy songs, but highly recommended!

For many friends of mine, this record has been their first contact to metal music and was the spark of ignition that enlightened their passion for this kind of music. Back in the days, the title track of the record and the amazing "I Believe" that didn't make it on the album and was only included on the amazing single "The Dawn Of Battle" had a lot of radio and television airplay and underlined the reborn popularity of metal music in the beginning of the last decade.

When I First got in touch with the record I was impressed by the epic feeling of many songs, the catchy choruses and the raw energy of the lyrics, the symbolism and the show of the band. Today, I have a different point of view and must admit that the band didn't develop a lot musically, lyrically or culturally in a gap of six years between two studio albums. The lyrics are though largely influenced by the terrorist attacks the year before this record came out and feels a little bit too patriotic and cheesy at some points in tracks like "The Fight For Freedom" even though this song is at least musically one of the more addicting ones on here. This fact doesn't change much as the lyrics are so limited that they always sound the same no matter if the band sings about a medieval battle, about being true metal martyrs or about current political events. That's why Manowar should simply not touch this kind of topic as it is way too serious for their kind of slapstick lyrics. On the other hand, we don't need oversized drama lyrics from Iced Earth on their "The Glorious Burden" output. These bands should simply concentrate on their strength and play great metal music as political and art don’t mix very well.

Apart of the exception I just mentioned, Manowar fail at several points on this record to concentrate on accurate song writing. The instrumental "Valhalla" is quite valueless as well as the overlong piece of classic music which is "The March". The patriotic "An American Trilogy" and the Italian opera excerpt "Nessun Dorma" are two cover versions that are well done without reaching the majesty of the originals. Eric Adams is one of the most gifted singers in the metal universe and it's touching that he dedicates a track to his late mother and also the Italian fans but he definitely is no Luciano Pavarotti or Elvis Presley on the other hand. His performance on the record sounds fresh while the drumming sounds a little bit too basic at some points, the guitars deliver the usual goods and even the usually great bass guitar is less impressive as it has already been in the past.

What's left is a bunch of energizing but sometimes quite similar metal tracks that represent everything Manowar stands for without being as unique and groundbreaking as the band's earlier battle hymns. The strongest tracks are the angry and epic opener "Call To Arms" that works very well live but this track could have been cut down by a few minutes. "Warriors Of The World United" is a simplistic but definitely unforgettable metal hymn that any metal maniac in the world should know by heart and must not hide between the simple and brutal catchiness of classics like "Hail And Kill" or "Gloves Of Metal". The more brutal and straight forward "Hand Of Doom" is also a great neck breaker that should please to all fans of the band and reminds me of the band's earlier days.

In the end, this album is filled with light and shade. There are many instrumental fillers, covers and faceless tracks but also a few interesting experiments and energizing metal hymns. If the band would have put the songs from the "Dawn Of Battle" single on this record there would have been more quality than quantity on this album. As this isn't the case, this album is only situated somewhere between shallow mediocrity and good average. It's fun to listen to this record from time to time but nothing too memorable. For its nostalgic importance for many friends of mine and the fact that there is no track I have sung and head banged to as this record's title track, I might add a few points. Apart of the title track, you should really keep your money and buy the beautifully made "Dawn Of Battle" single instead. Honestly said this random album already announced the band's lack of ideas that would lead to the megalomaniac boredom they released with "Gods Of War". The band had surpassed its zenith and should have gathered all possible forces to release a strong last record but they failed to do this and leave as heroes of heavy metal music. If you want to discover the hevay metal universe or the best stuff from Manowar you should rather stick to one of the six first records and leave this one alone.

Manowar returns and does it like others times: amazingly. With "Call To Arms", ​​the opening song of the album, they prepare our ears for a new session of almost 50 minutes of pure emotion using epic letters and several symphonic songs, extolling the spirit of the group and encourages us the spirit. Let's say that the songs can be separated into two groups with one group containing songs about war and the other made ​​up of those most instrumental and soft. As we hear the album we can see a continuous exchange of both groups from the beginning, because when "Call To Arms" ends, "The Fight for Freedom" begins with slow melody and emotion and with lyrics deep and precious (honestly, it´s one of the best songs on Warriors of The World). But we can also hear songs that include the best of each group as is the case of "Nessun Dorma". Here, Eric Adams (lead singer) makes a heavy version of this known opera and in the end, the rest of the group incorporates and add metal´s energy to the composition (all do excellently). Surprisingly, we also enjoy an instrumental song that is different from the rest of the album because it´s a classical music composition and, only from the second half, it acquires an emphasis on epic that links it to the global nature of the disc.

Personally, I prefer Gods Of War, but I must admit that I love Warriors Of The World (the album chronologically prior to the Gods Of War) and I think that any lover of heavy metal should listen to this at least once in life.

Written by newmusicalearth.blogspot.com

Manowar was among the latest of discoveries for me as a person who missed most of the 80s. Ironically I started getting into them at around the time that this, their most blatantly patriotic of albums in “Warriors of the World”, was released. Naturally patriotism was a bit en vogue in the aftermath of 9/11 here in the states, and while some releases sacrificed quality for nationalism, all were unified in their effort to capture the spirit of what America is about. This release embodies the most balanced of America’s traditions of steadfastness and integrity without the overt pompousness of Iced Earth’s “The Glorious Burden” or Dio’s pugnacious relationship with the politics surrounding this time period.

At first listen this release seems to give the impression of a band that is maturing into a more mellow formula, such as was the case with Metallica at the turn of the 90s. There is a good deal of ballad work, much of it musically eclectic, yet still maintaining the essence of Manowar’s kick ass approach to things. “Nessun Dorma” is the most unexpected of this lot, showcasing Eric Adams doing a rather exceptional performance of a Puccini aria with some rough edges at the end. “Swords in the Wind” and “The Fight for Freedom” are a bit closer to typical Manowar style ballads, the former reaching towards the “true metal” approach of older models such as “Defender” and “Master of the Wind”, while the latter mostly resembles the grand piano approach off of the “Louder than Hell” release.

“The March” is an instrumental/orchestral homage to Richard Wagner. Not particularly my favorite composer from the Romantic era, mostly due to his meandering sense of harmony, and Manowar’s take on his style is actually not far off from the original in this respect and thus skip worthy. “An American Trilogy” is another mostly vocally driven number and quite a unique rendition of 3 classic patriotic songs. Probably not the most metal thing ever to come out of the band, so it might not play well with people looking for aggression and bloodshed.

The metal on here comes in two basic varieties, one being the beat you to a pulp slowly metal, the other the grind you to oblivion with speed and riffs form. The title track is probably the catchiest song on here; it has that famous bass drone first popularized by Black Sabbath in 1980 on “Heaven and Hell’ as well as some and plenty of the vocal devices to put it in a similar league. “Call to Arms” takes the prize for the heaviest sledge hammer of a metal song. The last 3 songs are all speed metal and tend to run together a bit. In fact, the only really major flaw on here is that they completely back-loaded all the speed metal, which makes for an irregular pacing that was part of why I had a hard time fully appreciating this album at the time. “House of Death” is the best out of the 3; it almost rivals the speed classic “Black Wind, Fire and Steel”.

While I still thoroughly love most of what is on here, most Manowar fans will likely have problems with a lot of the extra non-metal stuff that’s been thrown on here. Back in 2002 I’m certain that even the most core-Leftist of metal heads here in the states was blasting out patriotic music due to the cultural climate of the time, but nowadays we’ve been inundated with it for so long that it’s lost a good deal of it’s meaning. If you’re new to this band, I’d recommend picking up “Kings of Metal” first, but this one would be worth your money if you have it to spend.

The band's first album for six years following "Louder Then Hell," I had mixed expectations about this album. The first thing I noticed is the artwork. Kickass as usual... dare I say it.... Manowar's best? But I am here to review the music, so let me continue:

The album opens up with "Call To Arms" which is both heavy and catchy. A little different than you'd expect from the classic Manowar releases, but it's good. Halfway through the album we get the title track. "Warriors Of The World" is definitely the standout track here. Heavy, catchy as hell, with flawless instruments. The beginning of the song is really quite amazing, and there is no arguing the fact that the way the bass, guitar and drums work together is quite flawless.

A fact I feel is rather necessary to mention is that after the kickass opener, we are given 6 songs that are extremely.... slow? Half of them being ballads. I personally have nothing against ballads, but except for "Swords In The Wind" and "Fight For Freedom," they are all pretty much forgettable.

After the soft songs, we have, as mentioned, the title track, and following that are three heavy songs. I personally don't like the track order on this album. Why is the first half slow and ballad-y, while the second half heavy and catchy? Manowar could have mixed the songs around a bit, but meh...

So to sum it up? The album does offer some amazing Manowar material, and Eric Adams' voice shines on this record. If both halfs were equally amazing, I'd give this album a 90+ without a doubt. But the truth is, the fillers REALLY bring it down.... Sorry Manowar.

-Marcin C.

I've said it before, and it shall be enunciated again - metal is nothing without atmosphere. When done correctly, metal can summon the most incredible feelings of fantasy and escapism, and this is the one overweening criteria which I use to judge any album I hear. It is well then, that 'Warriors of the World' nails its glorious heavy metal niche straight through the fucking face.

This is the true spirit of metal incarnate; Manowar make no attempt to tone down their outrageous excesses, or conform to any kind of pattern. What other metal band would put three power ballads, two neo-classical compositions and one 'intro' track slap in the heart of an album, following it up with four straight head smashers?

This is a band fully in tune with their hearts of solid steel; the album is a grandiose, dramatic, pulverising, glorious, wildly OTT testament
to the spirit of the warrior. From the mighty ballad 'Swords in the Wind' through the - frankly - insanly overblown rendition of 'Nessun Dorma' to the total metallic destruction of 'Call to Arms' or 'Fight Until We Die', Manowar give ample evidence to support the claim that they are, indeed, the Kings of Metal. The excellent musicianship - particularly by the vocalist, Eric Adams - and thunderously heavy, not-too-clean production do not hurt at all either.

My head says that this is ridiculous, but my heart tells it to fuck off. This is everything that I love about the genre encapsulated within a single 47 minute block.

This, despite what I said about Kings of Metal, is Manowar's best CD. I was wrong about Kings of Metal; this new approach to the "Manowar" style is probably the most effective and, well, the best. Though there are bad songs on this album (Fight For Freedom, An American Trilogy), they are easily ignorable. The rest of the songs have the viking passion, Wagnerian intensity and theatre, and overall dramatic, coldblooded vigour not seen in other Manowar albums, which seem like something as flippant and happy as DragonForce in comparison to this beast. This is the album where Manowar became much more serious, with less light-hearted anthems like King, Number One, Return of the Warlord, The Gods Made Heavy Metal, Metal Warriors, Kings of Metal, Wheels of Fire, or, hell, about 90% of Manowar's entire back catalogue.

Though I am reviewing in context of a bootleg that combines "The Dawn of Battle" with "Warriors of the World", both are great. The opener, Call To Arms, floored me with the darkness that I had never expected out of Manowar. Though I was a bit unimpressed by the rather tepid and flaccid, and to tell the truth, boring, Fight For Freedom, I was instantly brought back in by the song Nessun Dorma. Now, most people hate that song. I don't. I love it. As a fan of classical music, I've always loved Manowar's more classical dabblings, like Master of the Wind and Crown and the Ring. This one floored the rest; Eric Adams impressed me, and the combination of opera and metal at the end of the song was probably the most moving and incredible moments Manowar have ever achieved. The next song, Vallhalla, which is a symphonic intro to Swords in the Wind, would've been better if it weren't so short, but eh, it has the same melody as Swords in the Wind, and still is a crushing intro. Swords in the Wind is a tribute to the Viking raids on France and England, on the Viking side, and is Manowar's best power ballad, beating out the beloved Heart of Steel. 1 more symphonic track, a narcopaleptic cover of 3 patriotic oldies, and 3 solid fast, crushing, yet darkly symphonic songs later, the album ends, with a magnimonious bang not heard in other Manowar albums. The sheer impact of this album, combined with the surprising darkness, makes this release far more impactive, and, to tell you the truth, less lighthearted, and the best of Manowar's catalogue.

I don't care what people say, this album rules. I admit, it does fuck itself up with some of Manowar's weaker songs, but even when it does it doesn't do it so badly, and the highlights are certainly more than enough to make up for it.

The album begins with a very powerful and intense ass-kicking Manowar classic, Call to Arms. This songs just grabs you and sends you strait into the album before you know what hit you. At last you get a chance to breath in a bit with a slower and decent ballad, Fight For Freedom. Nice build-up, nice chorus, nice solo, a nice song. From there you can really relax with Nessun Dorma, though it is one of the weaker songs, it features some extraordinary vocals from Eric and is still quite enjoyable. Then you get a hint of heaviness with a 34-second-long instrumental part, which is good enough I suppose, but perhaps a tad short. Anyway, it serves as a great opening intro to the masterpiece of the album, Swords In The Wind. This is probably the best song I've ever encountered. It starts off slow, with Eric singing about his end and so on, and just builds-up. And builds-up. And explodes. And builds-up. This song is an amazing continual creshendo (And I love creshendos), simply getting more and more powerful until it's suddenly gone. I've probably heard it hundreds of times, but it's still beautiful every time I hear it.
The next song, An Amarican Trilogy, is probably the weakest point in the album. I suppose that all in all it's a decent cover, but all it really does is lowers the album's momentum for a few moments. The next song is another instrumental, a little longer this time. It's quite a good orchestral part, though again it seems to just build the album up towards the final asult. But this time even prebuilding-up is needed, since right after that come almost 20 minutes of non-stop pure kick-ass metal, one of Manowar's finest hours. The next four songs are all among Manowar's greatest, each of them followed by an even stronger and faster song, until the final "WHOA!" in Fight Until We Die leave you suddenly lacking something in your life and hungry for more fucking ownage delivered by the kings of metal. Truly a masterpiece.

Alright lets get this straight....I consider myself quite a big Manowar fan, and I did have high expectations due to Louder Than Hell being one of the best heavy metal cds of all time. Warriors of the World (released 6 years after LTH) came into my cd player and shocked the piss out of me. I absolutally loved Call to Arms, but then to much dismay i was even more shocked to find "filler" on a Manowar album. I understand how some bands like to experiment with other types of music and all, because I am a musician myself, but this SHOULD NOT, be on a Manowar cd. These tracks i speak of are :Nessun Dorma, The American Trilogy, Valhalla, and Fight for Freedom (which is pretty good but nothing special). The thing about all of these aformentioned tracks is that they sound NOTHING like Manowars traits we've come to know and love. I mean Nessun Dorma is a nice song and all with great singing, but this is something you would hear at an Opera Hall, not on a MANOWAR album. But either way Warriors of the World has plenty of fucking excellent songs that are easily worth the money one would pay to obtain such an album as this. Tracks like Call to Arms, Swords in the Wind, Warriors of the World United, Hand of Doom, and House of Death and are killer songs that are Manowar classics right from the start.
Half of this album should not be on here i truely believe, but I do admire what they have done. We Manowar fans are pleased with this release but just skip the filler material next time. I like even the filler stuff but its definatly not their style, and not what most want to hear. They want to hear a new Manowar album and that is all...Steel, Kill all Posers, blah blah blah, these are the things we admire you for writing and singing. No one else does it quite like Manowar. Eric Adams your an amazing vocalist, hell the whole band is impressive. So is most of this album, besides the tracks i will not mention below. Yet again Manowar releases some quality fucking music...Raise your swords men.
Cheers *chugs an ale*

Best tracks: Call to Arms, Swords In The Wind, Warriors Of The World United, Hand Of Doom, House Of Death

After 6 years, the pretense repository must have been just boiling over, because somewhere in the middle of a solid heavy metal album, it suddenly fucking explodes, wiping out half the album in a flurry of utter and abject stupidity.

This album has some of their best stuff, and some of their worst - it's like a totally polarised version of Kings of Metal in some strange way, on many levels. In the middle, there is crap. That is the fractal nature. Good songs with crappy middles, and then the middle of the album is crap, and finally the ending songs are good again, but with silly interludes.

"Call to Arms" is fucking classic. Legendary, momentous, amazing, glorious, in every possible way - this just may be my favourite Manowar song of all time. They definitely borrowed something from the WASP catalogue - something in the way of dead-on melody. Yes, it's just as cheesy as "Brothers of Metal" or "Hail and Kill" or "Manowar" or another N tracks with similar subject matter, but this one just comes out absolutely fucking right. Even the obligatory slowed-down section is quite nicely done.

Then... "Fight for Freedom" starts off slowly with some cheesy spoken stuff over some remarkably lame and undermotivated piano parts (guys... WASP again... Thunderhead... go listen to Thunderhead 437091798 more times and learn correct use of piano) - then it builds up and goes into a midpaced bludgeoning rocker. Solid when all is said and done.

Okay we're not going to talk about the next few songs for a bit - we're gonna skip ahead to the title track because that is where the album goes back to sounding like a Manowar album. No wait - like a GOOD Manowar album. We'll dissect the five slabs of pretentious bullshit in the middle in just a little, kids - so hold on.

Anyway, Warriors of the World. One of my favourite metal memories is my friend Alex and I riding through the streets of Brooklyn, at 4am after a Virgin Steele show, and BLASTING this very song. Over and over again. This is excellent headbanging material - well, except for that hideously silly middle section. Just about every good song on here has a little slowdown in the middle, and this one is the most overt and just about the worst. But the rest of the song is awesome, especially that chorus. It almost - not quite, but almost - makes me understand what the big deal is about this band, about the whole Metal Warrior image. Not quite, but fuck yeah that's a fun singalong.

Then, Hand of Doom, a much faster number, and also very excellent. Except in the middle they kinda fuck it over with some silly half-thrash riffs - not quite as bad as that sounds, but for a few seconds the song does get kinda awkward. Pick up the pace already - yes, here we go, nice chorus. Rock, kids - rock like there is no tomorrow. That is why I can't take Manowar all that seriously - even when they're cranked to their 11, it's only a 9 on the global scale because they keep wavering. They can be quite good, but so often they have to throw in the cheesy shit, just to make sure the audience is aware that, after all this time, they're still tr00.

Okay, we get the point. Less interludes, more fucking riffage. Anyway, House of Death is also very good, except of that stupid part in the middle. But when it explodes into the guitar solo, all is well with the world again. Fight Until we Die is similar, also quite good - this is not all that differentiable from other average heavy metal, but hey, it fucking rocks and is fun to sing along to cranked to maximum volume, so it's good stuff. If they could be like THIS all the fucking time, they would just about be the greatest metal band ever. This song also has the notable tendency of going at 100% speed from beginning to end. Admirable.

Okay so that was the good. What about the bad, you may ask? Two stupid synth pieces (Valhalla and The March) are total throwaways. What about the other three tracks? Please, Grandfather, tell me a story - about the other three tracks? Who were those tracks?

Those... were the FECES!!!!! One silly opera thing... Nessun Dorma. Okay in and of itself it's not bad, but Manowar isn't about being Opera Warriors. Then, Swords in the Wind is the shit ballad that Manowar must put on every album.

And what of the last song? This is just about the worst song in the history of existence. This is giving "31 Flavors" (Sacred Reich) a run for its money in the "stuff that sorely wishes it were mallcore" category. This is so fucking cheesy - even my mom doesn't listen to this kind of crap. "Oh I wish I were in Dixie." Oh I wish you were there too. So I wouldn't have to hear you in Boston. I'm not even going to comment further on this absolute outrage - an insult to the sense of hearing, this one is.

When all is said and done - well, some of this album is quite good. As I said, Call to Arms fucking owns everything in sight. This is incredible shit. Some other good tracks too. Manowar should seriously put out an album with 12 balls-out rockers in the Call to Arms vein. Hell, they can put in some ballads too, but make those grab you by the throat too... (Forget swords, just ride the wind forever free.........)

I submit to the court one "W.A.S.P.", the true Kings of Metal. Give me a circular sawblade codpiece over a fur bikini any day.

So here it is, Manowar's long awaited new studio album. The band did not disappoint this time, offering a very solid album, with some really great tunes, and quite nice variation in the songs.

One major difference on this album compared to most other Manowar albums is that there isn't as much focus on the bass, but the guitars build the base of most songs, which is never a bad thing. Not to say that there is no bass though, Joey's bassplaying is still very evident and it's all over the album. But on previous releases (especially Louder Than Hell) there was more bass than guitars.
The guitar riffs are excellent. Fast, heavy and headbangable. The album has some damn fine rhythm guitar work, and the lead guitar kicks equally much ass - Not as much as on, say, Battle Hymns, but it's still excellent.

The drumming of the album is quite nice as well; intense and heavy with a fair amount of double bass. But, Scott Columbus doesn't really show us everything he's got here, we all know he can do much better.
Eric's vocals are also amazing; he showcases many different vocal styles on the album. He displays his talent in many ways, including incredibly strong clean vocals, high-pitched screams, emotional vocals, and even opera on the song Nessun Dorma.


The first song on the album is Call To Arms, a quite midpaced, heavy opening track. It's followed by a nice ballad called The Fight For Freedom, which begins with some nice pianos but gets some heavier guitar riffs later in the song. Classic Manowar ballad which is good but offers nothing new. Then is the opera song Nessun Dorma, which is not bad at all. It showcases Eric Adams amazing vocal abilities very well. Then comes the Viking ballad Swords In The Wind, which is easily the best ballad Manowar have ever done. Everything about the song is excellent; emotional but powerful vocals, beautiful melodic guitar melodies, amazing lead guitars, and great basslines giving the song alot of power.
Next is the Elvis cover An American Trilogy, which is just plain stupid. I've tried to like it, but failed. The March is a fairly well done instrumental, which is followed by one of the best songs on the album, Warriors Of The World United.
The verses are killer, quite midpaced, and sung in a cool, dark and raspy voice. The chorus is one of Manowar's best, totally majestic singalong stuff here! The slower bridge is quite good too, giving the listener room to breathe before the three final songs of the album.
Hand Of Doom, House Of Death and Fight Until We Die are all fucking killer headbangers, all played at a very fast pace, with evil lyrics, wicked basslines and awesome guitar riffing. Fight Until We Die also has some insane falsetto screams at the end.


So all in all, this is definitely a great album. Call To Arms, Warriors Of The World United and the three final songs stand for the heavy part of the album, while The Fight For Freedom, Nessun Dorma, Swords In The Wind, The March and An American Trilogy are all a bit softer.
One major flaw with this album is that half of it consists entirely of ballads. But all of the ballads are very different, so it's not like the same ballad repeated over and over again (See: Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes).
Still, one or two heavier tracks would do no harm, while the album would be better of without An American Trilogy.
Nonetheless, most of the songs are good, and the good songs are really good. So, Manowar have with Warriors Of The World given us yet another great album.

In my opinion, Manowar have been kings of filler, as opposed to kings of Metal for a while. They always seem to manage to ruin otherwise respectable offerings with out of place tracks, most of which turn into nothing more than filler. Unfortunately, Warriors Of The World falls into the same problem, but thankfully, the songs that are good, are really good; is this not always the case with Manowar though, at least with their last couple of full-lengths?

This CD can be completely broken down into sections, since they lump the same type of song together one after another, something I’ll touch on later. “Call To Arms” and “Fight For Freedom” are both mid-paced, anthem-based songs, with driving guitars, simple drumming, and catchy vocals. "Fight For Freedom" does have a more uplifting and almost Power Ballad type feel at times, but overall these songs are quite similar. Both tracks are very good in my opinion, but it took me awhile to get into them. The drumming is not much more than bass, snare, bass, snare, cymbal crash, repeat, for almost the entire “Call To Arms” song. It is still a good song because the guitars, back up choirs, vocals, and lyrics are excellent. “Fight For Freedom” falls into the same boat, but the drums have more of a marching feel. The next section of Warriors Of The World contains three ballads, plus one short instrumental. The first, “Nessun Dorma”, shows off some amazing vocals from Eric Adams, but aside from that I don’t see this song appealing very much to Metal fans. Not only does it sound out of place, but also this doesn’t even fall into Power Metal ballad territory. This wouldn’t be such as a bad thing, that is until you listen to the next 2 full songs. “Swords In The Wind” is by far the best of the bunch; the song is a typical Metal ballad, which picks up with some slow-paced guitar playing at the end. The song is about Vikings and Nordic culture, which I’m a huge fan of, so I enjoyed this one. “An American Trilogy” is the next ballad, and this is a horrible song. Sorry, but I found almost zero redeeming qualities about this track, it is out of place, unnecessary, and overly boring after listening to the two ballads before it. Why put all the ballads in a row? I was about ready to give this release a 30 at this point, but things pick back up with “Warriors Of The World United”, which follows the same song writing principles as “Call For Arms”, but Manowar somehow, despite repeating themselves, put together a very enjoyable and quality song. I was still a little dismayed at that point, praying that there would be no more ballads and perhaps one, at least semi-fast track. Well, the Norse gods must have been listening because up next is 3 killer, fast, and powerful tracks. “House Of Death”, “Hand Of Doom”, and “Fight Until We Die” are full of double bass, fast, almost choppy riffing, and aggressive vocals. These songs give us plenty of variation with some breaks and diverse vocals as well. The lyrics and choruses are once again excellent with the energy factor being very high!

Warriors Of The World wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be based on the middle section, but what is with the track order? Yeah, you could just hit random, but I like to listen to CDs in their proper order. If they placed some fast tracks at the front and spread out the ballads this would be a lot more enjoyable. probably would have bumped the score up to 85. As mentioned, the drumming on the mid-paced songs is pretty bland, these songs would be even better with a spruced up drumming performance… oh well, at least we get to hear some more varied performances on the last three songs. I would say most Manowar fans should like this, and fans of Heavy/Power Metal would probably like this too despite the mid-section. This is all assuming themes concerning the glory and victory of Metal and all associated topics about battle and swords, with a touch of Nordic themes, don’t turn you off. Of note is that I’ve seen a lot of used copies of this CD floating around (which is understandable, this won’t be for everyone, that’s for sure), so keep your eyes pealed and you might get a good deal.

Song Highlights: Call To Arms, Warriors Of The World United, House Of Death, Hand Of Doom, Fight Until We Die.

Manowar has always been one of my favorite bands, so the main question for me with this new release for was if they still could deliver after a rather lengthy 6 years without releasing any new studio material ? Of course I am more than glad to say that Warriors Of The World easily fulfilled all my expectations, and while the album does have its faults, is another example that Joey & co. still manage to come up with a more than worthy song material.

The band obviously wanted to go for a straight kill by placing the excellent "Call To Arms" (with borrowed "Blood Of My Enemies" riff) on the opening spot of the album, followed by the semi-ballad "Fight For Freedom", which by all means is okay, just nothing spectacular. Next up is obviously Eric?s moment of glory with "Nessun Dorma" and sees his most impressive vocal performance on a Manowar album since "The Crown And The Ring". "Valhalla"/"Swords In The Wind" ("Valhalla being a short atmospheric intro) is easily my personal favorite, reminding me (once again) of the glorious days of "Hail To England" or "Into Glory Ride", epic, majestic and powerful, exactly the way the band should sound. I can be short about "American Trilogy" because in my opinion this is the album?s worst track, by no means is it terrible, but I fail to see who they are doing a pleasure with this Elvis cover.

Still, it?s all upward from here again, with another instrumental intro (a rather lengthy one this time) leading us into the first single "Warriors Of The World United", perhaps the most catchy and radio-friendly song on the album. Finally the album finishes off with three absolute, high speed killer songs, namely "Hand Of Doom", "House Of Death" and "Fight Until We Die" (from which "Hand Of Doom" is my favorite, and also my second fave on the entire record).

The cover artwork and production are like usually first class and lyrically, well, you know what to expect from a Manowar album, so no surprises on that front either, just the normal "Metal", "Kill", "Die" and "Brothers" lyrics.

However, there are two small complaints which somehow tempered my euphoria about this album - the first one is the running order of the songs. A little bit more variation could have been brought into the album by switching around some songs (eg. one of the faster tracks in front), but this problem is of course easily solved by using the program function on your CD player. The second one however, is not, and probably a little bit more severe and involves drummer Scott Columbus. While the other band members are on constant show-off mode with excellent performances throughout the entire album (especially Adams), Scott?s role in all of this somehow seems to be reduced to that of a living metronome. Of course, his drumming is not bad, but this guy showed the world exactly what he could do on "Into Glory Ride" and "Hail To England" so it is quite sad to see his playing reduced to nothing but the simplest of drum patterns, while it?s obvious from the live-shows that he still has the power and skill to come up with far more than on offer here.

Of course both of these "complaints" are easily forgiven and looked over. For me this is definitely one of the best albums this year, and will, without a doubt end up quite high on my end-of-year list. Hail and Kill !!!

Here we are. The first studio release from Manowar in six-years, and the first Manowar album I was able to purchase as a new release since becoming a fan three years ago. Naturally, I had stratospheric expectations for this album -- so perhaps, I am as much to blame for my disappointment as the songs themselves.

The track-sequencing of "Warriors of the World" sets it apart from other Manowar releases. It's also my biggest complaint. After the heavy-handed opener, "Call to Arms," the listener must sit through four consecutive ballads, along with two mellow instrumentals. I enjoy the instrumentals, myself; to me, they are much more listenable and musical than those filler Joey DeMaio bass solos that blemish some of my favorite Manowar albums. And while I like ballads, the ballads on this album are not very memorable. I don't mind the surprisingly faithful cover of Puccini's "Nessun Dorma," but I could do without the half-baked 9/11 tribute, "Fight For Freedom," or "The American Trilogy," a coma-inducing cover of three patriotic oldies songs. Of the ballads, only "Swords in the Wind" gets me singing in the shower, but that probably has more to do with its Odin-worshipping, Norse lyrics than the strength of the song.

It's not until Track 8, when the band starts to build on the foundations laid down by "Call to Arms," my favorite track on this album. "Warriors of the World United" is one of the catchiest songs in the Manowar catalogue, probably because of its singsongy chorus and a simple, infectious riff that the band repeats over and over. The next three tracks (the last three) are the album's heaviest. However, they suffer immensely from the album's polished production -- Manowar's most polished to date. The versus and choruses of these songs aren't very memorable either. In fact, they contain some of Manowar's simplest and most recycled lyrics to date (eg. "Tonight we strike, there is thunder in the sky / Together we'll fight, some of us will die / But they'll always remember that we made a stand / And many will die by my hand).

I am being pretty harsh. This is not a bad album, by any means; it's just not what I expected from DeMaio and crew. I will still listen to it on occasion, especially when I want to hear "Call to Arms" and "Warriors of the World United." However, there is no guarantee I will listen to it as much as 1996's "Louder Than Hell," or any Manowar album for that matter.