In hopes it'll help sell more copies of the album, should the movie and/or the single meet any commercial success. That's pretty standard procedure for mainstream, popular, dollar-driven bands.


You must have them confused with (Luca Turilli's) Rhapsody (Of Fire), DragonForce, and others. They've clearly been shuffling the shit out of that '[adverb] the [badass_term1] of the [badass_term2] and the [badass_term3]' RTG for quite a while, and goofy though it may be, the results generally surpass any post-Boss-era Manowar songtitle (I wish they implemented a "been-there-done-that" check in the script, though). Now, "[popular songtitle from our former glories] + [badass_term]", what kind of self-loathing RTG is that?!

Just gave the album a listen. The band has done away with the orchestras and choirs that they utilised heavily in the last few albums. They've attempted to go back to their 80s sound to some extent. The songs don't have the pomp that Manowar are known for. One throw back that they did away with that is welcome is the lack of bass solos. Its definitely a heavy record though, but that still doesn't make it good.

I've heard better "metal beat" presets in $50 Casio synthesizers.

PS I love Manowar! Ross the Boss era Manowar that is.

Well, its probably better than the last few , but still ... only Ross the Boss could really save this i guess ...

I just listened to the album and...what is this? Why do the drums sound like plastic of all things? Plus the guitar tone is totally inoffensive. There is some riffing to be had but it's all very bland and recycled. The song lack basic heavy metal energy. The best thing about the record is probably Eric but even his vocals are nothing to scream about. The compositions themselves are not that bad but are basicly throwbacks to "Louder Than Hell"-era Manowar.

Ah - an the bass sounds totally terrible.

Really hope that this bass tone is just the result of a crappy upload quality... It sounds like someone is loudly farting underneath the music. Which is nothing special anyways... So it's basically average metal with loud farts.

Oh my.. the album is so horrible I mean, the drums sound so horrible and artificial, the guitar tone sucks. There are pretty much no riffs and the songs themselves are all recycled. I had hope, you know? Hope that it would be a good record. Nope, it sucks.

Doesn't sound too bad!

Listening now, and I'm 100% sure this was made in Guitar Pro. That guitar tone... I'm fucking sure of it.

I'm listening to it on Youtube...is the mix really weird to anyone else? I just feel like the vocals aren't loud enough or something. Maybe it's just Youtube. The production is kinda thin and not very powerful either. I want to like this more than I do, but it's pretty bland so far.

Not horrible like I expected. "Manowarriors" has pretty good lyrics "In heavy metal we believe, if you don't like it you can leave" would make a good tagline for any metal site. Mix is weak, riffs are weak, overall, doesn't sound very spirited. Can't imagine much effort went into it.

I like it!

My only complain is the bass

It has a few good moments. It really starts out great, powerfully enough and "Manowarriors" in particular will live on their set lists for quite a while. Generally though, it comes off as lazy and uninspired. And where is the sound of Donnie Hamzik reasserting himself?

Jesus christ, it sounds fucking terrible. Absolutely muddy, £20 amplifier distortion on the guitars and Hamzik's drums sound like shit. The fun thing will be watching Joey talk up this album's sound in the press, though.

I am unable to say anything good about this album. I'm sure it'll be a hit in Eastern Europe and South America regardless, but ugh! It sounds so BAD!

I don't know, it didn't click with me. The entire thing comes off weak, uninspired and boring, actually. But then, I didn't really like anything after Louder Than Hell, I guess.

I'm only a handful of songs in right now, but I see know reason to continue. Everything that I've heard absolutely sucks balls. From production (guitar, bass, and drums all sound like absolute shit), to the lack of riffs, to the shitty solos, and to the stupidly grand-esque keyboards. Wholly uninspired and vapid. I've always liked the majority of a Manowar album, but there is no hope here.

Oh god, that tone. Fuck, I never usually complain about tone since, you know, it's metal, as long as the songs are good then decent tone and production is really just a bonus. But urgh, that horrible buzzing noise, how on earth could anyone think that was a good idea?

Does anybody think the song "Expendable" was Manowar's lame attempt at trying to get on the soundtrack to the Stallone movie "The Expendables", or the upcoming sequel? Reading the lyrics it was pretty obvious to me. It's even only 3:10 long, which is really short for Manowar but the perfect length for a movie theme song. Coincidence? I don't think so. I think they were hoping to see some serious movie $$$ when they were writing this song. Nice try guys.

I get professional pay
To make people go away
They got nothing to say
I’m expendable that’s my claim to fame
I’m expendable don’t have to know my name
Take a look into my dark side
Oh that’s a window to my soul
Your watching on the outside
Yea that’s all you people know
So bring a knife or a gun
And i’ll show you what their for
Both of them are fun
When the raven’s at your door
I’m expendable that’s my claim to fame
I’m expendable don’t have to know my name
Cause i will survive
With no one left around me
Cause your all gonna die
Together we ride
With vengeance inside
For our brother who died
We got blood on our minds
No we may not return
But many will burn
With a story to tell
How we took them to hell
I’m expendable that’s my claim to fame
I’m expendable don’t have to know my name

That fucking bass sounds like a soundtrack for a shitty NES game.

I listened to the album earlier today and thought it was rather mediocre. Nowhere near as boring as the bulk of Gods Of War and a few tracks make for some fun ear candy, but it still manages to be pretty dull. Maybe it'd be more enjoyable with repeated listens but I just can't care enough to go through the same old lyrics with the same old structures. I'm just gonna skip this one for the time being...

@Evoken: Your sure their typed it like that?

I thought "El Gringo" was going to be (or at least meant to be) on a Stallone movie soundtrack already?

I'd rather listen to this song than the new Manowar album hahaha;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUWHiFUD ... ature=plcp

I think it's on the soundtrack of this film, but Stallone isn't in it.

Expendable was inspired by the Stallone movies: Source

At least they admitted it. Honestly if they were just writing a song influenced by the movie that's fine, but I really have a feeling that it was only written to try and catch the attention of Stallone, hoping he would use it in the upcoming sequel.

Somehow I don't believe that.

And yeah, the album sucks. Admittedly I wasn't expecting much after Joey said they threw out all the other material they had written, but even so the sound of this album is remarkably "rush job" ish. "Hail, Kill and Die" is proof how watered down they have gotten.

Manowar have always gotten a lot of hate, and they deserve it in many ways. Their image has always been an impossible pill to swallow for many fans of metal (also in an age where many "metalheads" dont even really listen to traditional metal). Their latest isn't their best, but its enjoyable all the way through with some genuinely awesome Manowarish moments. They lay it on extra thick this time, knowing that it will send all critics of their sound and style into a violent frenzy of ........typing on a keyboard.

Have Manowar ever had any shred of self awareness? The answer is a giant and shocking YES. Every disjointed lyric, ridiculous interview, and underwear adorned album cover has been a predetermined action to represent just how fucking Manowar they are. There is no straddling the fence with Manowar, you are on one side of the canyon or the other.

Metal is art, but its also supposed to be fun. I always have fun when I jam Manowar. "The Lord of Steel" is not going to change the world, but its certainly not as bad as the consensus, its rather good in fact.

The problem isn't their silly image, I don't think anybody honestly thinks they wear their loincloths to the supermarket. The problem is that this album is just uninspired and boring. Keep in mind that after this, the newest Manowar album I know is Triumph of Steel, a whopping twenty years older. They USED to be full of vigor and spirit, making the ridiculous awesome. Now here we have an album full of dull, phoned in songs with a hilariously atrocious production.

The problem is that people didn't see that coming. The crappiness of it came as no surprise, I think. WOTW had its moments, but it's kind of lame overall, and GOW wasn't even a metal album, just 80 minutes of filler. Oh, and the shitty Battle Hymns MMXI was just a lack of everything, I guess. The new album just put the final nail in the coffin.

Haha, what?

thats a topic all its own

Sounds like Manowar are showing their respects to goregrind.

This is my introduction to Manowar and ouch, that was laughable at best. Not that it would have made this album much better, but they should have given this album the ...AJFA treatment.

It reminded me of this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ-Zpjdaon0

Really? Why would you do that? "Oh good, this early 80s legendary band that everybody agrees has only been a parody of itself for at least 15 years just released an album everybody is now shitting upon. Let's try that shit out!" Somehow I fail to see the appeal in that logic.


Which, shockingly, is a bad-ManoWar-ized rip off of this 1965 Gainsbourg melody.

Just saw the link for that song and decided to listen to it. You act like I just ruined any possibility of ever liking Manowar and lost all chance at giving them another listen.

This. It's like you have to suck HORRIBLY for the majority of metal fans to actually realize it.

@Dooders

Very funny Manowar, now where's the real album?