The Triumph of Steel

Manowar's image has been so culturally shaken that it is a band that is hard for many to take seriously, if there is a clear definition of things that age badly we can say that Manowar clearly accumulates and carries a long list of clichés and stereotypes associated with metal that make a large part of their extensive career today seem like a parody band trying to push the limits of the most standardised image that an outsider can have of this type of music, Manowar reflects this with their image as well as with their music.

But there was a moment where after twelve years of career and six studio albums behind them, Manowar for some reason decided to embark on an adventure that even today 30 years later there are people who still cannot believe it exists, at some point the incredibly cheesy and simplistic Manowar decided to write a song of epic dimensions about the Iliad, with a duration of almost thirty minutes "Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts" is one of the most unique pieces of the discography of the American band. Much has been discussed and written about this song in particular and of course I have come to contribute my grain of sand to the conversation.

First I must say that I have quite a fascination for long songs, I still remember a very young version of me to whom the six minutes of "Agent Orange" seemed long, it was not until I got into the progressive rock from the 70's that I started to develop that interest, I noticed that the songs I liked the most were those that drastically exceeded my concept of normal length, "Close to the Edge" "Supper`s Ready" "Thick as a Brick".... The longer the song lasted the more I liked it, I recreated myself in them, I loved to learn them by heart after dozens of listens, and even so they always surprised me and managed to remain interesting, I began to believe that the longer a song was the more likely it was to be good, so I started to use the length of the songs to decide which albums I gave them a chance, the longer the songs were the more they caught my attention. It was at that time that I met Manowar and quickly my attention focused solely on the main song on this album."Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts" was my introduction to Manowar and for a long time the only song I listened to from them, although there was a subtle detail, I could never finish it. I had listened to songs longer than this one but I was unable to finish it, I tried several times but always ended up bored to death, so I gave it up for impossible. It's been quite a few years since then, I know Manowar better but I always deliberately ignored this album mainly because of that song, so recently I decided, with some hesitation, to give a chance to that album and to that song that always got stuck in my throat.

It is true that one can criticize several aspects of the epic "Achilles... "mainly its exaggerated artificial way of lengthening it with those drum and bass solos, it is incredibly pompous and pretentious with its choruses, its bell sounds and its (almost) acapella parts, in just five minutes we have already entered an instrumental part that is based on a crecendo of the same chord played over and over again to appear more epic than it actually radiates to leave us at the mercy of a very early drum solo that only serves to lengthen the song, this is terrible and no wonder I rarely got through this part when I was younger. That's why I'm so surprised that I like the song so much nowadays. I still believe everything I mentioned previously, the song structure is questionable and the solos are pure filler, but just because they are filler doesn't mean it's bad per se. There is something to keep in mind and that is that for this album Manowar had two musicians that would not be repeated in any other studio album of the band, and although it seems that they did not participate in the writing of this song, the talent of David Shankle on guitar and Rhino on drums has much of the responsibility for the immense quality of this song, it is impossible not to emphasize the performance of both of them. In "Death Hector's Reward" is when finally all the previous slow build up takes shape in an incredibly heavy and fast segment where the four members shine immeasurably, a powerful galloping riff, insane blast bleats and a bass so strong you can feel it in your chest lead us to the vocal performance of Eric Adams where he recites fiercely and effectively the literary lyrics interspersing his classic voice with high pitched screams and short very effective lows, It's not just that it's an incredibly well done part, but the contrast to the sly tone that had previously clashed so strongly with this one of the hardest moments musically that Manowar have ever done that I can only surrender at them every time this part comes on.

But the best thing is that this is not the only part that reaches these parameters, after some effective bass and guitar solos we enter the final part of the song, the structure is repeated again, an intense galloping riff accompanied by a huge bass and an incredible and extremely fast drums, the intensity is so high for so many minutes that no wonder there are people who thought it was a drum machine. With greatness Eric Adams finishes his vocal part and Manowar gives us the last pearl of this great work, as they close the song that narrates the duel between Achilles and Hector, with two minutes of a vertiginous and virtuous guitar duel as a perfect way to close a song full of charisma and musical talent, the final apotheosis that the song needed.

And after such an immeasurable song, its continuation is "Metal Warriors" a song that has such powerful lyrics as "If you're not into metal, you are not my friend" followed by the most basic drum sequence in history and a chorus that has been played down to the core, the drop in quality and tone is so big that I simply cannot fit it in my head, it's as if Michelangelo after sculpting "David" sculpted a morning stool right before, it's like scoring a goal in the 94th minute in the Champions League final and celebrating it with a Fornite dance, it's stupid and wrong on so many levels that it can't be described. One could say that this would have been solved if the track "Achilles..." was the last song, but I'm sure that would also affect the perception with which you come to it because most of the rest of the songs on the album are incredibly boring, bland and too long for an album that already contains a twenty-eight minute track. "Spirit Horse of the Cherokee" is one of the few exceptions, with a bridge led by Eric Adams that works very well thanks to the rhythm that the song carries and "Burning" has the same problem of being extremely slow like the other songs but they shorten the instrumentation so it is not as tedious as "The Power of Thy Sword" or "The Demon's Whip". Of course everything at the level of instumentization and production is fine, the sound is more Manowar style but it feels very insipid after what they have presented us previously, very few tracks keep the type and others like the already mentioned "Metal Warriors" or the disgusting "Master of the Wind" seem like a parody in comparison, as much as I love the band's style and their fucking ability to write choruses that work no matter the circumstances, but I don't buy it on this album, they've put the honey on my lips and I refuse to accept any other substitute.

At the end of the day, when I come back to this album it will only be for the opening track, it's true that it's not perfect but I personally appreciate Joey DeMaio's ability to step out of his comfort zone and write and perform a song so far out of his style and reach such high peaks on it to the point of probably being the best song Manowar has ever done, for that alone it was worth giving this album a chance again.