Brothers of True Metal, take heed and rejoice, for the masters of monumental and melodramatic medieval metal, MANOWAR, have returned to grant to thee “Gods of War”. Triumphant they ride, proudly waving the banner of metal before them, leaving nonbelievers and naysayers ruined in the wake of their mighty war cries. Hail!!
*ahem* Ok... now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let me get right to the point. MANOWAR: you either love them or hate them. There really is no other option. They’re a lot like Jim Carrey that way. And also like Mr.
Carrey, MANOWAR are both very entertaining and quite talented, but you can only take so much of them before they grow tiresome.
Let me elaborate. “Gods of War”, which with the exception of one song, is based entirely on the Nordic mythology surrounding Odin, is exactly the sort of thing you’d expect from MANOWAR. Exactly. They’re nothing if not consistent. They’ve essentially been churning out the same over the top, anthemic, fantasy themed material for years and years now. But you really can't hold that against them. It’s what they do. It’s their niche. It does, however, wear a bit thin after a while. You can expect to hear the words “steel”, “power”, “blood”, “battle” and “sword” about 80 times per album. Lyrical creativity has never been their strong suit. But c’mon, it’s MANOWAR. Sure it’s a bit cheesy (ok, more than a bit) and much of the lyrics are simply laughable, but it’s just so damned enjoyable. It grows on you, like mold on an unwashed loin cloth (you *knew* there was going to be a loin cloth joke here somewhere).
Ok, so what, if anything, makes this album different than the many which preceded it? Certainly not the album cover. A good friend of mine was heard to question “has Manowar been using the same album cover for every album?”. Big burly bare-chested man/men, many scantily clad women, and swords. Oh yeah, and fire. Nearly every time. Like I said; consistent. The defining factor in regards to this their latest album though is ‘voice acting’. Used sparingly it can greatly enhance the mood of an album and assist in clarifying and reinforcing a story or theme behind an album, but there is such a thing as overkill. And lets face it, nobody does overkill like MANOWAR. “Gods of War” is riddled with voice acting, sometimes an intro to a track (“Sleipnir”) and
sometimes consisting of an entire track in itself (“Glory, Majesty, Unity” which is 4 minutes and 43 seconds of it, or “The Blood Of Odin” which is another 4 minutes). Now honestly, if I wanted an audio book, I would’ve
bought one (though hopefully one better written).
Now, I know what you’re thinking, “wow, this guy sure hates Manowar”. That’s not true. I’ve been a fan for years now, I still count their “The Triumph Of Steel” as one of the best albums I own, but there comes a time when loyalty must fall to honesty. And honestly, “Gods of War” is rife with excess, namely the abundant voice acting, and symphonic keyboard interludes between main songs. But between all of that frivolity there are some seriously killer tunes. When MANOWAR get down to business, it really is a wonderful thing. Tracks like “King of Kings” and “Loki: God of Fire” are just friggan awesome. Fist pumping, head banging, crank it up to 11 and break off the knob True Metal like we’ve grown to expect from them.
Bottom Line: Exorbitant levels of theatrics, voice acting, symphonic musical interludes and clichéd melodrama aside “Gods of War” really is a good album. I’ve just got one suggestion for the Men-o-war: next time, trim the fat, and let the power of your metal do the talking.
Key Tracks: “King of Kings”; “Loki: God of Fire”; “Sleipnir”
Reviewed by Farron Watson |
