When I first heard this album (a long time ago), I assumed that this was Manowar's
first album as the production is totally raw and unpolished. However, I was
wrong as this is their fourth album, therefore the raw production was either
a deliberate experiment or a result of rushing through the recording process
with either little time or money (or both) to make this album. Thankfully the
production does not ruin this album although it certainly takes some of the
power away from the rhythm section creating a rather thin sound. However, the
rawness of the production does seem to work well with Eric Adam's awesome voice,
and takes nothing away from his performance.
Production quality issues aside, this is an excellent album and a must have
for all Manowar fans. Other metalheads may be put off a bit by the raw
production and the cheesy lyrics contained in songs such as All Men Play
on 10 and Animals but that's their loss. There is one part though
where I really wish the lyrics were different. In All Men Play on 10,
around the 1:55 into the song, as Adams is once again explaining how loud Manowar
is and how they will never sellout (A point which would later become debatable
in its truthfulness) he says "Then I run back to the power rack…(Little pause,
music stops, time to say something cool)…and deck all of my gear!". The first
thing I thought was: That was lame! I believe the time had come to say something
real cool (and probably real cheesy) but they missed it. Oh well, just a little
nit picking for you but I had to get it off my chest. Manowar always
has been a bit cheesy so if you can accept that you should love Manowar
and this album. I especially love the drums at the end of Animals and
as always, Eric Adams screams with the best of them. Thor (The Powerhead),
Mountains (Where I believe the raw production mixed with some guitar
noodling reminiscent of a bad Demaio solo which usually ruins Manowar
songs, actually serves to enhances this track), The Oath and Sign
of the Hammer are truly excellent tracks with Sign of the Hammer being
one of the very best Manowar songs ever! On this track, every instrument
combined with Adam's vocals come together perfectly at just the right times
to create epic peaks and climaxes before settling back into the appropriate
galloping tempo. Of course the last climax is the best. Trust me, if you have
never heard this song, this is truly an awesome track inspiring feelings that
only the best tracks of the metal genre inspire, although I do wish the song
was longer so it could truly be called an epic.
In my opinion, any review a Manowar album must come with a warning.
The warning is this: You will always have skip at least one track on this album.
That track would be Thunderpick as it is another one of Joey Demaio's
bass solos that seem to appear on almost every Manowar album. This one
is especially bad. It is for the most part completely tuneless with Demaio showing
exactly how fast he can possible jerk off his bass (It's pretty fast by the
way). In some places it almost sounds to me like some one who has no idea how
to play the guitar trying play as fast as they can. The last track on the album,
Guyana (Cult of the Damned) is trapped behind this solo as the solo continues
on to be a lengthy intro to the song. By the time Adams says "Thank you for
the Kool-aid Reverend Jim" (Which made me laugh the first time I heard it as
many Manowar songs have done to me in the past). I'm saying thank you
for the ability to skip through songs. This song just isn't good enough to sit
through compared to the other songs on the album so I always either end the
album here before the bass solo or restart it again and with this album, it's
usually restarting it again