Old men dressed in leather thongs and bondage outfits. Sound like something you’d explore? Let’s go further, shall we? Old men dressed in leather thongs and bondage outfits under the moniker of Manowar! Still sound appealing? I would definitely hope not. Unfortunately, this band pressed a new record this year and it is creating quite the commotion around the Internet. Despite some standout releases much, much earlier in their career, this band is resisting tooth and nail to have the coffin lid fall shut on their career. This record has become yet another nail in the Manowar coffin.
Let me save you the 55 minute, 22 second listen. Please, I’m doing you an incredible favor. This album is dreadfully awful. That’s right, downright, miserably awfully. If you are surprised, I can hardly imagine why. Manowar has been out of their element ever since time put the 80s to death. Ever since, their album ratings have gotten worse as time as progressed. Trying to relive their glory days, Manowar continues to strain our eardrums and nag at our musical consciousness despite the fact that with each passing day, the band slips further away from relevancy. From my point of view, their brand of metal is popular amongst the elite group of elder metal heads and fresh teenagers looking to brag and say they are, “true metal heads”. As the old die off and the young mature (hopefully), Manowar has no field left to stand on, yet they continue to release albums, hoping for some sort of resurgence.
With song titles like “The Lord of Steel”, “Righteous Glory”, “Hail, Kill and Die”, and “The Kingdom of Steel”, one can easily infer that the band behind these titles is Manowar. Not only do the titles ring true to Manowar’s style, but so does the music, the album artwork, etc. Each one of the songs contained on this record sounds recycled. It seems like the band only has their prior masterpieces as inspiration, and rather than progress as a band, they are trying to show people that they are still a good band with potential to progress musically. Sorry guys, but the leather bondage outfits and the cock and balls American metal thing died when power metal fell behind other genres (such as thrash metal, death metal, and black metal circa 1990). This album contains way too much cheese to stomach, and is definitely not worth the listen, the purchase, or any time whatsoever.
The Lord of Steel is yet another failure to the Manowar legacy (or another nail in the coffin, if you will). It is only a matter of time before this band calls it quits, but until that day, be ready for a mega world tour in support of this record. If receding hair lines, leather stands of “clothing”, extra cheese, huge egos, and terrible music are up your alley, you should definitely be prepared to purchase this album, a Manowar shirt, and a pair of Manowar concerts tickets to bore your significant other with (you won’t have one after that show). To the eclectic listener, please do not bother with this album and continue listening to whatever band you are currently listening to. If you excuse me, I’m going back to my Proclamation records. Cheers!
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