The Triumph of Steel

by

Manowar

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Manowar is one of those bands that has a lot of songwriting talent but are often dismissed from their inability to graduate from the "all hail us" kind of mentality that characterizes their lyrics. This album marks somewhat of a departure from that songwriting mentality; I say somewhat because it is still present on a few songs. However, overlooking that aspect, most of the material showcases some real lyrical talent, not to mention the amazing instrumental feats. This is not an album for those with short attention spans. This is not to be listened to piecemeal, or a little here and there. Lock the door, disconnect the phone, and put this on as loud as your neighbors will tolerate. It will blow you away. The first song, over 28 minutes in eight separate movements, is a masterful discourse of the story of ancient Troy in Greek myhology. Follow the leaflet so you understand the separate movements and what they represent, and you will be hard pressed to find anything similar in modern music that can reach this plateau. This is the kind of songwriting skill that the classical music masters put into their work, and it takes on a similar style and grandeur. The subsequent tracks all showcase similar effort, although the theme varies. The final track, Master of the Wind, is a soaring spiritual journey into the eternal strength of the human character that packs a more powerful punch than any of their earlier "we rule" mentality songs ever could. This album is an oddity for Manowar in their career, always advertising on the record sleeve "no synths, no pedals, no wimps: just power, metal, and might" they make extensive use of them in this album, and somehow stand more powerful and mighty through their intelligent use of such devices to bring their music to another level. Incidentally, the drummer for this album, listed only as "Rhino", is the most talented drummer I have ever heard, making Lars Ulrich and Tommy Lee look like kids banging on upturned kitchen pots in comparison. Too bad he isn't on any of their other albums. But then, none of their other albums even compare to this one.

I'm not entirely sure I dig this album... one or two tracks were good, particularly 'Master of the wind'.

Metal warriors and Cherokee are good too, but having 2 new members in the band will ultimately change their sound, and some will probably argue its not REAL Manowar as it is now 1/2 a new group.

The driving bass and screeching vocals are still intact, but the drums and Guitaring have certainly changed.

Only a 1/4 of the guitar solos are actually solos! ....the rest are weird noises churned out by an uncreative (in a sense) axeman... no pun intended. It is also very hard to distinguish if they have either recruited the world's most accurate and precise drummer or just used a drum machine for the studio.

Other than that, its a much Darker album.... it dives a little too deep into the black pool than I care for.

Manowar were always about gloom and doom, but the earlier albums had a more uplifting feel to it... (its hard to explain) it was just the chemistry between all 4 original members that gave them the 'feel' that is noticeably absent in this album, perhaps Manowar belong to the 80's more so than the 90's.