“Army Of The Dead” returns for part 2 and it’s pretty much the same as the first with the exception of an organ intro that was pretty nice. The title track is pretty good as well, but again lacks a suitable level of momentum and instead trudges along like some massive army of soldiers. “Glory Majesty Unity” was an odd inclusion as it is once again dialogue but this time one feels as though they are hearing an army make their creed to the God’s and at five minutes length you are almost are praying for “Gods Of War” to begin. It was during “Sons Of Odin” that I began to feel I was listening to more of a Hard Rock album with some ripping guitar as opposed to an album by a band that often refers to themselves as Kings Of Metal. On the ballad’s conclusion there comes yet another symphonic epic which is followed by more dialogue and then finally a song which is okay at best after all that pomp and circumstance. The performances of Adams, DeMaio, Columbus and Logan are tight and together despite all of these reservations. There are no peaks to rise to and instead only smaller hills. “Blood Brothers” is pretty much the ballad on the release and sings of camaraderie and allegiance and is very well done, but the up and down nature of the recording really loses momentum at almost every turn. Eric Adams no longer shrieks as much as he used to so its easy to follow along with the lyrics, so having long comments everywhere you turn seemed a bit of a waste of valuable music space. I took this as the band trying too hard to tell the tale as opposed to letting the music bring us deeper into the Nordic myths that they were singing about. I did like the vocal play during the acapella “Army Of The Dead” and the pounding drive of “Sleipnir”, a song about the legendary eight-legged steed of Odin, but between them is yet more dialogue and commentary and it was starting to make me wonder what the hell I was listening to. The song gets to the two minute part and more dialogue is introduced right in the middle and that is a mood killer if you asked me. By the time the album hits “King Of Kings” you would expect a thunderous exploding tune but instead find one that is a lot slower than it should have been and while it has a cool chorus about “Gods of Thunder with man and beast being torn asunder” it is not as much a Metal tune as I would have liked to hear. On completion it does not even lead you to a song but to three or four minutes of dialogue that instead of making you eager to know the tale makes you want to skip right to the music. The album begins with the pre-requisite symphonic and sweeping opener that Manowar had been employing in recent years, but unlike the band Rhapsody Of Fire, who seem much more adept at Film Score Metal, this opener is simply a ponderous listen. It was only after a couple of spins on the changer that I was able to assess where those who found disappointment were actually coming from. Since I had been a fan of the band from way back in the early days I was wondering how such a thing would be possible. It sounds pretty interesting when you think about it since Norse Folklore is so rich and detailed to read about but before I had my own copy I was seeing a lot of mixed press about the album and much of it was leaning on the negative side. Their latest album is entitled “Gods Of War” and is a concept record and follows the themes of Odin and Norse legends. It is time once again to unsheathe your sword and raise it high to glory and honor as the legendary warriors Manowar make their return for the Metal legions everywhere. Artist: Manowar Title: “Gods Of War” Label: Magic Circle Music Release Date: Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 2.5/5
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