Manowar - The Lord Of Steel (2012)

Genre - Heavy Metal / Hard Rock
Lable - Magic Circle Music


Track listing -

01. The Lord Of Steel
02. Manowarriors
03. Born In A Grave
04. Righteous Glory
05. Touch The Sky
06. Black List
07. Expendable
08. El Gringo
09. Annihilation
10. Hail Kill And Die

The mighty Manowar return with The Lord Of Steel, their eleventh studio release and the follow up to 2007's Gods Of War, ( 2010's Battle Hymns MMXI being a re recoding of the bands 1982 debut).
Now to be honest I have given this album a fair few listens, and well I find it dissapointing. Over the years Manowar have recorded some great, even classic albums, Kings Of Metal, The Triumph Of Steel, Warriors Of The World to name but three, but this album doesn't count amongst them. Sure, this album has a few high points, Righteous Glory, Expendable, Black List and Hail Kill Die, but on a whole The Lord Of Steel really does come across as Manowar by numbers. Pity really as I have always been rather partial to a little Manowar, but do we really need yet another variation of Brothers Of Metal (Manowarriors).
 The production also lets the album down a little too in my opinion, especially with regards to the bass, that are just overly distorted and fuzzy. I am sorry to say that dispite having a track (or is it two?) feaqtured in the new Expendables 2 movie, this album isn't going to add any new fans to the legions, and Im not sure as to whether the existing "Manowarriors" are going to love this release.
Reconmended for Die Hard fans only!

Rating - 6/10

M.A.D. - For Crown and Ring

With an album title that bring to mind Manowar, this should be interesting!


M.A.D. come from Germany and were formed in 2003. Since then they have released an EP called "Ready To Stop?!" (2006) and a full-length album called "M.A.D. (Maniacal Area Damage)" (2007). "For Crown And Ring"is their second album.

The lead vocals from Jochen S. Bach bear more than a passing resemblance to the legendary late Bon Scott (ACDC), which is great.

The album comprises of 10 songs that sound like a mix of MANOWAR, ACCEPT, HAMMERFALL and AC/DC, which is an interesting mix. All the songs are brilliant and fun, especially the title track, even if the lyrics are at times a little cliched. A great album whose hearts hark back to a time when men were men and metal was fantasy fuelled METAL!

An absolutely brilliant album!



rating 10/10