Manowar
Alive AG Battle hymns 2011 (+ bonus tracks) CD Heavy Metal Manowar

A real must-have for a Manowar's fan! A new version of their debut album.

I thought this version would be better than the original but I was wrong. In addition to the sound not being as metallic, something in the essence of the original sound was lost. I didn't like the cover either, although I understand the motivation for making a special version. Okay, the booklet has interesting information and photos, but all in all I still stick with the original version. Unfortunately it was a disappointment.

Old school Heavy Metal, classic in every sense of the word; falsetto screams, roars that worship at the gates of metal in what is admittedly quite a cheesy way, leads that are so sharp that by the end of the album it is quite possible that you will find you have died by the death of a thousand cuts, and you would treasure every one of them for it.

They did it! I always said - if the sound of the album is not so hot, it is not a sacred cow, it should be rewritten. The first to venture to ruin their Manowar classics are rumors of Slayer and Judas Priest. And I must admit - they did it. "Battle Hymns MMXI" sounds fresh, beautiful and ... in Manovar style. It has several advantages, several minuses and a couple of funny chips. The pluses are the phenomenal sound of the rhythm section, especially the drums (I remind you that Scott Columbus and his Drums of Doom appeared in the group on the second album, so it’s understandable that Donny Hamzik, who returned to Manowar, wants to bring his parts in line with the gang style). Now it feels like the steel drum kit is still in operation, and we hear it. DeMayo bass is also recorded at 5+, it has become even more stenobit and coarser, making his way to the guts. Cons - Eric Adams is not getting younger, and this is noticeable. But unlike Dickinson and Halford, he did not change the manner of singing and therefore fell into a kind of scissors - the album must be rewritten without changing the parts, and at the same time, very weak tops make themselves felt ... Maybe DeMayo was worth it fundamentally rewrite vocals to today's voice of Adams; however, this does not hurt the ear, since it is noticeable only in selected, rare places. Another minus is Logan's guitar. Having added to the power of sound, she lost in freshness, some artificiality appeared in her - now this sound is not Rambo, but the Terminator, if you want. However, there is also an explanation for this - Logan did not play his parts, in the end, he is not Ross the Boss, but a musician with his own and very good manner of playing. So, the guitar part now more closely resembles “Louder than Hell” and “Warriors of the World” - well, re-recording it and re-recording it to refresh the album!

Heavy Metal. Jep, genau darum gehts Joey DeMaio mindestens 25 Stunden am Tag acht Tage die Woche. Warum er mit seiner Karnevalstruppe mittlerweile abe...

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