I've never listened much to Manowar, however, when I heard the song, The Sons of Odin, on radio the other day, I just had to go and buy the ep! It was one of those hilarious moments. I was sitting in my car and all of a sudden they start playing this bombastic power metal song, not much of a revelation so far, but at the end of the song, they switch to organ only and a dark voice ( kinda like the voice of Sauron) comes in and in a increasingly powerful voice describes the rising despair of Odins warriors in the midst of battle. At this point the Gods enter the battle and sends the Berserker Rage to the Sons of Odin, which of course ends in the Slaying of all their enemies. The song finish of with a glorious Hail Gods of War!
I just love the way this band produces fantasy and metal clichés without a hint of embarrasment! I'm not sure if it is a healthy lack of self distance or just a matter of theatrical joy. When I heard the phrase The Berserker Rage, I got this flashing image of me playing the Barbarian in Diablo II, it also put a smile on my face when I started to think of all the barbarians that have come and gone through the years that I have played Advanced Dungeons and Dragons . Well, I guess it is sufficient to say that this is a great piece of nostalgia.
The ep also contains a couple of older live performances of The Ascension and King of Kings , as well as three new songs. All in all I enjoyed this initial taste of whats to come on their next album. At the back of the cd you can read the nice proclamation that this cd was "Recorded and Produced in Hell by Manowar".
Check it out here. |
