Audio CD review:
Manowar - Manowar: Gods of War w/ Bonus DVD

Manowar - Manowar: Gods of War w/ Bonus DVD

Band: Manowar Title: Manowar: Gods of War w/ Bonus DVD Rating: Release Date: 03 April, 2007 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Overture To The Hymn Of The Immortal Warriors 2: The Ascension 3: King Of Kings 4: Army Of The Dead, Part I 5: Sleipnir 6: Loki God Of Fire 7: Blood Brothers 8: Overture To Odin 9: The Blood Of Odin 10: The Sons Of Odin 11: Glory Majesty Unity 12: Gods Of War 13: Army Of The Dead, Part II 14: Odin 15: Hymn Of The Immortal Warriors 16: Die For Metal (bonus track)

Customer Reviews Epic, but . . . The first thing you notice - other than the nearly-thirty dollar price tag - is the metal cover. I'll take you through this as I experienced it, starting with the purchase. It's not shiny plastic or cardboard with a film over it; that's real metal. It's startlingly heavy, too - when you pick it up the first time, you'll heft it automatically just to get a feel for it. The metal case wraps around a black-bound book that contains the Gods of War CD on the left, the booklet in the center (bound to the book, not loose) and the DVD to the right. The artwork on the discs and the booklet are a bit more racy than the usual cover you see - there are undressed fantasy-style artwork women adorning all three, so fair warning if you're touchy about that. Not that most Manowar fans would be, I'm guessing. The booklet is written entirely in what is known among scholars as the Elder Futhark runic alphabet. I've studied it for some time now on my own and was startled to see it used for this, but pleased. There's a definite pro-and-con to this - the runes really amp up your feel for the Viking atmosphere for this album, but there's no English translation for non-rune readers. They include a guide in the back, but you have to translate it yourself. I'm fairly accomplished at reading them and it took me a while, so the casual reader should be aware that this will take them a long time. It's mostly a bit of a history lesson about Odin and the Aesir mythology anyway. In the interest of being thorough, I should mention that they take liberties with the runic alphabet; EF doesn't use some of the letters our alphabet does (no C, Q, V, X, or Y) and actually has three runes which represent pairings of letters - NG, TH and AE (the long E sound). Some of the substitutions they use make sense (K for C, Y for AE) but they use the NG rune for Q and the TH rune for X. So if you're a real scholar of the runes or if you're trying to really learn the runes from this, you might want to look at other sources for information so that you don't get confused. On to the music - and here's where I got my slight sense of disappointment. I enjoy orchestral music as well as metal, and I'll be the first in line to say that having an orchestra back a metal band can really make a truly epic sound. The problem is that at times it's more like a metal band backing an orchestra. There are some great songs on here - King of Kings is amazing, and Sleipnir gets looped constantly on my CD player - but there's also a lot of, well . . . pomp and pretension. There's times when there's no doubt it's Manowar blowing you away, and then there's times when you just can't believe that it's Manowar putting you to sleep. The Army of the Dead tracks are a bit different; they're not heavy, but they set mood successfully - I get the feeling that they meant several other tracks on here to set the mood but succeeded only in sounding sad. While anyone familiar with the story of Ragnarok and Odin's destiny would say that it is indeed a sad story, you don't pick up Manowar to feel melancholy. And if you do, you get Swords in the Wind - which manages to get a truly epic feel while being sad. Speaking of which, I can't understand why they didn't put Swords in the Wind on this album as a bonus track - and why they DID put Die for Metal on. While I like the song, it doesn't make any sense to put it on an Odin-themed album. It's very much out of place and frankly a poor choice by the band. Overall, I'd give the album itself three stars, but the excellent packaging and my love of the subject matter will get it another star. For anyone looking for typical Manowar, this isn't it. For casual fans or for those who just like Viking-themed material, give it a try. The DVD is frankly pointless. I had hoped for music videos or maybe live concert footage, but it's mainly ads. Ads for their guitars, their printing company, their photographer . . . there's a brief bit where the band talks about the Manowar philosophy of making an album. Oddly, Joey DeMaio never makes an appearance for that. Just the other three. In fact, you only see him briefly in the photography segment, and only as he poses with the other members. If you're thinking of buying this version because of the DVD, forget it - get the cheaper regular version. Why? And I don't usually put down Manowar. Is more than half the album/CD soft metal? I realize that the songs kick in eventually but this is a bit of a dissappointment. I still want to hear and see them live. GODS OF WAR UNITE US ALLL!! First off, to anyone reading this review, disregard the naysayers or opinions of other reviewers on here who give this stellar work of genius anything less than five stars. . That being said, this is in my opinion their best work to date since the timeless classic. "Into Glory Ride". Integrating elements of that record with the bombastic, Wagnerian overtones of this one, conclusively, I can say that Manowar have created the perfect balance. I LOVE the inspiration from themes of Norse Mythology (coupled with the homage to the mighty Norse Gods) juxtaposed with the narrative effects present throughout the album-I am glad to see that Manowar has incorporated and championed the pro-Viking theme with a fair amount of dedication! The use of orchestral effects that pervade the album are brilliant and help create the mood and atmosphere in terms of what the mighty Norseman stood for. Take that with the thunderous, crushing riffs, one can visualize the imagery all powerful Thor as he swings Mjollnir (the hammer of Thor) across the sky, beckoning the "sons of Odin" into battle. Buy this record no matter what. . It sure beats the faceless stream of garbage oozing from the sewer pipes of MTV and of our trendy, commercialized, pop culture. To Victory or Death!! See you in Valhalla! . . You can see a complete list of all Manowar discography, or go back to the Manowar tabs