Manowar "Louder Than Hell"

Louder Than Hell is the eighth album by heavy metal band Manowar, released in 1996. It is the first album to feature guitarist Karl Logan, as well as the return of drummer Scott Columbus. Cover art was done by Ken Kelly. The songs "Brothers of Metal", "Courage" and "Number One" were demoed and played live by the band already in 1986, 10 years before their official album release.

Track listing

All songs written by Joey DeMaio, except where noted.

1. "Return of the Warlord" (Karl Logan, DeMaio) 5:19
2. "Brothers of Metal Pt. 1" 3:54
3. "The Gods Made Heavy Metal" (Logan, DeMaio) 6:03
4. "Courage" 3:49
5. "Number 1" 5:11
6. "Outlaw" (Logan, DeMaio) 3:22
7. "King" 6:25
8. "Today Is a Good Day to Die" 9:42
9. "My Spirit Lives On" (Logan, DeMaio) 2:09
10. "The Power" 4:09

Recording information:

All songs written and produced by Manowar.

Recorded and mixed at Haus Wahnfried in New York.

Orchestra recorded at SoundCastle in Las Angeles.

Mastered at Sterling Sound in New York.

Manowar "The Triumph Of Steel"

The Triumph of Steel is the seventh studio album by the American heavy metal band Manowar, released in 1992. It is the only Manowar album to feature guitarist David Shankle and drummer Kenny Earl "Rhino" Edwards. Cover art by Ken Kelly.

"Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts" is the longest (28 minutes and 38 seconds) and most complex Manowar song, and probably an anticipation of a concept album that was never accomplished. Because of its Homeric content, "Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts" has recently attracted the attention of a group of scholars at Bologna University in Italy. Mrs. Eleonora Cavallini, Professor in Classics, has written about this song:

"Joey DeMaio’s lyrics imply a careful and scrupulous reading of the Iliad. The songwriter has focused his attention essentially on the crucial fight between Hector and Achilles, has paraphrased some passages of the poem adapting them to the melodic structure with a certain fluency and partly reinterpreting them, but never altering or upsetting Homer’s storyline. The purpose of the lyrics (and of the music as well) is to evoke some characteristic Homeric sceneries: the raging storm of the battle, the barbaric, ferocious exultance of the winner, the grief and anguish of the warrior who feels death impending over him. The whole action hinges upon Hector and Achilles, who are represented as specular characters, divided by an irreducible hatred and yet destined to share a similar destiny. Both are caught in the moment of the greatest exaltation, as they savagely rejoice for the blood of their killed enemies, but also in the one of the extreme pain, when the daemon of war finally pounces on them. Furthermore, differently than in the irreverent and iconoclastic movie Troy, in "Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts", the divine is a constant and ineluctable presence, determining human destinies with inscrutable and steely will, and, despite the generic reference to 'the gods', the real master of human lives is Zeus, the only God to whom both Hector and Achilles address their prayers"

Track listing

All songs written by Joey DeMaio except where noted.

1.-"Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts  28:38
Prelude
I. Hector Storms the Wall
II. The Death of Patroclus
III. Funeral March
IV. Armor of the Gods
V. Hector's Final Hour
VI. Death Hector's Reward
VII. The Desecration of Hector's Body
A. Part 1
B. Part 2
VIII. The Glory of Achilles"
2.-"Metal Warriors" 3:54
3.-"Ride the Dragon" (David Shankle, DeMaio) 4:33
4.-"Spirit Horse of the Cherokee" 6:02
5.-"Burning" (Shankle, DeMaio) 5:10
6.-"The Power of Thy Sword" 7:51
7.-"The Demon's Whip" (David Shankle, DeMaio) 7:50
8.-"Master of the Wind" (Shankle, DeMaio) 5:27

Total length: 69:25

Recording information:

Recorded at Haus Wanfried, NY

Editing and tape transfer: Air Waves, Chicago, IL

Mixed at C.R.C., Chicago, IL

Mastering at Masterdisk, New York, NY

Manowar "Kings Of Metal"

Kings of Metal is the sixth album by the American heavy metal band Manowar. It was released in November 18, 1988 by Atlantic Records. The album was the last to feature guitarist and founding member Ross "The Boss" Friedman, who later went on to rejoin punk band The Dictators. Drummer Scott Columbus left the band after this album as well, but rejoined for 1996's Louder Than Hell and remained with the band until 2008.

• The track "Kings of Metal" has been covered by German a cappella metal band Van Canto on their album Hero, as well by German Alternative/Punk-Band Beatsteaks on their album Launched and the German death metal band Debauchery on their album Back in Blood.
• "Kingdom Come" was recorded by San Francisco punk band Hickey and appeared on the compilation CD, Death to False Metal (the title of which was also in tribute to Manowar's popular slogan). It has also been covered by Swedish metal band Sabaton.
• "Heart of Steel" has been covered by Finnish heavy metal band Thunderstone.
• "The Crown and the Ring" has been covered by the Celtic folk band Rapalje and by Italian metal band Valiance.
• "Pleasure Slave" has been covered by Swedish band Svartur Dödur and American heavy metal band A Sound Of Thunder.

Track listing

All songs written by Joey DeMaio except where noted.

American, European and Japanese track listing

1. "Wheels of Fire" 4:10
2. "Kings of Metal" (Ross Friedman, DeMaio) 3:45
3. "Heart of Steel" 5:10
4. "Sting of the Bumblebee" (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov adapted by DeMaio, lyrics transcribed by Bob Piorun) 2:49
5. "The Crown and the Ring (Lament of the Kings)" 4:50
6. "Kingdom Come" 3:56
7. "Pleasure Slave" (CD version of the album only) 5:38
8. "Hail and Kill" (Friedman, DeMaio) 5:58
9. "The Warrior's Prayer" 4:20
10. "Blood of the Kings" 7:29

Total length: 48:05

Recording information:

Recorded and mixed at Universal Recording, Chicago. Digital Mastering / Direct Metal Master at Masterdisk, N.Y. Canoldir Male Choir recorded in St. Paul's Cathedral, Birmingham, England. Crowd on A2 recorded live at the Thirsty Whale.

Manowar "Fighting The World"

Fighting the World is the fifth album by the American heavy metal band Manowar, released in 1987. This was the first Manowar album to feature artwork by long-time collaborator Ken Kelly, and also one of the first heavy metal albums to be recorded and mixed entirely on digital equipment (Turbo album, by Judas Priest, was prior to that). Since Fighting The World, all Manowar album covers have been painted by Ken Kelly.

The song "Defender" features a speech by famous American actor Orson Welles. The album was released 2 years after Welles died. The recording of Welles' speech was re-used from the original 1982 demo of the song.

Track listing

All songs written by Joey DeMaio.

1. "Fighting the World" 3:53
2. "Blow Your Speakers" 3:43
3. "Carry On" 4:18
4. "Violence and Bloodshed" 4:00
5. "Defender" 6:05
6. "Drums of Doom" 1:14
7. "Holy War" 4:45
8. "Master of Revenge" 1:34
9. "Black Wind, Fire and Steel" 5:16

Total length: 34:48

• "Fighting the World" was covered by German power metal band Mystic Prophecy as a bonus track on their album Regressus.
• "Black Wind, Fire and Steel" has been covered by Brazilian heavy metal band Immortal Choir, by Swedish punk band Venerea and by Spanish rock/punk band Reserva Dos, this last under the name "Viento negro, fuego y acero" (in Spanish).

The cover is parodied in the Metalocalypse episode "Dethfashion". In the episode, Dethklok is visited by a sadistic fashion designer who is upset that their measurements for their fashion line were not reflective of their actual physiques. The designer used a cover of the band's previous album as a reference for his designs, and like the cover of Fighting the World, the band is standing shirtless on a pile of stones. The cover had been airbrushed to make the band members look much thinner and more physically fit than they actually were.

Recording information:

Recorded from 1986 -1987, Universal Recording, Chicago, Illinois, US

Manowar "Sign Of The Hammer"

Sign of the Hammer is the fourth album by heavy metal band Manowar, released on October 15, 1984.

In 2005, Sign of the Hammer was ranked number 418 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.

Track listing

All songs written by Joey DeMaio, except where noted.

Side one

1. "All Men Play on 10" – 4:01
2. "Animals" – 3:34
3. "Thor (The Powerhead)" – 5:23
4. "Mountains" – 7:39

Side two

1. "Sign of the Hammer" – 4:18
2. "The Oath" (Ross the Boss, DeMaio) – 4:54
3. "Thunderpick" – 3:31
4. "Guyana (Cult of the Damned)" – 7:10

• "Guyana (Cult of the Damned)" is a song about the 1978 mass suicide led by Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple group, at Jonestown, northwestern Guyana. 
• "Thor (The Powerhead)" is about the Norse God Thor (as the name suggests), destroying the evil of the world and the Giants (enemies of the Gods) as well. The song often brings about the Ragnarök, with "live to fight on that final day" stated many times. The Norse people believed that at the end of the world the Gods and the Giants would battle for control. It is foreseen that the Gods would lose, and many of their deaths have been foretold before the battle. Regardless, the Gods still will fight on the final day for the right to control Earth. This song has been covered by symphonic metal band Therion on the album Crowning of Atlantis.

Recording information:

All tracks produced by Jack Richardson and mixed by Tony Platt, except 'Sign of the hammer', produced and mixed by Tony Platt.

Digital mastering by Atún at Master Room London.

Manowar "Hail To England"

Hail to England is Manowar's third album which was released in 1984. The album title is a tribute to the country that the American band members met and formed the band in, and in particular the predominantly British NWOBHM that had emerged in the early 1980s. The album was also reported to have been recorded in its entirety in only six days. The album peaked at No. 83 on the UK album charts. The album actually features the flag of the United Kingdom on the front cover, and not the flag of England. In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Hail to England as 87th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.'

Track listing

All songs written by Joey DeMaio, except where noted.

Side one

1. "Blood of My Enemies" – 4:15
2. "Each Dawn I Die" (Ross the Boss, DeMaio) – 4:20
3. "Kill with Power" – 3:57
4. "Hail to England" – 4:24

Side two

1. "Army of the Immortals" (Ross the Boss, DeMaio) – 4:24
2. "Black Arrows" – 3:06
3. "Bridge of Death" – 8:58

Alternate cassette version from the 1980s distributed through the band's mail order fan club was mislabeled, inverting the sides.

Cover versions

• "Blood of My Enemies" was covered by Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, on their album The Spectral Sorrows.
• "Blood of My Enemies" was covered by Italian power metal band Power Symphony, on their EP Futurepast.
• "Blood of My Enemies" was covered by Russian pagan metal band Рарогъ, on their album Сыны Сокола, under the name of "Кровь Наших Врагов"
• "Blood of My Enemies" was covered by heavy metal band Ross the Boss, one of the former members of Manowar in 2017
• "Kill with Power" was covered by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, on their EP Dead Eyes See No Future, and is often covered live by Brazilian parody metal band Massacration.
• "Kill With Power" was also covered by Finnish black/heavy metal band Barathrum, on their single Black Flames and Blood.
• "Each Dawn I Die" was covered by the Greek black metal band Necromantia on their 1997 EP Ancient Pride which was re-released with new artwork and two bonus tracks in 2006 by Black Lotus Records.

Dedicated to John "Dawk" Stillwell. 

"Army of the Immortals" is written for and dedicated to Manowar fans. 

The title track was written as a homage to England, where the band were better received at the time.