Manowar- hail to England

The year is 1984 , and the bringers of true metal place on our highly anticipated laps their 3rd installment. 'Hail To England' delivers to us metalheads , especially to those fans of Joey and the boys , an uncompromising array of almost every facet of what metal is all about.Before I go any further , let's discuss the 6 key elements of Manowar's songwriting and musical structuring that started in the early 80's...and still is vibrant today. Every Manowar LP is almost always laden with 6 different facets , and they are:

1)The Anthem

2)The Epic

3)The OTT (Over The Topper)

4)The Solo

5)The Plodder (usually a cheesy mid pace track , but almost always loaded with plenty of hooks nevertheless)

6)The Ballad

Almost every LP that Manowar made up to this point had all of these key elements (except for 'Into Glory Ride' , which didn't include a solo piece). 'Hail To England' takes and delivers what they had in their first two LP's...and show to each and every metaller that they stick to their guns wholeheartedly. Let's face it , alot of bands in the past usually falter in their style and sometimes loyalty of their music after the 2nd , and especially the 3rd LP. But after one listen to this excellent metallic classic....their is one word you can't find in this band...and that word is disappointment. The album opens up with an excellent Nordic plodder called 'Blood Of My Enemies'. This thunderous mid pacer gallops along sucessfully all the way to the ending where we once again get blessed by those infamous shrills brought on by the one and only Scott Adams. 'Each Dawn I Die' begins with an evilish steadiness , brought on by some very nasty hooks. With every LP from the true Ambassadors of Metal there is always at least one OTT piece...and 'Kill With Power' delivers that Hail & Kill attitude full force. From the beginng as Columbus's drumbeats become faster and faster...until it almost hits a borderline thrash speed. This one is one of my personal faves from this LP... especially when the rhythm is engorged with 1/64 notes flying out of Hell itself hehehehehe. The next song is the title track itself...an anthemic piece showing another facet of what Manowar does best. Granted some of their songs are laden with a little cheese , and 'Army Of Immortals' is one them. Yes it's very catchy but the references in the song dealing with the LP's 'Battle Hymns' and 'Into Glory Ride' is a mixture of tongue in cheek humor with a tincture of hokyness. As the song begins to disappear slowly...we prepare to await just Joey DiMaio and his piccolo bass on his best solo piece by far , 'Black Arrows'...a blasting mercilless forray of demonical notes forged from the blackest abyss hehehehe. The closing number is one of their best masterpieces yet in my opinion. 'Bridge Of Death' is a combination of the ballad and epic all wrapped into one. Right when Joey strarts strumming the bass in the beginning....one would think it is Ross the Boss playing his 6 stringer....ohh contrare hehhehehe. As the strumming bass begins to quiet itself into a humble handful of measures , Adams begins to sooth the soul with his throat...helping to add to this doomy atmosphere. But of course , just like in 'Into Glory Ride' in the song 'Gates Of Valhalla' , the soothing disippates rather quickly , as the plodding begins to take us all onto the bridge , and awaiting for the master of the 7th plain to take us downward...downward to the lowest depths of Hell itself where we are welcomed with one of their trademark endings.... an ending of total instrumental destructiveness , laced with a fine layer of annihilation. So there you have it. Another album of unstoppable force , showing to all metalheads out there how true they are to their genre...all the way to the bitter end...HAIL & KILL!!!

WitchfinderGen - 9/15/02