Manowar

This article is about the band. For Man O' War, see Manowar (disambiguation).

Manowar

Manowar is a heavy metal band from Auburn, New York, United States of America, formed in 1980. They are known for writing lyrics with an emphasis on the heavy metal genre itself, fantasy (particularly sword and sorcery) and mythological topics (particularly Norse mythology). Manowar's sound is loud and bombastic; in an interview for MTV in February 2007, bassist Joey DeMaio lamented that "these days, there's a real lack of big, epic metal that is drenched with crushing guitars and choirs and orchestras... so it's nice to be one of the few bands that's actually doing that." In 1984 the band was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering the loudest performance, a record which they have since broken on 2 occasions. They also hold the world record for the longest heavy metal concert after playing for 5 hours and 1 minute in Bulgaria in 2008.

Although the band has never been a mainstream commercial success in the United States, they maintain a strong cult following there. In contrast, they are extremely popular in the heavy metal scene in Europe, Japan, Australia and South America. Dedicated fans are known and referred to by the band as "Manowarriors" or "Immortals", and collectively their fans are known as the "Army of Immortals".

The band has sold over 9 million albums.

Biography

Eric Adams of Manowar, 2002 Bercy Paris live

Joey DeMaio was working as a bass tech / pyrotechnic for Black Sabbath when he met with guitarist Ross the Boss, playing for a group called Shakin' Street, a Black Sabbath support band. They later recruited Eric Adams for vocals and Donnie Hamzik for the drums, to create Manowar. Manowar recorded Battle Hymns, their debut album, which featured "Dark Avenger", a slow track with narration by Orson Welles. (Welles returned on the Defender EP and did the narration on the same title epic track. This song was later reworked for the band's Fighting the World album.)

Drummer Scott Columbus joined the band for their second album, Into Glory Ride. Custom equipment was built for the band by John "Dawk" Stillwell, which helped in achieving their sound.

The band usually performs in and around Europe, South America (especially Argentina and Brazil) and Japan.

Manowar influenced the early Swedish Black Metal band Bathory during their transition from Black metal to their later Viking metal sound. Bathory's lead singer Quorthon stated in a 2002 interview: "In 1986-1988, Bathory had a drummer who was heavily influenced by Manowar. He didn't enjoy any other type of metal, but he was somehow sold on Manowar. It wasn't like we decided to copy what they were doing. However, the typical heavy Manowar beat seemed to perfectly suit my new ideas for lyrics at the time." Andy DiGelsomina, composer of the heavy metal opera project, Lyraka, has also cited Manowar as a major influence[1].

The band is also notable for its ownership of their entire operation. Record recording and distribution, as well as merchandise, are all controlled by the band. Singer Eric Adams has said that the reason for this is that the band has received unfair treatment financially in the past, and also to ensure the highest quality production. [2] The band's label, Magic Circle Music, includes other bands such as Rhapsody of Fire and HolyHell. [3]

Their latest album is Thunder in the Sky; for other albums, see the discography. At the Magic Circle Festival 2008, Joey DeMaio announced that the band's next album would be performed in its entirety at the following year's festival, and its release would be accompanied by a video game, book and film. The Thunder in the Sky EP (2009) includes a second CD of 16 versions of the song Father, each in a different language.

Members

Current members

• Eric Adams - vocals (1980–present), guitar (1980, for a short while)
• Joey DeMaio - bass guitars, guitars, keyboards, classical guitar (1980–present)
• Karl Logan - guitars, keyboards, classical guitar (1994–present)
• Scott Columbus - drums, percussion (1983–1991, 1995–present)

Scott has been absent from the band since early 2008, it was announced at Magic Cricle Festival 2008 that he was missing due to "personal tragedies" he had suffered. Since this Manowar has had both Rhino and Donnie Hamzik play with them during live performances. Donnie also played the drum track on their most recent studio recording, "Thunder in the Sky" EP. Although Scott is still listed on the official website there has been no further information as to when he may return to the band.

Former members

Guitars

• Ross "The Boss" Friedman (1980–1988)
• David Shankle (1989–1993)

Drums

• Carl Canedy (1980)
• Donnie Hamzik (1981–1982, 2009 sessional)
• Rhino (1992–1995, 2008 sessional)

Roadies

• Alan "Bloodaxe" Feller (Crowd Control) (2000–2006)
• Jason Craig Wilfred Malone (Tour Accountant) (1998–2000)

Timeline

Discography

Albums

• Battle Hymns (1982)
• Into Glory Ride (1983)
• Hail to England (1984)
• Sign of the Hammer (1984)
• Fighting the World (1987) - Gold in Germany
• Kings of Metal (1988) - Gold in Germany
• The Triumph of Steel (1992) - Gold in Germany
• Louder Than Hell (1996)
• Warriors of the World (2002) - Gold in Germany
• Gods of War (2007)
• Hammer of the Gods (TBA 2010)

Live

• Hell on Wheels (1997)
• Hell on Stage (1999)
• Gods of War Live (2007)

Compilations

• Manowar Kills (1992)
• The Hell of Steel: Best of Manowar (1994)
• Anthology (1997)
• The Kingdom of Steel (1998)
• Steel Warriors (1998)

Singles/EPs

• "Defender" (1983)
• "All Men Play On Ten" (1984)
• "Blow Your Speakers" (1987)
• "Herz Aus Stahl" (1988)
• "Metal Warriors" (1992)
• "Defender" (1994)
• "Return of the Warlord" (1996)
• "Courage" (1996)
• "Courage Live" (1996)
• "Number 1" (1996)
• "Live in Spain" (1998)
• "Live in Portugal" (1998)
• "Live in France" (1998)
• "Live in Germany" (1998)
• "Warriors of the World united" (2002)
• "Warriors of the World united Part 2" (2002)
• "An American Trilogy/The Fight for Freedom" (2002)
• "The Dawn of Battle" (2002)
• "King of Kings" (included in "Hell on Earth Part IV") (2005)
• "The Sons of Odin" (First EP) (2006)
• "Die with Honor" (2008)
• "Thunder In The Sky" (2009)

VHS/DVDs

• Secrets of Steel (VHS) (1993)
• Hell on Earth Part I (DVD) (2001)
• Fire and Blood (DVD) (2002)
• Warriors of the World united (Mini DVD/CD) (2002)
• Hell on Earth Part III (DVD) (2003)
• Hell on Earth Part IV (DVD) (2005)
• The Day the Earth Shook - The Absolute Power (DVD) (2006)
• Magic Circle Festival Volume 1 (DVD) (2007)
• Magic Circle Festival Volume 2 (DVD) (2008)
• Hell on Earth Part V (DVD) (2009)

See also

• Loudest band in the world

External links

• Official Website
• Official Mobile Blog of Manowar
• Template:MySpace
• Official Ross The Boss Web Site
• Interview with Joey DeMaio - Metalfan.Ro - English