By Robin Ianson
Manowar, second only to GWAR as heavy metal’s biggest joke, are back again with yet another eardrum assault. Holding the unofficial world record as loudest band on the planet at 129.5 decibels (ear damage starts at 80!) Manowar have been writing their over-the-top, hyper macho songs for over 20 years and show no signs of becoming any less ridiculous.
This time around, Manowar have decided to release an EP, The Sons of Odin, paying tribute to Norse mythology. Normally, when a band puts out an EP, it’s good news for fans as they pay less money for fewer songs and often get less of the filler most LPs have. Sadly, this is not the case with The Sons of Odin. Two of the five tracks are live recordings, which is cheating considering the first is only a spoken word intro for the following song. This leaves three new songs, but one is an orchestral piece that sounds like it was ripped straight from Lord of the Rings. It doesn’t really count either. This leaves two new songs which cover Manowar’s usual themes of power, strength, courage and why it would be awesome to be a viking.
The Sons of Odin is little more than a quick attempt to milk more money from loyal fans. It should be avoided by fans of Manowar, and other fans as well.