Attention, now it’s raining clichés! Just a shy look at the band name and the wonderfully kitschy cover art leaves no eye dry and shows us relentlessly what this is about: pure, unadulterated, mercilessly cool HEAVY METAL!
The fact that that cover was created by Ken Kelly should be another indication and it is no exaggeration that “Shadow risisng” is the best Manowar album in 40 years! Driven by the exceptional singer Micke Stark, the five Swedes go full throttle right from the start and knock one epic metal anthem after the other! From the driving opener “We burn” to grandiose battle anthems like “Ragnarök” or the ultimate Mitgröhl track “Man at arms” (man, what might the song be like live !!) it only hails highlights and as if that weren’t yet enough, with the last song “Ode to War” you conjure up the ultimate epic metal cracker!
Sure the Lotte is kind of cheesy, but that’s exactly what we want, don’t we? At least I hop through the apartment full of ecstasy in my fur panties, swing my broadsword and get stunned looks from my battle guinea pigs (and they’re used to a lot …). In any case, I have a lot of fun with this awesome record and now I just have to find out how I can convince the Hoschis from Pure Steel Records to give this masterpiece of good mood a picture disc version. This part is definitely in my top five of the year !!!
(XXL/XXL)
Review by Christian Hemmer at XXL Rock
Read the review on XXL Rock facebook page.