Manowar is an American Heavy Metal band from
Auburn, New York, 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."
[1] 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.
[2] 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 Europe,Japan and South America,also popular in Australia. 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".
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
Donny 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.
[4] 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."
[5] 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.
[1] The band's label,
Magic Circle Music, includes other bands such as
Rhapsody of Fire and
HolyHell.
[2] Their latest album is
Gods of War; 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.