Editor's Choice...
And this time, "Sign Of The Hammer" the fourth album from "Manowar", which was released on October 15, 1984.
On the one hand Power metal that will break your bones, with songs like "Thor (The Powerhead)", "The Oath" and "Animals", and on the other hand epic, melodic and immortal ballads like "Mountains" and "Guyana (Cult of the Damned)".
This is the album that really does it for us from the band's huge catalog and it's important to us that you do not miss it.
This album is different and unique from the variety of "Manowar" albums. It starts with the minimalist cover, which exceptionally to the band's catalog does not include formidable Vikings, hammers, and swords. It continues with more diverse and mature content, which for the first time does not include warfare, Nord mythology, swords, and sorcery. And it ends with a cohesive and immature sound that still manages to devoid the excess production that will take over the band from the next album.
This is the band's fourth album in just two years, and one should be overwhelmed by the band's burst of creativity, and the fact it managed to release a large number of excellent albums in such a short period.
The album features a crazy sequence of great songs: "All Men Play on 10", which some say is a hint of the band's guitar amplifiers that were always tuned for maximum volume, "Animal" which swelled with Eric Adams' "animal screams", and includes great guitar work by Ross the Boss, "Thor (The Powerhead)" which is one of the band's great songs, written about the god Thor and his formidable hammer, the melting "Mountains" which stretches over almost 8 minutes and features excellent bass playing by Joey DeMaio, "The Oath" with the fast-paced rhythm on the verge of Speed Metal and of course the chilling "Guyana (Cult of the Damned)" which tells the story of the mass suicide that took place in 1978 in Jim Jones' cult.
And it is impossible of course without Joey DeMaio's famous bass solo which this time surpasses itself with "Thunderpick", which on the one hand stands out beautifully on its own, and on the other hand, serves as the perfect intro to the song "Guyana (Cult of the Damned)".
This album strives for metallic perfection. It's probably the band's best at the time and one of its best ever.
So if you do not know the band and crave for a great metal album or whether you claim to be one of the "Manowarriors" but have skipped this album we recommend you listen to it here: Spotify, Apple Music