They are as equally loved by some as they are considered a laughing stock by others but a fair assessment would be that they are a little like the Village People of metal: of questionable seriousness and undeniable campiness. They (annoyingly) get lumped into the "power metal" sub genre of heavy metal but honestly, in a similar fashion to bands such as Killing Joke and Celtic Frost, they simply exist in their own universe, one populated by warriors, kings, and "powerheads" (?) It is a universe that is impervious to trends, common sense or decent taste.Īfter clawing their way up the label food chain for the first half of the 1980's, 1988 saw Manowars major label debut in the form of "Kings of Metal".
Do they deserve the title? In some ways, yes, and in more ways, no. The variety, consistency and quality of the material on "Kings of Metal" differs wildly from song to song and often within the actual songs themselves.