Manowar, the truest of true metal warriors and live action cartoon band, are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their 1988 masterpiece, Kings of Metal, by re-recording it and touring the world to support it. According to bassist Joey DeMaio:
"The new rendition will honor the original as it's inspiration, but with additional energy, fully utilizing the power of today's technology and 25 years of experience, and it will contain new arrangements and changes that incorporate live performance elements added over the years."
The support tour launches March 21st, 2014 in Moscow, Russia and, I for one, am hoping for some U.S. tour dates. I caught them in Cleveland in 2011 and the show was an absolute blast. Wimps and posers may want to steer clear, but any troo metal warriors should go out of their way to catch Manowar live. This tour, especially, should be great. Kings of Metal is one of Manowar's best albums. Tracks like "Blood of the Kings", "Hail and Kill", and "Kings of Metal" will increase your chest hair coverage by at least 25%. Odin only knows how witnessing the entire album performed live will affect those in attendance.
Those of you already familiar with the album should note that Brian Blessed is narrating "The Warriors Prayer" for the 25th anniversary version of Kings of Metal. In case you don't know who that is, he's the Shakespearean actor best known for playing the winged leather daddy, Prince Vultan, in the 1980 Flash Gordon movie. Check out a snippet of his gloriously over-the-top performance here.
There's no street date yet, but Manowar's website says to expect the album by the end of this year. Keep checking back for more updates about tour dates and a street date for Kings of Metal 2014, and check out a live version of Blood of the Kings" below. HAIL AND KILL!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qugct0bullo[/youtube]
