In a new interview with Metal Talk, MANOWAR bassist Joey DeMaio confirmed that there are still plans for the band to release a new studio album in the not-too-distant future. “Yes, we’ve been working on new music, and once we unleash it, you’ll be reminded that good things are worth waiting for,” he said. “But since we announced [‘The Blood Of Our Enemies’ 2025] tour, the focus has been on tour prep and then the shows. There’s so much that goes into planning a new tour. What I can tell you about the new material is that it is heavy, brutal, and everything you’d expect from MANOWAR.”
Two months ago, DeMaio was asked by Iceland’s Vísir if there is a demand for new MANOWAR music or if most of the band’s fans want to hear the classic songs performed live. Joey said: “Yeah, it’s funny. I guess it depends on who you talk to. Some people are, like, ‘Oh, I can’t wait to hear ‘Blood Of My Enemies’. I can’t wait to hear’ this or that. And that’s great, because they know it and they’re into it. And then other people are, like, ‘Yeah, I’m listening to the old music till I can’t listen to it anymore. I’ve gotta have some new MANOWAR. I can’t live without new MANOWAR.’ It’s really very funny. It depends on who you talk to.”
When it eventually arrives, MANOWAR‘s upcoming album will be the band’s first to feature Michael Angelo Batio, a veteran both in the studio and on stage, who was recruited to play guitar for the band on its 2023 “Crushing The Enemies Of Metal” tour. The news came in the wake of guitarist Evandro “EV” Martel‘s announcement that he was taking a break from touring for a while for “personal reasons”.
Joey told Vísir about Michael: “He’s very down to earth, despite the fact that he has an incredible amount of talent.
“Nobody wants him in a band,” DeMaio explained. “I mean, he was in his own band called NITRO years ago. But guys like him and Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, they’re great, and they’re almost too great, because nobody wants somebody who’s gonna get on the fucking stage and play like that. A lot of people feel that it’s way too much. But for MANOWAR, nothing is too much. That’s been our motto. Bigger, louder, harder, faster. So to have somebody like him that plays at that level, well, for us, that’s exactly what we enjoy and that’s exactly what our crowd enjoys. Let’s have more amps, more sound, play faster, play louder. Sure. More is more. I think Yngwie [Malmsteen] said it: more is more. Less is not more. More is more.”
In February 2023, MANOWAR released a new song called “Laut Und Hart Stark Und Schnell” dedicated to the band’s loyal German fans.
“Laut Und Hart Stark Und Schnell”, which translates into “Loud And Hard Strong And Fast”, is an anthemic mid-tempo hymn in the vein of MANOWAR‘s classic “Warriors Of The World United” that invites fans to sing along and raise their hands in celebration of their favorite genre and band.
“Laut Und Hart Stark Und Schnell” was first released digitally on February 10, 2023 on all major platforms and was made available during MANOWAR‘s German tour.
Although MANOWAR has released a couple of EPs in recent years — including “The Revenge Of Odysseus (Highlights)”, which came out in June — the group hasn’t issued a full-length effort since 2012’s “The Lord Of Steel”.
MANOWAR‘s two “secret” warm-up shows in June 2022 at Jovel Music Hall in Münster, Germany marked the band’s debut live appearances with new drummer Dave Chedrick, who has previously played with RAVEN and KILL RITUAL, among others.
Chedrick joined MANOWAR as the replacement for Anders Johannson who announced that same month that he would be unable to join MANOWAR on the band’s “Crushing The Enemies Of Metal Anniversary Tour ’22/’23” due to “family commitments.”
MANOWAR played an exclusive U.S. concert on November 30, 2024 at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York. The sold-out event marked the band’s first live appearance in MANOWAR‘s home country in a decade.
Prior to the Kings Theatre concert, MANOWAR‘s last U.S. shows were believed to have taken place in February 2014 when the band celebrated the 25th anniversary of its “Kings Of Metal” album on the “Kings Of Metal MMXIV” tour.
Back in September 2014, MANOWAR canceled its previously announced U.S. tour dates which were scheduled to take place in November of that year. At the time, the band claimed it was scrapping the shows “due to scheduling conflicts” as well as to concentrate on work on a new studio album.
The 71-year-old DeMaio and 73-year-old singer Eric Adams are the sole remaining original members of MANOWAR, which formed in 1980 in upstate New York.