Manowar LORD OF STEEL

After trying their loyal followers' tolerance like never before with the generally aimless symphonic fluff that surrounded the handful of real songs contained in 2007's Gods of War album, Manowar gratefully adopted a more serious and focused working approach for their 11th studio LP, 2012's The Lord of Steel. In fact, the intervening 2010 re-recording of their 1982 debut, Battle Hymns, appears to have reined in the group's thunderous hubris to no end. Notwithstanding the power-thrashing attack of The Lord of Steel's opening title track, which predictably prolongs Manowar's delusions about still playing louder, faster, and meaner than innumerable extreme metal bands (not even close), there's a startling simplicity and directness about many of these songs (for good and ill) that's long been absent from Manowar's oeuvre. Take the fast-ensuing "Manowarriors" as a good case in point: it's predictably corny (sample lyric: "In heavy metal we believe; If you don't like it, time to leave"), but