Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 19… Read Full Bio ↴Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy (particularly sword and sorcery) and mythology (particularly Norse mythology and Greco-Roman mythology), as well as numerous songs celebrating the genre and its core audience. The band is also known for a loud and emphatic sound. In an interview for MTV in February 2007, bassist Joey DeMaio lamented that "these days, there's a real lack of big, epic metal that is drenched with crushing guitars and choirs and orchestras... so it's nice to be one of the few bands that's actually doing that". In 1984, the band was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering the loudest performance, a record which they have since broken on two occasions. They also hold the world record for the longest heavy metal concert after playing for five hours and 1 minute in Bulgaria (at Kavarna Rock Fest) in 2008. They also have been known for their slogan "Death to false metal". The band maintains a strong cult following.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manowar

Studio albums
Battle Hymns (1982)
Into Glory Ride (1983)
Hail to England (1984)
Sign of the Hammer (1984)
Fighting the World (1987)
Kings of Metal (1988)
The Triumph of Steel (1992)
Louder Than Hell (1996)
Warriors of the World (2002)
Gods of War (2007)
Battle Hymns MMXI (2010)
The Lord of Steel (2012)
Kings of Metal MMXIV (2014)

Army of the Dead
Manowar Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Raise thy weapons on this day
Ye shall not die alone

Fight and die let valkyries fly
For they shall take thee home

I promise thee that on this night
Ye shall be by my side

Asgard's halls await with heroes
Brothers that have died

For thee we wait at asgard's gates
Come join us by our side

Valhalla waits so choose thy fate
For all of us must die!

Overall Meaning

The song "Army of the Dead" by Manowar is an epic battle cry that exhorts warriors to raise their weapons and join the army of the dead. The lyrics encourage the warriors to fight with all their might, for they shall not die alone. The valkyries shall take them home and they would not be alone as they will be by the side of the singer.

The song's chorus reflects the Viking belief in the afterlife - the prospect of being taken to Asgard's halls where fallen heroes await. According to Viking beliefs, those who died in battle were chosen by Odin to help him in the final battle of Ragnarok against the giants. As the song says, all of us must die, so it's upon the warriors to choose their fate and fight bravely so that they can be welcomed into Valhalla.

In summary, "Army of the Dead" is a rousing tribute to Viking warriors, urging them to fight bravely and die gloriously in battle. It is a tribute to the Viking warrior culture, where life is seen as a battle and death is greeted with enthusiasm.

Line by Line Meaning

Raise thy weapons on this day
Prepare for battle and take up arms today

Ye shall not die alone
We will fight together and face death as a united force

Fight and die let valkyries fly
Fight until death, where the valkyries will come to take us to the afterlife

For they shall take thee home
The valkyries will escort us to our final resting place in the afterlife

I promise thee that on this night
I assure you that tonight we will fight and die together

Ye shall be by my side
We will stand together until the very end

Asgard's halls await with heroes
In the afterlife, we will be rewarded by joining the ranks of other heroic fallen warriors

Brothers that have died
Our fallen comrades have preceded us in death

For thee we wait at asgard's gates
Our fellow fallen warriors await us at the entrance to Asgard

Come join us by our side
Join your fallen brothers in the afterlife

Valhalla waits so choose thy fate
The afterlife in Valhalla awaits, but it is up to us to determine our own destiny in battle

For all of us must die!
Death is inevitable for every warrior, but we will face it with honor and bravery

Contributed by Maria V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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Gonzalo

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Raise thy weapons on this day
Ye shall not die alone

Fight and die let Valkyries fly
For they shall take thee home

I promise thee that on this night
Ye shall be by my side

Asgard's halls await with heroes
Brothers that have died

For thee we wait at Asgard's gates
Come join us by our side

Valhalla waits so choose thy fate
For all of us must die!