An album with the name Gods of War from the band Manowar - officially the loudest band in the world - sounds like a joke. To Manowar's detractors, it is. There's nothing on Gods of War to change any opinions of the over-the-top sound, cheesy imagery and rampant self-love that has characterized Manowar's very existence. For Manowar's fans, though, this is the album they've always wanted...and then some. And then a hell of a lot, in fact.

Gods of War may be, sonically speaking, the biggest album I've ever heard. Manowar took all the conventions of their sound and turned it up to 300. When you make a record that starts with a 6-minute instrumental entitled "Overture to the Hymn of the Immortal Warriors" (featuring only an orchestra & choir and none of the members of Manowar), your intentions are clear from the onset.

It takes almost 9 minutes for Manowar's first full appearance on Gods of War, the blistering, aptly-titled "King of Kings". The foursome were in fine form on this album, letting the overtures set the scene before charging ahead with "Sleipnir" and "Loki God of Fire." But every time the momentum picks up, the album is held back with more deep-voiced narration and short filler tracks.There's nothing more annoying than the aforementioned "King of Kings" coming to its powerful end, only to be followed by the choir and vocal piece of "Army of the Dead Part 1." Even as great as "Sleipnir" is, we have to endure 61 seconds of narration and sound effects until we finally get to the music.

It's not all catchy choruses and epic anthems. "Loki God of Fire" is a dirty, aggressive track that sees Karl Logan trade guitar runs with Eric Adams' high screams. "Blood Brothers" is the inevitable ballad, and while the inclusion of faux-Shakespearian English is highly questionable ("I am thy friend?" Really?), the song is a nice change of pace without veering into orchestral filler territory.

The album reaches its height with the thunderous "Gods of War", seven and a half minutes of pounding drums and massive choruses. It's set up nicely by "The Sons of Odin", and the dripping narration in that song actually serves a purpose, even if there's another filler track between that song and "Gods of War". It's the title track where the album comes together. There's more cheese - choirs singing of oncoming doom and something about Valhalla - but there's simply no denying how powerful and earth-shattering the song is. If there's one Manowar track you listen to, make this the one.

Of course, instead of maintaining the momentum after "Gods of War", we get a church organ solo. Way to kill the buzz, guys.

The rest of the album struggles to hold the momentum after the devastation, with "Hymn of the Immortal Warriors", a full-band rendition of the overture that started Gods of War, serving to conclude the story (yeah, this is actually a concept album). The album itself ends with "Die for Metal", a throwaway track about how awesome heavy metal is. It is, but it's an unnecessary distraction after what was a decent end to an album that suffered from overindulgence.

Then again, this is Manowar.

4.5/5.0: When Gods of War works, it's an incredible, huge album that perfectly sums up Manowar. When it doesn't work, it's an overblown, campy 300 tribute that perfectly sums up Manowar.