«Sign of the Hammer» is Manowar‘s fourth record. It came out on October 15, 1984 via 10 Records and Virgin, with recordings in Toronto and at The Manor in Oxford, and runs 40 minutes. The first single, «All Men Play on 10», had come out in September 1984.
Country: USA
Genre: Heavy metal, power metal
For fans of: Black Sabbath, Saxon, Iron Maiden
Some of the tracks had been written in the same sessions as «Hail to England» at Phase One Studios, with producer Jack Richardson, while on the rest of the album they worked with Tony Platt. «Thor (The Powerhead)» is about the god Thor destroying whatever he considers evil in the world, and is one of the band’s first tracks dealing with Norse mythology — a theme that would return again and again. «Guyana» touches on the Jonestown case, with Eric Adams singing it like a night at the opera.
The reviews were positive: Colin Larkin wrote of accessible compositions and excellent guitars, Frank Trojan at Rock Hard spoke of a return to the form of the early days, while Eduardo Rivadavia at AllMusic singled out «Thor (The Powerhead)», «The Oath» and «All Men Play on 10» but commented that the production sounds flat. The album also includes the title track «Sign of the Hammer» and «Animals».
Our take
The record keeps the energy of «Hail to England» and adds the mythological themes that would become a fixed habit of the band. «All Men Play on 10» is one of the tracks still sung at every one of their concerts.
See also
Manowar – Hail to England · Manowar – Fighting the World · Manowar – A tribute to the discography · Manowar and Hellfest 2019: The cancellation that became legend
