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".

[2] 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.

[5][6] Manowar's history began in 1980 when Joey DeMaio, the future bassist of the band, met guitarist Ross the Boss while working as a bass tech and fireworks manager for Black Sabbath on the Heaven & Hell Tour.

The two bonded over their shared musical interests, became friends and decided to form a band with the suggestion and advice of Black Sabbath's singer Ronnie James Dio during the tour.

[8] To complete the roster, they hired drummer Donnie Hamzik and singer Eric Adams, a former classmate and friend of DeMaio.

[9] The name is a shortened version of the phrase "Man of war", and although it may be understood as a reference to the Man-of-war naval ships, DeMaio simply chose it as a synonym of "Warrior".

[10] As the song "Dark Avenger" required an introductory narration, the band wanted to include a famous actor in it.

Despite these setbacks, the band gained domestic fame on this short tour and also began to get their first European fans, particularly in the United Kingdom and in Germany.

Stressed from the strain of the continuing performances, Hamzik decided to leave the band at the end of this tour and was replaced with Scott Columbus.

[13] When Manowar returned home, they immediately went into a recording studio to produce what, in the intentions of the group, would have been a simple EP, but came out instead, due to the quantity and quality of the tracks made in that period, as the band's second album, Into Glory Ride.

An EP was actually published in 1983 with the title Defender containing, as its main track, the eponymous song, which included more work by Orson Welles.

The atmosphere of the album evoked classical heroic fantasy and mythology, and served as a predecessor to Viking metal.

both in style and sound, and led to a huge increase[vague] in the number of fans of the group, particularly in the United Kingdom, where the band planned a long tour that was ultimately canceled.

Via Atlantic, they released Fighting the World, which enjoyed more extensive distribution and increased the band's prominence in the international heavy metal scene.

The most famous tracks from the album became "Warriors of the World United", "House of Death" and "Call to Arms", in addition to Puccini's aria "Nessun Dorma", covered in honor of the Italian fans and sung live for the first time in a concert in Milan, Italy.

After playing numerous shows in Europe, including a concert that spanned the course of two nights, they worked on a new EP, entitled Thunder in the Sky, which was released in 2009.

[19] On April 5, 2020, Columbus' daughter Teresa publicly announced that her father's cause of death was suicide, and urged for more awareness on mental illness and depression.

This album was released on November 26, 2010, with the narration of Sir Christopher Lee and formally entitled Battle Hymns MMXI.

On July 21, 2011, the band embarked on a UK tour for the first time in 16 years in November and performed the Battle Hymns album in its entirety.

Manowar's next studio album, The Lord of Steel, was released worldwide on June 16, 2012, exclusively on iTunes and on the band's own online store.

[23] This album was not released, and instead they went to Europe in early 2016 for the "Gods and Kings World Tour 2016" which included their first concerts in Slovakia, Latvia and Belarus.

[25] On October 25, 2018, it was revealed that guitarist Karl Logan was arrested on August 9 in Charlotte, North Carolina, for allegedly possessing child pornography and was charged with six counts of third-degree exploitation of a minor.

[29] On March 22, 2019, the band announced that they would release a trilogy of EP's based upon The Final Battle World Tour.

The first EP, The Final Battle I, was released on March 29 in an exclusive pre-sale at the merchandise booth in Frankfurt and also during the European shows.

[31] Despite the tour's name, bassist Joey DeMaio dismissed any claims of Manowar's retirement, mainly due to the fans' demands to have them continue to perform.

The Media Company "Heilbronner Stimme" published an article describing the Sign of the Hammer as, "the striking greeting.

[46] The gesture then appeared in the official music video for Blow Your Speakers, shown being made by the band members and crowd during a concert, as well as in the full cover art of the album The Triumph of Steel.

[50] Manowar has influenced a huge amount of Heavy Metal bands and artists around the world, such as Sabaton,[51][52] Rhapsody of Fire,[53] Brothers of Metal,[54][55] Amon Amarth[56] Battle Beast,[57][58][59] Beast in Black,[60][61] Death,[62][63] Elvenking,[64][65] Symphony X,[66] Firewind,[67][68] Abbath,[69] Exmortus,[70][71] Jack Starr's Burning Starr,[72] Týr,[73] Wizard,[74] HammerFall,[75] Van Canto,[76][77] Ensiferum,[78] Avatar,[79][80] Trivium,[81] Majesty,[82] Angra,[83] Burning Point,[84] Crystal Viper,[85] Imperial Age,[86][87] Therion,[88][89] Hercules,[90] Lost Horizon,[91] Atlantean Kodex,[92] Grand Magus,[93] Doomsword,[94] Orden Ogan,[95][96] Pegazus,[97] Moonspell,[98] Trick or Treat,[99] Hysterica,[100] Stormwarrior,[101] Arch Enemy,[102] Korpiklaani,[103] Seven Witches,[104] Steel Attack,[105] Stormwarrior,[106] White Skull,[107] Khemmis,[108][109] Seven Kingdom,[110] Wintersun,[111] Falconer,[112] Children of Bodom,[113][114] Destroy Destroy Destroy,[115] Holy Dragons,[116] Sons of Apollo,[117] Sulphur Aeon,[118] Unleash the Archers,[119] Crom[120], Coronatus,[121] Brainstorm,[122] Immortal.