Manowar released Kings of Metal on November 18, 1988, through Atlantic Records. Their sixth studio album featured Eric Adams on vocals, Joey DeMaio on bass, Ross the Boss on guitar and Scott Columbus on drums. Alongside “Heart of Steel,” “Hail and Kill” and the title track, the record made room for a classical bass adaptation, a male choir and spoken-word storytelling.
The sessions at Universal Recording in Chicago built on the approach Manowar had taken with Fighting the World. In a 2023 interview with Chaoszine, Ross the Boss, whose real name was Ross Friedman, described Kings of Metal as the band’s second digital recording. He remembered a noticeable improvement in sound between the two records, crediting the technological progress made during that period.
One effect on the title track required some very physical equipment. In a retrospective published on Manowar’s website in 2026, the band revealed that a cannon had been built to create the explosions heard in “Kings of Metal.” A blast blew out a microphone during recording.
The performances reached beyond the usual guitar, bass, drums and vocals, too. On “Sting of the Bumblebee,” DeMaio adapted Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee” for bass. The instrumental gave him a lead role, turning the classical piece’s rapid movement into a showcase for his playing. Elsewhere, the album’s theatrical ambitions required bringing additional voices into the recording.
Those sessions took the project to St. Paul’s Church in Birmingham, England, where the Canoldir Male Choir recorded its contribution. In a 2020 recollection published by Manowar, Ceri Sian described watching DeMaio direct a choir of more than 100 singers. Sian’s father Arthur was a founding member of the choir and had also been asked to read for DeMaio. Sian helped him rehearse, then watched from the pews as he recorded his narration after the choir had finished. His voice became the grandfather in “The Warriors Prayer,” the spoken-word track placed immediately before the closing “Blood of the Kings.”
Friedman had co-written the title track and “Hail and Kill” with DeMaio, but he didn’t embrace every part of the album’s expanded approach. In the same Chaoszine interview, he criticized the spoken-word material and bass solos. Asked to rank his six Manowar albums, he placed Battle Hymns first and Kings of Metal last. He also recalled the frustration of leaving before he could tour the album. Kings of Metal became his final Manowar studio release, closing a run of six albums with the band between 1982 and 1988.
Manowar returned to the material in 2014 with Kings of Metal MMXIV, a complete rerecording with new performances and arrangements. That project retained the original’s interest in presenting metal through several different forms: its main program included the bass solo and spoken-word story, while additional versions explored other settings for the songs. “The Crown and the Ring” received orchestral and metal treatments, and “Heart of Steel” also appeared as a guitar instrumental.
