Mandowar remain true to their successful concept: cover hits with mandolin, bass ukulele and guitar. Small instruments - big songs - big fun.
"Hee Haw" - finally new songs from Mandowar!
Mandowar remain true to their successful concept: cover hits with mandolin, bass ukulele and guitar. Small instruments - big songs - big fun.
On the new album, Mandowar looks beyond the headbanger cosmos and makes Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" sound amazingly hard. Mandowar likes to venture into mash-ups: Rage Against The Machine meets Queen, Kiss meets Prince. Even wilder and more bizarre are the mixtures of The Offspring, Lady Gaga and Bon Jovi or Blur, Backstreet Boys and Boney M.. Of course, there are also new interpretations of hard rock classics: Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" from 1980 is included, as are Iron Maiden's "The Trooper" and "Detroyed Rock City" by Kiss.
"The Joe must go on" - what else could the new album have been called?
"It must go on" has been the band's motto ever since the release of their last album in 2015. It continued after the death of band founder Tom Launhard in 2016 as well as now after the long corona drought with almost 100 canceled concerts. Joe is the name of the bassist. He spends gigs virtually motionless and without making a face. Stoically, almost robotically, he conjures up amazing bass lines from his bass ukulele. Has Joe now learned to walk? "He even dances in the current program", emphasizes band leader Nils and promises "The Joe becomes a monster". With this, he hints that Mandowar shows are much more than just concerts. "Their live program has more laughs than many a comedy show and the atmosphere is more cheerful than with many Irish folk bands. People in metal shirts and people in suits sometimes lie in each other's arms," explains their booker Olaf Menne.
Metal and rock become country, polka, hillbilly, bluegrass or folk. Even pop quotes are allowed. A band that brings a lot of Hessian humor, but always treats originals with great respect. "We see our versions as homages to songs that mean a lot to us," explains Hofmann.
Despite fewer concerts and the long break between releases, their songs are streamed millions of times. Spotify playlists such as "Acoustic Rock Covers", "Country Metal" and "Fantasy Bard Songs" feature songs by Mandowar time and again, attracting new fans from all over the world.
