MANOWAR's JOEY DEMAIO: 'We Are Not Retiring'

MANOWAR bassist Joey DeMaio says that the band is "not retiring," despite the fact that it announced its "final" tour more than three years ago.

Back in May 2016, MANOWAR revealed that it would say "thank you", "farewell" and "goodbye" to its fans on a world tour that would be "bigger and beyond anything" the group had ever done. Calling the tour "The Final Battle", MANOWAR said that the fans who come to see the veteran metal act perform would "be left with an eternal memory; having witnessed the band that has dedicated their blood, hearts, souls and every moment of their career to true heavy metal."

Naturally, most fans assumed that MANOWAR would never play again after the completion of "The Final Battle", but DeMaio has since clarified that the band has every intention of continuing for years to come.

Asked by Bulgaria's Z Rock Radio to explain the meaning behind "The Final Battle" tour name and to elaborate on MANOWAR's 2016 "farewell" announcement, the bassist said (hear audio below): "Thank you, thank you, thank you for asking the question. No offense, but some journalists, if they don't get the story they want, they create the story they want. Some journalists feel like they have to come up with something that's so 'wow,' the magazines will sell and people will really tune. And I understand that, because journalists make their money by what they write and photographers make their money by having a 'wow' picture. But I'm very protective over our fans, and when people write shit that ends up affecting and causing problems for our fans, I get mad.

"I've been writing a rock opera, rock musical — whatever you wanna call it — for a few years, and I said, in an announcement, we are going to be taking a break, and I said, 'We're gonna say goodbye for a while,'" DeMaio explained, using some of the words that were never included in MANOWAR's original tour announcement. "And that was somehow mixed and reinterpreted all over the world as, 'They're breaking up. They're retiring. MANOWAR's finished. It's over.' And I suppose [calling the tour] 'The Final Battle' didn't help when people wanted to really put wood on the fire.

"But the answer is: here we are," he added. "Yes, we are gonna take a break. 'Cause I have to finish this, because it's a special project very close to my heart and to the hearts of a lot of people. But, no, we are not retiring. I'm too young to retire. I'm like Peter Pan — I'm a boy in a man's body. I'm, like, 15 years old in my mind."

In a 2017 interview with "Outdoor Adventures With Jayson", MANOWAR singer Eric Adams said that he would "miss the big stage" after the band completes its final tour. He said: "This is it. We've got one last tour coming up… But all good things have to come to an end at some point."

MANOWAR released a new EP, "The Final Battle I", in March. Parts II and III of the trilogy will arrive at a later date, inspired by MANOWAR's adventures on the remainder of "The Final Battle".