MANOWAR have issued the following update:

"He has played key parts in some of the biggest, most legendary movie franchises of all times. He has played kings, wizards, evil forces and shining knights. He is worshipped by movie and theatre fans all over the world. He speaks multiple languages fluently and is an accomplished singer of opera and metal as well. He has been knighted by the Queen of England and honored with numerous awards.

And now, he is joining forces with The Kings Of Metal to rewrite heavy metal history: The legendary Sir Christopher Lee will be the narrating voice on 'Dark Avenger' on Battle Hymns 2011!

Sir Christopher Lee is a brother of true metal. More details on Battle Hymns 2011 coming soon!"

As previously reported, Manowar are currently re-recording its classic debut album from 1982, Battle Hymns, for a 2011 release.

DeMaio explains why: "This is a history-making moment. We've had a couple of people ask why re-record a record like Battle Hymns when it's perfect - I didn't say it's perfect, but other people have said it's perfect, and we thank you for that. We're not trying to make it better, because it is what it is, but there's a lot of technology now that we didn't have when we made the record and we're gonna take advantage of it to make it as loud as we possibly can. So it won't be better, it will just be different and the songs themselves deserve to be recorded again because they're great songs and the fans have actually requested a lot of this to happen. And also, Donnie Hamzik, our original drummer, is back in the band and he wanted to have another go at it. We're all together and we're gonna have a fuckin' great time. So thanks for staying with us."

Video of DeMaio talking about Manowar's decision to re-record Battle Hymns and laying down bass tracks in the studio can be viewed below:

Battle Hymns featured the following tracklisting:

'Death Tone'

'Metal Daze'

'Fast Taker'

'Shell Shock'

'Manowar'

'Dark Avenger'

'William's Tale'

'Battle Hymn'