HISTORY
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The
intense struggle of a band toiling for years in the depths of obscurity is
one not completely unknown in the realm of metal, particularly intellectual
out-of-fashion metal. While various trends, from the glam of the '80s to the
grunge sound of the '90s falsely demonstrate, via MTV and their ilk, the
supposed "pinnacle" of the heavy music scene to the ignorant
masses, hundreds of far more talented acts follow their own personal
"road less traveled," their only reward a sense of self and a small
but loyal contingent of followers. Such a band is Manilla Road. Manilla Road
began way back in the 1970s, when epic, quasi-psychedelic music was still
"in," and whilst drawing influences from Rush and others of their
kindred, evolved into something far heavier and progressive in their own
right. Having started their own small homespun label, Roadster Records,
guitarist/vocalist Mark "The Shark" Shelton, bassist Scott
"Scooter" Park, and then drummer Rick Fisher honed their sound in their
native Wichita, Kansas (not exactly the hotbed of metal), and in 1979,
released their debut effort unto the world. Entitled Invasion, this opus
would most appropriately be classified as a semi-progressive hard rock album,
but former anthropology student Mark Shelton was already beginning to bring
in lyrical inspiration from the realm of fantasy , history, and the like,
which was further proliferated on their extremely rare Dreams Of Eschaton
demo and the unreleased Mark Of The Beast EP. While The Shark was never happy
with the sound quality of the Mark... EP, it remains a true find for the
devoted Manilla Maniac, as it further incorporated the whole
fantasy/literature theme that would become the Road's trademark. In 1982, the
band released their 2nd LP on Roadster, Metal.. While still highly influenced
by the 70s, Metal. showed the band heading in a heavier direction - as
evidenced on the title track - as well as a more ethereal one, demonstrated
on the classic "Cage Of Mirrors." But it wasn't until 1983, when Crystal
Logic hit the scene, that Manilla Road found truly found their calling.
Mystic lyrics abounding in a web of guitar artistry laid down by Shelton made
this album a milestone for its time in the annals of the underground scene.
Tracks such as "The Riddle Master," "The Veils Of Negative
Existence," and "Necropolis," as well as the title track,
spoke of civilizations dead, beings unseen, and dimensions untraveled - a
true listening adventure. Drummer Rick Fisher left the band to be replaced by
the incredible Randy "Thrasher" Foxe. In 1985, the band gave the
metal world the album which is, to this day, perhaps their most well known:
Open The Gates. Heavier than anything they'd done before, the album truly
spotlighted Mark Shelton as a guitarist extraordinaire and songwriter
supreme. Lyrically chock full of Arthurian legend and outrage at the
political scene of the real world, Open The Gates spawned such anthems as
"The Fires Of Mars," "Weavers Of The Web, "'Witches
Brew," and "The Ninth Wave," based upon Tennyson's Idylls Of
The King. How could a band top such an effort? Could it be done? That
Herculean task was, if not completely accomplished, then definitely matched
with 1986's release The Deluge. Even more progressive and heavy than Open The
Gates, The Deluge's title track was a saga on a grand scale of the fall of
Atlantis - loaded with atmosphere and vision. Inner sleeve artwork and
lyrical allusions to an undersea civilization brought to mind the "Deep
Ones" of H.P. Lovecraft's lnnsmouth tales, a connection which was to be
further strengthened on succeeding albums - a testament to the Shark's love
of classic, archaic horror tales. Other songs such as "A Shadow In The
Black," "Divine Victim," "Friction In Mass," and
"Dementia" also elevated the album to true classic status. Manilla
Road were writing complex, heavy, intriguing material, almost unpararalled to
this day.r. Yet the band still couldn't seem to break it big, especially in
the States. Yet the band still couldn't seem to break it big, especially in
the States. In 1987, Shelton's love of the macabre fiction was truly
highlighted with the release of Mystification - an album dedicated to the
memory of the late, great master, Edgar Allan Poe. Many of the songs were
based upon Poe's tales and poems, which were truly brought to life by the
band's unique artistry. "Spirits Of The Dead" possessed a
hauntingly beautiful mellow intro; "Masque Of The Red Death" was an
all-out assault on the psyche; "Haunted Palace" was a testament to
a once great legacy fallen to ruin, and the title track,
"Mystification," was a very personal and heartfelt tribute to Poe
himself - one of the greatest writers and poets of all time. It was truly a
remarkable album, and was followed by their revolutionary classic Live
Roadkill. In 1988, the Road obtained US distribution from David Chastain's
Leviathan Records, and unleashed perhaps their thrashiest album of their
career - Out Of The Abyss. Still present as always were the acoustic,
atmospheric passages of old, but many of the songs demonstrated speedier
riffing and vocalization than previously heard. To this particular Manilla
Maniac, it was the band's weakest effort, yet still excellent, especially on
tracks such as the quirky "Rites Of Blood," "Helicon,"
"War In Heaven," and "Return Of The Old Ones." It was on
this album that Mark Shelton really broke loose with the Lovecraft-inspired
lyrics; in fact, this album was one of the factors which seriously prompted
me to explore Lovecraft's fiction in depth. Probably the most easily found of
all Manilla Road's obscure releases, Out Of The Abyss was quickly relegated
to the bargain bin by most commercial chain stores, but is nonetheless
another gripping chapter in the Road's saga. The next couple of years were
silent for the masters from 'Wichita, KS, but in 1991, the band released what
was to be their last "official "album - even though it was released
in the States under guitarist Mark Shelton's name, not with the official
Manilla Road moniker. Entitled The Courts Of Chaos, this effort delved
further into Lovecraftian themes, as well as providing a hearty tip of the
hat to fellow early fantasy author Robert E. Howard with the epic "The
Book Of Skelos." Just as heavy and innovative as ever, the album went
once again largely unnoticed and unappreciated by the majority of metal fans,
despite such classic (and of course non-commercial) tracks like "Dig Me
No Grave," "From Beyond," "The Prophecy," and
"Into The Courts Of Chaos." The last album ever to be released under
the name of Manilla Road was called The Circus Maximus, which is a sad
misnomer - Black Dragon Records, who already blatantly screwed Shelton, Park,
and Foxe out of royalties, threw the "MR" tag on a little
side-project of the Shark's with other musicians. while a couple of songs contained
therein somewhat maintained the true Road sound, it was a completely
different band and not at all as brilliant or innovative. Shelton only wrote
and sang on a handful of tracks. While this was going on, Manilla Road proper
had disbanded. And so it was that one of the greatest metal bands of all time
was, for all intents and purposes, defunct. It wasn't until a cyber-pal of
mine, "Manilla" Mike Wallace and his wife had the opportunity to
meet The Shark and his wife over dinner, that, as radio personality Paul Harvey
is so fond of saying, we learned "the REST of the story..." Bassist
Scott Park left the Road due to personal problems and Mr. Shelton is still
jamming with drummer extraordinaire Randy Foxe, and, at last report with a
new bassist known only as Harvey. 'What will the future hold? The Shark made
no promises. He's now a proud father and that will no doubt occupy much of
his time. But he has been doing studio work with a number of other acts and
the mere fact that he's still jamming with Randy "Thrasher" Foxe
brings just a smidge of hope to this fan that maybe - just MAYBE - we shall
yet be graced with some more of Manilla Road's one-of-a-kind artistry in the
future. Perhaps not. If that is the case, then I shall have to be content
with the fact that, as The Shark himself puts it, "At least we got to
put out 10 albums exactly the way we wanted them." Anything more will be
an added bonus. If ever there was a musician - if ever there was a BAND -
like Mark Shelton and Manilla Road that did everything - all the hard work,
sacrifice, all the blood, sweat, and tears - creating true ART straight from
the soul, with not a thought to fame or mega-platnium status - then I don't
know of the band. Actually, there are a handful - Skyclad, Saint Vitus and
Solitude Aeturnus come to mind but the mighty Manilla Road stand alone in
their greatness. Hopefully, I'll be able to get in touch with The Shark and
do an in-depth interview for next issue - I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Until then, this article is dedicated to all the other Manilla Maniacs the
world over - we are few but we are strong. It's also dedicated to the band
themselves - the triumvirate. Just the three of them - against the world.
Last but not least this article is dedicated personally to former MR bassist Scott
"Scooter"Park. I hope you read this, man. We miss you and await
your return to the fold. We must set Manilla free again... To those not
familiar with the mighty Manilla, all I can say is: if you happen to be in a
used shop, record store, or whatever, and run across anything by this great
band, get it! You won't be sorry. I'll close this up with a classic MR quote
from their inspirational song of hope, "Road Of Kings": "Conquer
for life inside your dreams 2 HISTORY
"The True Gods of Earth existed long before our
ancestors crawled mindless upon the shore : Yog-Sothoth, Shub Niggurath, and
many more insatiate monsters, whose ultimate Throne is Chaos. Greatest of all
is called Cthulhu. Only in ansient blasphemous manuscripts can that name be
found in many forms. This is one of the terrifying tales in the everlasting
saga of the Old Ones" |
INTERNET
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http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Inlet/8503/manilla1.html |
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ALBUM |
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1979 |
INVASION |
1° |
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INDEPENDENT |
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1982 |
METAL |
2° |
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INDEPENDENT |
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1983 |
CRYSTAL LOGIC |
3° |
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PROLOGUE, NECROPOLIS, FLAMING METAL SYTEM, CRYSTAL LOGIC, FEELING FREE AGAIN, THE RIDDLE MASTER, THE RAM, THE VEILS OF NEGATIVE EXISTENCE, DREAMS OF ESCHATON/EPILOGUE |
BLACK DRAGON |
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1985 |
OPEN THE GATES |
4° |
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BLACK DRAGON |
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1986 |
THE DELUGE |
5° |
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DEMENTIA
3.10, SHADOW IN THE BLACK 5.23, DIVINE VICTIM 3.08, HAMMER
OF THE WITCHES 2.41, MORBID TABERNACLE 1.55, ISLE
OF THE DEAD 2.52, TAKEN BY STORM 3.20, THE DELUGE 8.18: PART
1- EYE OF THE SEA, PART 2 – THE DROWNED LANDS, PART
3 - ENGULFED CATHEDRAL; FRICTION
IN MASS, REST
IN PIECES. |
BLACK DRAGON |
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1987 |
LIVE ROADKILL |
LIVE |
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BLACK DRAGON |
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1987 |
MYSTIFICATION |
6° |
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BLACK DRAGON |
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1988 |
OUT OF THE ABYSS |
7° |
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BLACK DRAGON |
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1990 |
INTO THE COURTS OF CHAOS |
8° |
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BLACK DRAGON |
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1992 |
THE CIRCUS MAXIMUS |
9° |
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BLACK DRAGON |
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2001 |
ATLANTIS RSING |
10° |
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IRON GLORY |
NATION
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GENRE
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U.S.A. |
POWER
METAL |
BAND
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2001 |
ACTIVE |
ALBUM |
OTHER BAND |
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VOCALS / GUITARS |
MARK ‚THE SHARK’ SHELTON |
ALL |
- |
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BASS |
MARK ANDERSSON |
10° |
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DRUMS |
BRYAN ‘HELLROADIE’ PATRICK |
10° |
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*DRUMS/KEYBOARDS |
RANDY FOXE |
4° - 9° |
- |
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*BASS |
SCOTT PARKS |
1° - 9° |
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*DRUMS |
STEVE FISHER |
1° - 3°
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