Manilla Road
Open the Gates

Epic Metal has always been a genre unto itself. What do I mean? Unlike other genres, like Glam/Hair or AOR, it was never made to climb charts or reach the highest position on the Billboard 200. And if we want, there are few bands that have managed to "break through." The first that comes to mind is easy, Manowar. As criticized as they are loved, they represented in the early '80s, the first true definition of what could be called "Epic," with masterpieces in its own right like "Into Glory Ride" or "Hail To England." Later, came Virgin Steele, with the genius of David DeFeis guiding the epic genre in the '90s, among them we remember the legendary saga of "Marriage Of Heaven And Hell" and "Invictus," years when classic metal seemed destined to succumb in favor of dozens of new musical genres born in those very years.

Many others, of course, were the epic bands that spent practically their entire careers in the underground scene. Omen, Medieval Steel, Cirith Ungol, Domine… But there is one band that has always struck me for the perfection of their albums, and also for the fact that they have almost never made a misstep in their career. I'm talking about Manilla Road, a group founded in 1977 by singer and guitarist Mark Shelton. With a career start based on two experimental albums like "Invasion" (1980) and "Metal" (1982), Manilla Road began to make a name in the U.S.A., and in Europe, but it was with the release of "Crystal Logic" (1983), that Manilla reached their typical sound, which for many upcoming Epic bands, was a true source of inspiration. However, the album I am going to review will be released two years later, in 1985, and will bear the name "Open The Gates." With lyrics on Norse themes and legends dating back to the times of King Arthur, Mark Shelton's band will find its true peak in this album, which will further rise with the subsequent release of "The Deluge" (1986) and "Mystification" (1987).

Explosive songs like "Metalstorm" or the Titletrack, already make it clear to the listener what the album's path will be, among excellent if not perfect vocal performances by Mark Shelton, a thunderous drum guided by newcomer Randy Foxe, and great bass runs by Scott Park. Instead, slower pieces like "Astronomica" and the magnificent, if not the best Manilla piece ever, "The Ninth Wave," make it clear that Shelton's band is not one of those bands that can be understood either on the first or the second listen. There's some decline with "Heavy Metal To The World," but in masterpieces like this, they are absolutely forgivable. Tracks instead like "Road Of Kings" and "Witches Brew" should be played to children, as their beauty is indescribable.

Manilla Road, therefore, is one of those (many) bands that have never reaped what they have sown. Masterpiece albums of a genre that, sometimes, is far too underrated. For Epic fans, albums of this caliber are equivalent to hidden treasures, of incalculable value. Quoting a phrase that struck me, reading a review of this album, I close by saying:

"Epic Metal does not speak of dragons kidnapping princesses, princes with emerald swords, or scowling dark wizards, etc… These are all bullshit! The true and only Epic Metal is a cult genre, a true way of living and thinking, cultivated over time, and cannot be improvised from one day to the next."