Manilla Road
The Courts Of Chaos

Only in recent years has this Texas band, specifically from the town of Wichita, started to gain the attention it never had for over 25 years when they barely managed to organize some concerts in the dusty American pubs of the area. Those were tough years, years in which the three members of the group, Mark Shelton, Scott Parks, and Randy Foxe gave birth to undisputed masterpieces of epic, dethroning another great band like Omen. After the publication of the scarce live album Roadkill, the band suffered a slight compositional crisis which led the group to produce "Out of the Abyss" in 1988. An acceptable album but far from the perhaps unreachable levels reached by the band in the period 1983-1987.

A difficult task then for Mark "The shark" Shelton: to redeem himself and restore credibility to the fathers of epic. The result is the eighth studio work by Manilla Road, released in 1990 under the title "The Courts of Chaos".

A return to the past, particularly to the sounds of "Open the Gates" and "The Deluge". The thrash of the previous album is abandoned and they return to those epic and psychedelic atmospheres that Manilla had experimented with especially in the first part of their career.

The great compositional class of the band has remained intact despite the misstep of "Out of the Abyss" and the three Texans return to unleash plenty of pathos, with an album that is certainly not among their masterpieces but which reconfirms them as the most influential band in this niche genre. However, to be honest, the platter does not start in the best way: "Road to Chaos" is an instrumental opener that is frankly uninspired, trying to mimic "Morbid Tabernacle" but failing to do so. The subsequent track "Dig Me No Grave" is also not very exciting, still connected in sound to the previous record. The third track is unusual for Manilla Road. "D.O.A." is a cover of Bloodrock, a seminal Texan hard rock group. An impeccable rendition, but at least out of place in an epic album. Moreover, I've always found it pointless to include covers in a studio album.

After a not-so-exciting start, the light turns back on and here returns the group of old, the one that by singing of dark scenarios, battles, ancient peoples, and narrating the major historical events that characterized our world has transported us to a fantastically featured paradise. With "Into the Courts of Chaos" typical epic notes echo, and the pathos is felt again: in my view one of the ten best songs by Manilla Road. The same elements create "From Beyond", expertly governed by Shelton's unmistakable voice.

"The Courts of Chaos" continues convincing: "A Touch of Madness" and "The Prophecy" are created in the band's full style: sustained rhythms and sudden decelerations, solos marked by Shelton, and epicity at noteworthy levels. After the metallic thunder "(Vlad) The Impaler" inspired by Count Vlad III of Wallachia, comes the album's apotheosis, the unexpected jewel. The concluding "The Books of Skelos" takes us back in time: the initial arpeggio recalls "The Deluge," the voice becomes engaging, and the instruments collaborate to create one of the best songs of the Texan group. A pure spectacle, like their metal.

A positive work once again, confirming how important this band was and still is for the American heavy metal scene. A work from another era...

1. "Road To Chaos" (4:44)
2. "Dig Me No Grave" (4:21)
3. "D.O.A." (7:02)
4. "Into The Courts Of Chaos" (5:23)
5. "From Beyond" (5:04)
6. "A Touch Of Madness" (7:02)
7. "The Impaler" (3:27)
8. "The Prophecy" (7:00)
9. "The Books Of Skelos" (8:09)