Manilla Road 'Invasion' review

MANILLA ROAD

'Invasion'

(Shadow Kingdom Records)

I consider myself a Manilla Road fan, but I also admit I only have a few of their albums, which are classics in their own right, in my view at least. So 'Invasion', a re-release of their 1980 album is a new one for me. As the bio states the band were a rock ‘n roll band at this point and the material on here was written in the late 70s. You can hear hints of what would come for Manilla Road as the 80s wore on and they adopted a more metal sound. Thanks to Shadow Kingdom for pulling this out of obscurity for fans of the band and fans of late 70s/early 80s rock in general to hear. The fans that are hoping to hear vintage in their prime Manilla Road metal may be a bit disappointed. As for myself I am a fan of 1970s hard rock and this is a neat little time capsule for me. There are some cool effects and sounds on here for the time period. You can definitely feel the band attempting to find their way, it is beginning of the power that the band would become. There are strong hints at this on the awesome thirteen minute album closer "The Empire". It is an epic and ambitious tune that is finely crafted with a superb main riff and plenty of dynamics, such as duelling guitar effects, some tasty fills and mystic, moody atmosphere that keeps you interested the entire length of this marathon song. That brilliant song alone is worth the price of this album, it is well ahead of any other tune on here, this song "The Empire" is fucking fantastic I am telling you. I dig the vintage band and rehearsal photos too. I would say this is a must have for Manilla Road fans and 70s rock aficionados alike.

(Dale Roy)

Manilla Road 

Manilla Road 'Playground Of The Damned' review

MANILLA ROAD

'Playground Of The Damned'

(High Roller Records - LP / Shadow Kingdom Records - CD)

Here’s an interesting scenario for ya, a new power metal album that actually sounds like a metal album, rather than a fan-made soundtrack to the 'Lord Of the Rings' movies. How refreshing!

Manilla Road definitely air on the much heavier side of power metal, often crossing over into mid-paced thrash territory, and indeed most of the music on this album is not very fast at all, but still brings many epic hooks, driving melodies, and blazing solos, as shown quite clearly on the opening track, “Jackhammer” and in excellent fashion in “Abattoir De La Mort.”

The second track, “Into the Maelstrom” is slow and heavy enough to make the best doom bands jealous. It’s quite a stretch to even put this one in the power metal category. The title track brings some speed back though, introducing some awesome riffs, and a fantastic, memorable chorus that really sticks. However, by the time I got to this track, it came to my attention that the vocals could be quite sub-par, and are best described as dull, with a very uninspired delivery, despite the powerful hooks and vocal melodies.

This continues throughout the album, with some songs definitely proving to be better than others vocally. “Grindhouse” begins with an amazing intro that really got me excited to hear more, but only managed to disappoint with some overly repetitious riffing and some unimaginative and lackadaisical vocals. Freakin amazing solo though.

Overall, 'Playground of the Damned' is decent, with many moment of strength and weakness alike. Lots of great melodies and solos make for an interesting listen (“Brethren of the Hammer”), but it can also be quite repetitive, and tends to drag along at times. All in all, I recommend checking it out, for I feel that this album is especially subjective. [7]

(Andrew Oliver)

Manilla Road MySpace