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Manilla Road
built 502 days ago
Wichita, KS-based Manilla Road is one of America's -- make that the world's -- great cult heavy metal bands. Geographically isolated, fiercely independent, and highly original, the group has rarely toured and never seen a single album released by a major record company, but has ... managed to endure in one form of another for over two decades.
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One of the great cult metal bands from the eighties, Manilla Road still has a strong following, particularly in Europe. Isolated from the metal world in their home in Kansas, the trio (recently expanded to a quartet) have released an impressive array of albums over their career, all with a distinctively original sound. That sound consisted of gruff vocals, low-tuned, heavy guitar work, lyrics often delving into fantasy topics, and mostly slow to mid-paced riffing, with an emphasis on creating an epic feel to their works. If asked to name their best albums, the votes here would go to The Deluge and Open The Gates. The band was quiet for most of the nineties, but band leader Mark Shelton revived the group in 2001, and the group continues to record and enjoy cult success.
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West of Cambridge you can find a few old alignments of the National Road. County Route 430, Manilla Road, begins after US 22/40 crosses over the railroad tracks just west of downtown. It ascends the hillside that runs on the southern side of US 40. It then winds its way down to US 40 and continues across the current alignment. There is a Sunoco station at this intersection. There is still a brick paved segment of this highway (County Rte. 430) in the Sunoco side of this intersection!
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Manilla Road is truly the band that would not die. Never caving in to whatever the prevailing trend was (be it grunge, death or glam), the Wichita, Kansas band had a career that defied the odds and managed to release some outstanding epic heavy metal during the 80's and early 90's. Their sound was completely unique, ranging from wild thrash to Rush-like epics to brooding doom. Lead guitarist/singer Mark Shelton was one of the most talented frontmen in American metal. Yet despite the talent the band obviously possessed, they never made it past cult status and broke up around 1993. But the flame of metal burned too brightly inside of Mark Shelton, and now Manilla Road (much like Atlantis) has risen again.
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Manilla Road re-formed and released Atlantis Rising in 2001, again with Mark Shelton as the only original member. On this occasion... the sound was much more consistent with the Manilla Road of old and it was the band who decided to continue using the name. Their latest albums are Spiral Castle published in 2002 and Gates of Fire, in 2005.
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Encouraged by the reception of their audiences, local radio stations, reviewers, and the sales of Invasion, MANILLA ROAD and Roadster Records, Inc., decided another album was due. Metal was recorded early in 1982. In May, MANILLA ROAD opened the Wichita concert for "Krokus," and a crowd of over 1,000 people rushed the stage to jam to the band's high-energy rock 'n roll music. Metal was released in August of 1982, this time gaining distribution through WIN Records & Video, Important Records, and Greenworld Distribution. To support the album, MANILLA ROAD played clubs and bars throughout the state and into Oklahoma. Once again, their music was greeted with enthusiasm by radio stations, reviewers, record-stores, and their growing number of fans.
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Manilla Road