These dudes as well as Cirith Ungol and Brocas Helm and Jag Panzer and Crimson Glory and Omen are but a few of the few hidden US heavy metal bands worth checking out that should have gotten wayyyyyyyy more attention.
I must say that Mark "The Shark" Shelton was one of the nicest people I've ever met and it still tears me up that he's gone. I agree with Ryan in that they were an elite and SMOKIN' live band! Severely underrated band.
Saw MR in New Hampshire and got to meet Mark The Shark and its a memory I take with me forever!! I approached him, told him I was thankful for the band to be there, he grabbed my hand hand and said with a smile, " Thank you for your support!! " A man of humility who has the credit and portfolio to be a cocky rock star. May he be happy in the walls of Valhalla!! Actually have The Deluge in my car as we type!! Love the show btw!! HVS RULE!!!
Used to see them all the time when they first started out. They used to play a bar called The Foundry here in. Wichita Ks. They sold 3.2 beer there so you could always drink a lot. Street Jammer is about dragging douglas a street here in Wichita.
I love Manilla Road. 10) Voyager 9) Gates of Fire 8) Atlantis Rising 7) Crystal Logic 6) Mark of the Beast 5) Out of the Abyss 4) The Deluge 3) Courts of Chaos 2) Open the Gates 1) Mystification
Loved this video. I recently received Crystal Logic and Open the Gates and I'm enjoying them immensely. (Especially O.T.G.) The Deluge and Mystification will be landing on my doorsteps in a few days. It's always exciting discovering unknown bands.
One of my top 5 metal bands ever, so many amazing albums and songs. Was lucky to see them in October 2017 in Cincinnati, was so glad they did a show near me. Got to talk with Mark and Hellroadie after the show for a bit, Mark had such a deep knowledge of history, literature and horror films and it all came out in the lyrics perfectly. So many amazing riffs, Mark had a style like no one else.
Greetings from the drummer 2011 - 2018 :) I must say this is a typical "american choice" I am seeing here in this video, naming so many 2000s albums. I have noticed that on various tours in the USA with the band. Oh, maybe I should mention that I am from Germany *ha ha*. I personally think that Manilla Road had a kind of return to the classic sound or aesthetics on MYSTERIUM and then THE BLESSED CURSE and totally on TO KILL A KING. Many fans also called that last two line ups (first with Josh on bass, then with Phil Ross) a "return to the classic sound", especially live when we played songs from the 80s. It was always hard telling Mark that I am not the biggest fan of the 2000s albums, even I love several songs. But I was missing certain trademarks in those years and partially some stuff was played too modern for my taste. So it´s sad that none of the last three albums, that brought Manilla Road back (and also finally to festivals like Sweden Rock, Hellfest etc.) and helped raising success, is mentioned here (except I have missed something when browsing through the video). But I definitely agree on THE DELUGE as the best MR album ever! This is my fave too! Thanks for doing this video and supporting us!!!
Thanks for commenting Neudi! I did notice you guys rarely played many songs from those 2000s albums but that was okay because there was so many great songs to pick from. I love the 3 albums you played on, especially To Kill a King! More importantly for me I was lucky to see you guys ten times when you were in the band. The set you guys played at the first Wings of Metal fest in Montreal in 2013 with Satan was probably my favorite.
and the newer songs that you played on in the studio sounded great live!! I remember reading yourself, Bryan and Phil might have started a new band. Did anything ever happen with those plans?
Thank you for this ranking! Manilla Road is one of the most underrated band in on of the most underrated sub genre - the us power metal, alongside with Omen, Virgin Steele, warlord and many others
I d never heard of this band till now. Checked out an album on TH-cam and liked it a lot. Just managed to buy both your top choices plus the first two albums on a 2 for 1 cd. Thanks for the heads up on Manilla Road.
Aaah, yesss!!! My favorite band of all time! Yeah, I tried to make my MR top 10, but it's impossible, because it changes from day to day, literally! Anyway, great great video, and both of you are true brothers of the Hammer! Up the Hammers! Oh, and btw, their mascot has a name. It's Jackhammer! 🤘🏻❤️⚔️🍻
Just another of those bands that perplex me, why were they not more popular. As stated many times in this ranking there is not a clunker in their catalog. Thanks again SOT. All strength to the channel.
I don't think Mark really cared that much about "success", or whatever. Plus as the 80's went on, unless you were iron maiden you had to be either clearly glam or clearly thrash to succeed in America, so lots of bands that weren't either of those things fell through the cracks. Helstar is another band that was overlooked.
Mark's vocals had the right "ancient" feel for the cerebral stories told in his lyrics. He comes across as some wise and aged mystic telling enthralling, long-lost tales in front of the glowing fireplace. I think he had some background in the study of anthropology and history which certainly informed his songwriting.
Amazing band, the definition of Epic Metal. Crystal Logic, Open The Gates, Deluge and Mystification are absolute masterpieces. Mark Shelton's voice totally fit into their style.
Really glad to see some love for Manilla Road! My top 10: 1. Crystal Logic 2. Open the Gates (the top 2 can switch at any time) 3. Mystification 4. The Deluge 5. Out of the Abyss 6. Metal 7. The Courts of Chaos 8. Invasion 9. Gates of Fire 10. Atlantis Rising
@@andywitch666 OPEN MINDED PEOPLE, LIKE MARK, CAN BE EVERYWHERE! AND MARK, KNOWS WHAT OLYMPOUS, AND THE TWELVE GODS MEAN!! VALHALLA CAN WAIT.......HE HAS NEVER DENIED IT !!!
They were on a French label called Black Dragon for a period of the '80s. I remember reading about Manilla Road in magazines in the 1980s and found them fascinating, the exact kind of band I wanted to check out further. Heard a bit here and there on the weekend metal radio shows we all loved so much back then. But I didn't manage to start getting my hands on the music until the later '90s. I recall Denis Gulbey from Sentinel Steel was instrumental in getting some of their '80s classics reissued with new liner notes and cover art.
1- Atlantis Rising 2- Voyager 3- open the gates 4- mystification 5- the deluge 6- gates of fire 7- Spiral castle 8- courts of chaos 9-playground of the damned 10- crystal logic Thank you Pete, Ryan 🍻 This is my favorite show, by the way! This is the one that got me exploring the music 🎶of Manilla road!
Rip Mark The Shark....=(....immortal hero! My personal Top 10 (today....): 1 - Crystal Logic 2 - Mystification 3 - Gates of Fire 4 - Open the Gates 5 - The Deluge 6 - Blessed Curse 7 - Spiral Castle 8 - Out of the Abyss 9 - Mark of the Beast 10 - Voyager
The Veils of Negative Existence blows my mind everytime I listen to it, and Crystal Logic is the most celebrated album among fans but I find myself playing Open The Gates more than any other record in their catalog.
Finally a Manilla Road show! Which of the big four of thrash has so many albums and no duds? None of them! Such a unique sound and feel with these guys. Soooo underrated. I will take their lo-fi productions any day over "let's eradicate any human quality in the sound" Andy Sneap like overproduced stuff any day. Thank you,gentleman,for this highly enjoyable podcast. Cheers to you both.
i was late to the game discovering these guys. As you mentioned kinda rare to find a group covering em, well visigoth covered necropolis on the debut. Found out it was a cover, looked into it next thing I know I own crystal logic, the deluge and crystal logic. Fantastic band, a real treasure for folks who listen for stuff and utterly loathe the radio.
Great and underrated band. Should get a lot more credit as a pioneering progressive metal band. A local buddy of mine named Wes was working on a documentary on Manilla Road. He spent a lot of time in Kansas with Mark and the guys a couple/few years back before he passed away and saw a lot of the original master tapes, etc. He also went on the road with them when they played some festivals in Europe, etc. Last I saw him he was still working on editing it so here's hoping it eventually comes out!
@@Conan_WhatIsBestInLife - Here's the short doc Wes did on their West Coast tour with interviews with the guys. I believe this is to be part of the whole doc with the Kansas stuff and a couple festivals overseas, etc. th-cam.com/video/Lr2RTNjRIdg/w-d-xo.html
Love it when Ryan is on the show. A real fan, so much passion and most of all : great taste. Yeah, I heard Flaming Metal Systems for the first time on US Metal Vol3. Just fckn brilliant. So many gems on that compilation album (Violation’s Gonna get to you is my favorite 1983 song). A shame really that so many traditional US Heavy Metal bands from the early eighties remained underground. Honestly, some of them had loads more talent and were more genuine than many of the big British bands (Maiden and Priest included). The difference with British bands is that the American bands started as and always remained fans of Heavy Metal (Mark Shelton , Blitz, Kurdt Vanderhoof), the exception being Metallica of course.
Amazing band. Glad I got to see them a few times in Chicago. Also almost shit my pants when I found the first pressing of Invasion on vinyl for 25 bucks a few years ago.
So underrated my top 10 would be 1 The Deluge 2 Open The Gates 3 Mystification 4 Crystal Logic 5 Out Of The Abyss 6 Voyager 7 Spiral Castle 8 Gates Of Fire 9 Atlantis Rising 10 Metal
Every time I find a new favorite band, they get quickly replaced by a new favorite I find after a new months. Manilla Road has been my favorite since I discovered them in 2020. No one will ever take their place again. They are just that good. Mark Shelton is just something out of this world. May he rest in piece. My top 10 albums would be: 10) Atlantis Rising 9) Metal 8) Spiral Castle 7) The Deluge 6) Gates of Fire 5) Crystal Logic 4) Open the Gates 3) Mystification 2) Out of the Abyss 1) Voyager Honorable mention to Helwell (The Shark's side project). The second album Behind the Demon's Eyes would be at number 4 if it was an MN album. Definitely worth listening if you are an MN fan. Favorite tracks are Voyager, The Books of Skelos, Totentanz, The Fall of Iliam, Shadow in the Black, Helicon, The Riddle Master, Friction in Mass, Road of Kings and Tomes of Clay.
Unbelievably good stuff! Sadly I really found them way too late. Then again their records were not that much available back in the day. Still missing a couple of them. Crystal Logic, Open the Gates, Mystification, The Deluge & Out of the Abyss. I guess that's my ultimate top five but I really like the early and latter days records also. The early stuff has a certain childlike innocent curiousity, excitement and charm to it.
As a younger metalhead who discovered this band through the internet probably 7 years ago now, they really blew me away and became one of my all time favorites, and shaped a lot of my taste in metal since discovering them, as well as being a huge influence on my own writing. I 100% agree that the top 5 are the 4 80s classics starting with Crystal Logic, plus whichever of the others is your personal favorite, which is a damn hard choice. Mine's probably Spiral Castles, but most of the others are super close. I think the only album they have that could be considered anything less than great is Invasion, and it's not bad, it's just inconsistent and very different. Kind of like Rocka Rolla, or the first Accept album. It has it's charm and shows the bands potential, but they don't really start to hit their stride until Metal, and are full steam ahead on Crystal Logic. For anyone who's interested, especially any old timers here that have loved Manilla Road for decades but haven't kept up with modern metal, there are a ton of current bands heavily inspired by them and other epic metal bands like Manowar, Omen, Cirith Ungol etc.. My favorites of the last few years are Eternal Champion, Vulture's Vengeance, and Chevalier, but there are many others, with the most well known probably being Visigoth, who probably have the most accessible take on this kind of metal. We're keeping the old school spirit alive, and in many ways, it's as strong or even stronger than it was back then!
Man i love Vultures Vengeance and Chevalier. I had Destiny Calls on the turntable just yesterday. They really carry the torch for this little niche of metal. The Portuguese band Ironsword are well worth hearing too. Mark Shelton even sang on a few tracks from their Overlords of Chaos album in 2008.
I really cant add more to what you said, but their last album before mark left us was one which had been growing on me so much over the past 2 years and especially the song never again really hits me in the feels hearing marks vocals with so much emotion and experience. Also noteworthy is neudi s drumming on that album which are exquisite
Incredible fucking band!!! I was fortunate enough to see them back in 2017. Mark was a cool guy. My top 10 are: 10. Invasion 9. Metal 8. Courts of Chaos 7. Circus Maximus 6. The Deluge 5. Open the Gates 4. Gates of Fire 3. Out of the Abyss 2. Crystal Logic 1. Mystification
Manilla Road was and still is one of the most original, creative metal bands ever, they go from trippy Psychedelic Hard/Heavy to absolute thrashing Power Metal and Prog Epic Metal in their latter years. One Manilla album has better riffs than a lot of band entire catalog. Also Marks voice rules. RIP the Shark
10. Spiral Castle 9. Courts of Chaos 8. Voyager 7. Gates of Fire 6. Atlantis Rising 5. The Deluge 4. Out of the Abyss 3. Open the Gates 2. Crystal Logic 1. Mystification
DINGBATZ / RYAN- to be honest , never knew they played there. I can walk there. ( my neck of woods). Was like Joe Lynn Turners second home , when he lived for years on that street. Tiny joint, but I seen some great shows there ! 👍💯
Actually got into Manilla Road through a Greek epic metal band called Battleroar. Back in 2005 they released an album called Age of Chaos that had a track sung by Mark Shelton on it. I fell in love with this album and highly recommend it. Anyways, been a fan of Manilla Road for 15 years now.
Battleroar are great! I was just listening to their newest album Codex Epicus quite recently. There's a fantastic Portuguese band called Ironsword that had Mark on vocals on several tracks on their '08 album Overlords of Chaos. I strongly recommend them.
Battleroar are awesome! Their song Vampire Killer is one of my favorite songs of all time. I can’t get enough Greek epic metal. Ironsword are great too.
Manilla Road are underrated. Absolutely amazing albums, and great musicians as well. One of my all time favorite bands for sure. Saw them live in 2015, and it is one of the best shows I've seen. It was also there that I met Mark Shelton, he's the humblest musicians I met. R.I.P. Mark. My top 5 is : 1. Crystal Logic 2. Mystification 3. Open The Gates 4. Out of the Abyss 5. The Courts of Chaos
Cool topic, this is an interesting band that more people should know about. For me "Crystal Logic" (1983) and "Mystification" (1987) stand out. Many gems I am still discovering on the remaining albums.
"Mark of the beast" is available under it's originally intended title "Dreams of Eschaton", the 2nd disc includes the 1979 demo and the "After midnight live" album edit. For a great cover listen to "Dreams of Eschaton" by Messiah
Nice edition! Good group! Underrated def.,any chance of doing one on belgian metal band " killer" or maybe " cutty sark"? Love the obscure and these editions! Nice work! Mekong delta came to mind also.. " mark of the beast" is my choice! So underated.
Ryan looks a lot like Udo Dirkschneider. Any chance of UDO solo material? Also, it seems Ryan shoud front an Udo tribute band called U-Do-Look-Like-Udo.
Yes! Would love to see you guys deep-dive this band. Maybe rank their last five to eight albums. Also very good to great, but not quite on par with their classics.
..and never overlooking Hellwell, RiddleMaster and Shark's proper solo semi-acoustic album, all of which have somehow crammed the MR's vinyl shelf section. It's really hard to shortlist 10 MR albums. Anyway, the both of you have pointed out very pertinent reasons for your choices. Even though i have Dreams of Eschaton , i still have to catch M.o.t.B. , Playground of the Damned and only then my tribute to Mark Shelton shall be complete. Good show for Sharkeologists!
My ranking 1.- Mystification 2.-The Deluge 3.- Open the Gates 4.- Crystal Logic 5.- Court of Chaos 6.- Atlantis Rising 7.- Spiral Castle 8.- Gates of Fire 9.- The Blessed Curse 10.- Out of the Abyss
So difficult to decide... I love all the albums, and if we're including Hellwell, then this list might change. 1. The Courts of Chaos 2. Open the Gates 3. The Deluge 4. Mystification 5. Playground of the Damned 6. Voyager 7. To Kill a King 8. The Blessed Curse 9. Crystal Logic 10. Mysterium I honestly don't even know if this is in order.
1. The Courts of Chaos 2. Mystification 3. Crystal Logic 4. Voyager 5. Spiral Castle 6. Out of the Abyss 7. Open the Gates 8. The Deluge 9. Atlantis Rising 10. The Blessed Curse
1.open the gates 2.mystification 3.crystal logic 4.spiral castle 5.metal 6.mark of the beast 7.out of the abyss 8.the deluge 8.gates of fire 9.courts of choas 10.atlantis rising 11.blessed curse 12.playground of the damned 13.voyager 14.invasion 15.to kill a king 16.circus maximus
Really hard to rank this discography. One of my favorite bands together with Iron Maiden. I love all these albums and Mark was the nicest guy I met. RIP. They kicked ass live even when I saw them play an acoustic show and love every period of this band. Also very nice is the other projects of Mark Shelton like Hellwell, Riddlemaster and his solo acoustic album. 1) Crystal Logic 2) Open the Gates 3) The Deluge 4) Mystification 5) Metal 6) Atlantis Rising 7) The Courts of Chaos 8) Invasion 9) Mysterium 10) Mark of the Beast 11) The Blessed Curse 12) Gates of Fire 13) Out of the Abyss 14) Voyager 15) Playground of the Damned 16) To Kill a King 17) Spiral Castle 18) The Circus Maximus
My rank: 1 Open the Gates 2 Crystal Logic 3 Mystification 4 The Deluge 5 The Courts of Chaos 6 Atlantis Rising 7 Gates of Fire 8 Out of the Abyss 9 Voyager 10 Spiral Castle 11 Playground of the Damned 12 The Blessed Curse 13 Mark of the Beast 14 Mysterium 15 To Kill a King 16 Invasion 17 Metal 18 The Circus Maximus
Visigoth from Utah covered 'Necropolis.' Great up and coming NWOTHM outfit. A band to watch; I think they're maturing into a force to be reckoned with. Jake Rogers is a powerful and charismatic vocalist, plus the songs are catchy and memorable.
@@Conan_WhatIsBestInLife If you like MR you'd love Atlantean Kodex from Bavaria, Germany. They're incredible--epic doomy power metal with literate lyrics steeped in European lore and myth. Also check out Vulture's Vengeance from Italy; MR and Cirith Ungol musical style with vocals reminiscent of Hansi from Blind Guardian. Solitary Sabred from Cyprus are another that will resonate with fans of Mark and the Road. So many worth checking out nowadays....Tanith are still another. Dual male/female vocals, very '70s rock/hard rock/proto metal flavored, I.E., Uriah Heep, BOC, Thin Lizzy, Wishbone Ash, Magnum, Rainbow, Jethro Tull, Ashbury, even early Scorps, Priest, et al but definitely fit into this discussion in terms of appeal. Especially in terms of their mystical songwriting. Russ Tippins of Satan is a member of Tanith.
@@AMCmachine I enjoy all of those bands, Atlantean Kodex especially. Those guys get better with every album. Tanith are a local NYC act for me, even though Satan are from the UK. I’ve heard Russ lives here now so that explains it. For even more obscure stuff I’d recommend the album Barbaric Mysticism from 2014 from the Italian band Hyborian Steel. One guess who their favorite fantasy author is 😂. Both albums from the woefully underrated Swedish band Quicksand Dream are worth your time and finally the guitarist of Smoulder has another band called Ezra Brooks who I really like. They had a song on a recent split called The Road to Allinam. It was their tribute to Shelton.
@@Conan_WhatIsBestInLife Yes, I am looking forward to new Tanith and Visigoth albums for sure. The world could certainly do with some new Jag Panzer as well. I forgot to mention Megaton Sword from Switzerland; I've just been getting into them recently and they're pretty solid. I hail from the NYC metro area also; do you remember the immortal U-68 Power Hour? They were like a David taking on the Goliath of MTV! If so, maybe you and Pete can treat us to a retrospective on it someday.
Manilla Road is my 3rd favourite 1980's metal band behind Slayer and Metallica. They were waaaaaay too underrated for such a talented group! My favourite is actually a tie between Open The Gates and Mystification. Mark was a unique singer and a great lyricist and guitar player. The Shark will remain eternal! 🦈⚔🤘
Best band of all time in my opinion my top 10: 1. Mystification 2. The Deluge 3. Open the Gates 4. Out of the Abyss 5. Crystal Logic 6. Voyager 7. Dreams of Eschaton 8. Gates of Fire 9. The Blessed Curse 10. The Courts of Chaos
Outstanding band. Never got the recognition they deserved. No two albums are the same. R.I.P. Mark. 🤘
Manilla Road. Wow. A totally unexpected album ranking show. Awesome band.
These dudes as well as Cirith Ungol and Brocas Helm and Jag Panzer and Crimson Glory and Omen are but a few of the few hidden US heavy metal bands worth checking out that should have gotten wayyyyyyyy more attention.
Don’t forget Cauldron Born!!!!
@@Draconic_Blazonry Amen! Great fucking band indeed!
I must say that Mark "The Shark" Shelton was one of the nicest people I've ever met and it still tears me up that he's gone. I agree with Ryan in that they were an elite and SMOKIN' live band! Severely underrated band.
Have to be honest, have never heard of them. But this channel opens these old ears to new stuff...Thanks Pete and Ryan....:)
Same here. I heard of them a couple years ago from Sara of Banger TV but never listened until now. Them and Omen.
That's why I joined this channel
Saw MR in New Hampshire and got to meet Mark The Shark and its a memory I take with me forever!! I approached him, told him I was thankful for the band to be there, he grabbed my hand hand and said with a smile, " Thank you for your support!! " A man of humility who has the credit and portfolio to be a cocky rock star. May he be happy in the walls of Valhalla!! Actually have The Deluge in my car as we type!! Love the show btw!! HVS RULE!!!
Used to see them all the time when they first started out. They used to play a bar called The Foundry here in.
Wichita Ks. They sold 3.2 beer there so you could always drink a lot. Street Jammer is about dragging douglas a street here in Wichita.
Saw them in 2008 on Keep it True in Germany!! Great band!
I love Manilla Road.
10) Voyager
9) Gates of Fire
8) Atlantis Rising
7) Crystal Logic
6) Mark of the Beast
5) Out of the Abyss
4) The Deluge
3) Courts of Chaos
2) Open the Gates
1) Mystification
Ive been waiting for this all week. My favorite band of all time. Up the hammers Mark. R.i.p brother \m/
Thanks Pete and Ryan
Never heard of this band just listened to the Deluge online absolutely love it. Thanks for opening my ears to Manila Road.
Loved this video. I recently received Crystal Logic and Open the Gates and I'm enjoying them immensely. (Especially O.T.G.) The Deluge and Mystification will be landing on my doorsteps in a few days. It's always exciting discovering unknown bands.
One of my top 5 metal bands ever, so many amazing albums and songs. Was lucky to see them in October 2017 in Cincinnati, was so glad they did a show near me. Got to talk with Mark and Hellroadie after the show for a bit, Mark had such a deep knowledge of history, literature and horror films and it all came out in the lyrics perfectly. So many amazing riffs, Mark had a style like no one else.
Great show! I met Mark before a show once, a really nice person...RIP
The Road was/is a truly legendary and unique band. I regret I never got a chance to see them live.
Greetings from the drummer 2011 - 2018 :) I must say this is a typical "american choice" I am seeing here in this video, naming so many 2000s albums. I have noticed that on various tours in the USA with the band. Oh, maybe I should mention that I am from Germany *ha ha*. I personally think that Manilla Road had a kind of return to the classic sound or aesthetics on MYSTERIUM and then THE BLESSED CURSE and totally on TO KILL A KING. Many fans also called that last two line ups (first with Josh on bass, then with Phil Ross) a "return to the classic sound", especially live when we played songs from the 80s. It was always hard telling Mark that I am not the biggest fan of the 2000s albums, even I love several songs. But I was missing certain trademarks in those years and partially some stuff was played too modern for my taste. So it´s sad that none of the last three albums, that brought Manilla Road back (and also finally to festivals like Sweden Rock, Hellfest etc.) and helped raising success, is mentioned here (except I have missed something when browsing through the video). But I definitely agree on THE DELUGE as the best MR album ever! This is my fave too! Thanks for doing this video and supporting us!!!
Thanks for commenting Neudi! I did notice you guys rarely played many songs from those 2000s albums but that was okay because there was so many great songs to pick from. I love the 3 albums you played on, especially To Kill a King! More importantly for me I was lucky to see you guys ten times when you were in the band. The set you guys played at the first Wings of Metal fest in Montreal in 2013 with Satan was probably my favorite.
and the newer songs that you played on in the studio sounded great live!! I remember reading yourself, Bryan and Phil might have started a new band. Did anything ever happen with those plans?
@@Conan_WhatIsBestInLife They're active under the name of "Sentry". Go check them out. It's killer!
Thank you for this ranking! Manilla Road is one of the most underrated band in on of the most underrated sub genre - the us power metal, alongside with Omen, Virgin Steele, warlord and many others
Very cool! Outside of Atlantis Rising i never really listened to the post-comeback albums, but gonna check out those albums now!
Great show! I love the dedication from Ryan and Pete. Just inspiering. Never heard about this band, and now i have to dive in... thanks.
only recently discovered Manilla Road, one of my favorites already. They are SO good!
I d never heard of this band till now. Checked out an album on TH-cam and liked it a lot. Just managed to buy both your top choices plus the first two albums on a 2 for 1 cd. Thanks for the heads up on Manilla Road.
Aaah, yesss!!! My favorite band of all time! Yeah, I tried to make my MR top 10, but it's impossible, because it changes from day to day, literally! Anyway, great great video, and both of you are true brothers of the Hammer! Up the Hammers! Oh, and btw, their mascot has a name. It's Jackhammer! 🤘🏻❤️⚔️🍻
Just another of those bands that perplex me, why were they not more popular. As stated many times in this ranking there is not a clunker in their catalog. Thanks again SOT. All strength to the channel.
I don't think Mark really cared that much about "success", or whatever. Plus as the 80's went on, unless you were iron maiden you had to be either clearly glam or clearly thrash to succeed in America, so lots of bands that weren't either of those things fell through the cracks. Helstar is another band that was overlooked.
Great show Pete and Ryan
More Metal fans should check them out..
Very under rated band..
Really great band! Extremely underrated!
Mark's vocals had the right "ancient" feel for the cerebral stories told in his lyrics. He comes across as some wise and aged mystic telling enthralling, long-lost tales in front of the glowing fireplace. I think he had some background in the study of anthropology and history which certainly informed his songwriting.
“Ancient” is a unique word to describe his “singing”.
His interviews are pretty cool too.
Well put!
Manilla is great! This makes me want a Slough Feg ranking the albums also!
Slough Feg rule! Killer live band too.
Yessss! Slough Feg is responsible for me actually getting into Manilla Road, after hearing them a few years before and and not having it 'click'.
That Co-Captain rocks !
Love these type of band breakdowns !
Amazing band, the definition of Epic Metal. Crystal Logic, Open The Gates, Deluge and Mystification are absolute masterpieces. Mark Shelton's voice totally fit into their style.
Really glad to see some love for Manilla Road! My top 10:
1. Crystal Logic
2. Open the Gates (the top 2 can switch at any time)
3. Mystification
4. The Deluge
5. Out of the Abyss
6. Metal
7. The Courts of Chaos
8. Invasion
9. Gates of Fire
10. Atlantis Rising
Just started watching. I've been a huge Manilla fan since way back in the 80s. Let's see...
Thank you guys for the show.... Love Manilla Road
LOVE Manilla Road! Such an amazing band!
Love Manilla road, seen them a couple times. Damn, Pete, trying my best to keep up with all your shows...lol. Get a good night's sleep.
RON: Can’t be ✅ done. PETE, secretly has build in” 48 hour days , with us Regulars “, the normal 24. Lol 👍💯
GREECE LOVES MANILLA ROAD!!!MARK, LOVES GREECE.........
MARK IS NOT DEAD.....HE IS WITH THE GODS, IN OLYMPUS MOUNTAIN, AND HE WILL COME BACK!!!
I thought he was in Valhalla!..! Across Bifrost!!!!!
@@andywitch666 OPEN MINDED PEOPLE, LIKE MARK, CAN BE EVERYWHERE! AND MARK, KNOWS WHAT OLYMPOUS, AND THE TWELVE GODS MEAN!! VALHALLA CAN WAIT.......HE HAS NEVER DENIED IT !!!
thanks guys into this for sure this is why I love this channel a lot of metal and rock to explore I thought I had it all
They were on a French label called Black Dragon for a period of the '80s. I remember reading about Manilla Road in magazines in the 1980s and found them fascinating, the exact kind of band I wanted to check out further. Heard a bit here and there on the weekend metal radio shows we all loved so much back then. But I didn't manage to start getting my hands on the music until the later '90s. I recall Denis Gulbey from Sentinel Steel was instrumental in getting some of their '80s classics reissued with new liner notes and cover art.
Thoughtful analysis; never heard them but will be now. Thanks Ryan and Pete
1- Atlantis Rising
2- Voyager
3- open the gates
4- mystification
5- the deluge
6- gates of fire
7- Spiral castle
8- courts of chaos
9-playground of the damned
10- crystal logic
Thank you Pete, Ryan 🍻 This is my favorite show, by the way! This is the one that got me exploring the music 🎶of Manilla road!
Rip Mark The Shark....=(....immortal hero!
My personal Top 10 (today....):
1 - Crystal Logic
2 - Mystification
3 - Gates of Fire
4 - Open the Gates
5 - The Deluge
6 - Blessed Curse
7 - Spiral Castle
8 - Out of the Abyss
9 - Mark of the Beast
10 - Voyager
Great job guys, justice done..........FINALLY !!!!!!!
The Veils of Negative Existence blows my mind everytime I listen to it, and Crystal Logic is the most celebrated album among fans but I find myself playing Open The Gates more than any other record in their catalog.
Finally a Manilla Road show! Which of the big four of thrash has so many albums and no duds? None of them! Such a unique sound and feel with these guys. Soooo underrated. I will take their lo-fi productions any day over "let's eradicate any human quality in the sound" Andy Sneap like overproduced stuff any day. Thank you,gentleman,for this highly enjoyable podcast. Cheers to you both.
i was late to the game discovering these guys. As you mentioned kinda rare to find a group covering em, well visigoth covered necropolis on the debut. Found out it was a cover, looked into it next thing I know I own crystal logic, the deluge and crystal logic. Fantastic band, a real treasure for folks who listen for stuff and utterly loathe the radio.
I only heard Crystal Logic by accident years ago, and it rocked my world. True underground heroes.
Great and underrated band. Should get a lot more credit as a pioneering progressive metal band. A local buddy of mine named Wes was working on a documentary on Manilla Road. He spent a lot of time in Kansas with Mark and the guys a couple/few years back before he passed away and saw a lot of the original master tapes, etc. He also went on the road with them when they played some festivals in Europe, etc. Last I saw him he was still working on editing it so here's hoping it eventually comes out!
Cool!! I’ll watch that eight days a week and twice on Sunday! Absolutely a band I’d love to see a thoughtful documentary about.
@@Conan_WhatIsBestInLife - Here's the short doc Wes did on their West Coast tour with interviews with the guys. I believe this is to be part of the whole doc with the Kansas stuff and a couple festivals overseas, etc. th-cam.com/video/Lr2RTNjRIdg/w-d-xo.html
"To Kill a King" is an amazing album....
r.i.p. Mark
Will give these a go, sounds like they evolved lots and i love a band like that :)
Fuck yeah! Mark is a metal legend!
10-26-17 Manila ROAD @ DINGBATZ, Clifton NJ. 👍💯
Hell yeah, big fan. Yo Ryan!
always good to see the Ilium shirt :) Thanks again Pete.
Great Episode guys!!! Loved it. Manilla Road 🤘🤘🤘
Manilla Road waved the flag of true metal, classic act!!!
Love it when Ryan is on the show. A real fan, so much passion and most of all : great taste.
Yeah, I heard Flaming Metal Systems for the first time on US Metal Vol3. Just fckn brilliant. So many gems on that compilation album (Violation’s Gonna get to you is my favorite 1983 song).
A shame really that so many traditional US Heavy Metal bands from the early eighties remained underground. Honestly, some of them had loads more talent and were more genuine than many of the big British bands (Maiden and Priest included). The difference with British bands is that the American bands started as and always remained fans of Heavy Metal (Mark Shelton , Blitz, Kurdt Vanderhoof), the exception being Metallica of course.
Amazing band. Glad I got to see them a few times in Chicago. Also almost shit my pants when I found the first pressing of Invasion on vinyl for 25 bucks a few years ago.
Thank you thank you THANK YOU!!!
So underrated my top 10 would be
1 The Deluge
2 Open The Gates
3 Mystification
4 Crystal Logic
5 Out Of The Abyss
6 Voyager
7 Spiral Castle
8 Gates Of Fire
9 Atlantis Rising
10 Metal
Just discovered these guys recently, along with Cirith Ungol. I’ve only heard those legendary 4 (CL to Mys) so far, can’t wait to hear the rest!
interesting and informative show... I know nothing about this band, and I will definitely check them out!
Welcome again RYAN 👍💯
Every time I find a new favorite band, they get quickly replaced by a new favorite I find after a new months. Manilla Road has been my favorite since I discovered them in 2020. No one will ever take their place again. They are just that good. Mark Shelton is just something out of this world. May he rest in piece. My top 10 albums would be:
10) Atlantis Rising
9) Metal
8) Spiral Castle
7) The Deluge
6) Gates of Fire
5) Crystal Logic
4) Open the Gates
3) Mystification
2) Out of the Abyss
1) Voyager
Honorable mention to Helwell (The Shark's side project). The second album Behind the Demon's Eyes would be at number 4 if it was an MN album. Definitely worth listening if you are an MN fan.
Favorite tracks are Voyager, The Books of Skelos, Totentanz, The Fall of Iliam, Shadow in the Black, Helicon, The Riddle Master, Friction in Mass, Road of Kings and Tomes of Clay.
Unbelievably good stuff! Sadly I really found them way too late. Then again their records were not that much available back in the day. Still missing a couple of them. Crystal Logic, Open the Gates, Mystification, The Deluge & Out of the Abyss. I guess that's my ultimate top five but I really like the early and latter days records also. The early stuff has a certain childlike innocent curiousity, excitement and charm to it.
As a younger metalhead who discovered this band through the internet probably 7 years ago now, they really blew me away and became one of my all time favorites, and shaped a lot of my taste in metal since discovering them, as well as being a huge influence on my own writing.
I 100% agree that the top 5 are the 4 80s classics starting with Crystal Logic, plus whichever of the others is your personal favorite, which is a damn hard choice. Mine's probably Spiral Castles, but most of the others are super close. I think the only album they have that could be considered anything less than great is Invasion, and it's not bad, it's just inconsistent and very different. Kind of like Rocka Rolla, or the first Accept album. It has it's charm and shows the bands potential, but they don't really start to hit their stride until Metal, and are full steam ahead on Crystal Logic.
For anyone who's interested, especially any old timers here that have loved Manilla Road for decades but haven't kept up with modern metal, there are a ton of current bands heavily inspired by them and other epic metal bands like Manowar, Omen, Cirith Ungol etc.. My favorites of the last few years are Eternal Champion, Vulture's Vengeance, and Chevalier, but there are many others, with the most well known probably being Visigoth, who probably have the most accessible take on this kind of metal. We're keeping the old school spirit alive, and in many ways, it's as strong or even stronger than it was back then!
Man i love Vultures Vengeance and Chevalier. I had Destiny Calls on the turntable just yesterday. They really carry the torch for this little niche of metal. The Portuguese band Ironsword are well worth hearing too. Mark Shelton even sang on a few tracks from their Overlords of Chaos album in 2008.
I really cant add more to what you said, but their last album before mark left us was one which had been growing on me so much over the past 2 years and especially the song never again really hits me in the feels hearing marks vocals with so much emotion and experience. Also noteworthy is neudi s drumming on that album which are exquisite
Truly epic heavy amazing rock and metal one of a kind
Great Show, thx !!!
Incredible fucking band!!! I was fortunate enough to see them back in 2017. Mark was a cool guy. My top 10 are:
10. Invasion
9. Metal
8. Courts of Chaos
7. Circus Maximus
6. The Deluge
5. Open the Gates
4. Gates of Fire
3. Out of the Abyss
2. Crystal Logic
1. Mystification
The voice it's what I like most, the nasal is cool, and is totally unique
Manilla Road was and still is one of the most original, creative metal bands ever, they go from trippy Psychedelic Hard/Heavy to absolute thrashing Power Metal and Prog Epic Metal in their latter years. One Manilla album has better riffs than a lot of band entire catalog.
Also Marks voice rules. RIP the Shark
10. Spiral Castle
9. Courts of Chaos
8. Voyager
7. Gates of Fire
6. Atlantis Rising
5. The Deluge
4. Out of the Abyss
3. Open the Gates
2. Crystal Logic
1. Mystification
DINGBATZ / RYAN- to be honest , never knew they played there. I can walk there. ( my neck of woods). Was like Joe Lynn Turners second home , when he lived for years on that street. Tiny joint, but I seen some great shows there ! 👍💯
1st album I heard from them was in the late 90s called The Deluge great album, definitely a band worth checking out.
Actually got into Manilla Road through a Greek epic metal band called Battleroar. Back in 2005 they released an album called Age of Chaos that had a track sung by Mark Shelton on it. I fell in love with this album and highly recommend it. Anyways, been a fan of Manilla Road for 15 years now.
Battleroar are great! I was just listening to their newest album Codex Epicus quite recently. There's a fantastic Portuguese band called Ironsword that had Mark on vocals on several tracks on their '08 album Overlords of Chaos. I strongly recommend them.
Battleroar are awesome! Their song Vampire Killer is one of my favorite songs of all time. I can’t get enough Greek epic metal. Ironsword are great too.
Manilla Road are underrated. Absolutely amazing albums, and great musicians as well. One of my all time favorite bands for sure. Saw them live in 2015, and it is one of the best shows I've seen. It was also there that I met Mark Shelton, he's the humblest musicians I met. R.I.P. Mark.
My top 5 is :
1. Crystal Logic
2. Mystification
3. Open The Gates
4. Out of the Abyss
5. The Courts of Chaos
Invasion - epic 🤟🌌🤟
Never heard of them until I came across their video for DOA, got curious and ended up buying like 10 of their albums.
Great band! Open the Gates is my favorite.
Cool topic, this is an interesting band that more people should know about. For me "Crystal Logic" (1983) and "Mystification" (1987) stand out. Many gems I am still discovering on the remaining albums.
"Mark of the beast" is available under it's originally intended title "Dreams of Eschaton", the 2nd disc includes the 1979 demo and the "After midnight live" album
edit. For a great cover listen to "Dreams of Eschaton" by Messiah
Nice edition! Good group! Underrated def.,any chance of doing one on belgian metal band " killer" or maybe " cutty sark"? Love the obscure and these editions! Nice work! Mekong delta came to mind also.. " mark of the beast" is my choice! So underated.
That solo on Mark of the Beast is so great!
Ryan looks a lot like Udo Dirkschneider. Any chance of UDO solo material?
Also, it seems Ryan shoud front an Udo tribute band called U-Do-Look-Like-Udo.
Yes! Would love to see you guys deep-dive this band. Maybe rank their last five to eight albums. Also very good to great, but not quite on par with their classics.
..and never overlooking Hellwell, RiddleMaster and Shark's proper solo semi-acoustic album, all of which have somehow crammed the MR's vinyl shelf section. It's really hard to shortlist 10 MR albums. Anyway, the both of you have pointed out very pertinent reasons for your choices. Even though i have Dreams of Eschaton , i still have to catch M.o.t.B. , Playground of the Damned and only then my tribute to Mark Shelton shall be complete. Good show for Sharkeologists!
Amazing band.
My ranking
1.- Mystification
2.-The Deluge
3.- Open the Gates
4.- Crystal Logic
5.- Court of Chaos
6.- Atlantis Rising
7.- Spiral Castle
8.- Gates of Fire
9.- The Blessed Curse
10.- Out of the Abyss
So difficult to decide... I love all the albums, and if we're including Hellwell, then this list might change.
1. The Courts of Chaos
2. Open the Gates
3. The Deluge
4. Mystification
5. Playground of the Damned
6. Voyager
7. To Kill a King
8. The Blessed Curse
9. Crystal Logic
10. Mysterium
I honestly don't even know if this is in order.
R.I.P Mark! Badass guitar player but one of the nicest guys you could ever meet! Wichita! Had some great bands, check out stygian shore!
Crystal Logic is such a masterpiece
1. The Courts of Chaos
2. Mystification
3. Crystal Logic
4. Voyager
5. Spiral Castle
6. Out of the Abyss
7. Open the Gates
8. The Deluge
9. Atlantis Rising
10. The Blessed Curse
Everyone needs to hear Crystal Logic, one of the greatest albums ever. A shame they never had worked with a top producer.
1.open the gates
2.mystification
3.crystal logic
4.spiral castle
5.metal
6.mark of the beast
7.out of the abyss
8.the deluge
8.gates of fire
9.courts of choas
10.atlantis rising
11.blessed curse
12.playground of the damned
13.voyager
14.invasion
15.to kill a king
16.circus maximus
Really hard to rank this discography. One of my favorite bands together with Iron Maiden. I love all these albums and Mark was the nicest guy I met. RIP. They kicked ass live even when I saw them play an acoustic show and love every period of this band. Also very nice is the other projects of Mark Shelton like Hellwell, Riddlemaster and his solo acoustic album.
1) Crystal Logic
2)
Open the Gates
3)
The Deluge
4)
Mystification
5)
Metal
6)
Atlantis Rising
7)
The Courts of Chaos
8) Invasion
9)
Mysterium
10)
Mark of the Beast
11)
The Blessed Curse
12)
Gates of Fire
13)
Out of the Abyss
14)
Voyager
15)
Playground of the Damned
16) To Kill a King
17)
Spiral Castle
18)
The Circus Maximus
My rank:
1 Open the Gates
2 Crystal Logic
3 Mystification
4 The Deluge
5 The Courts of Chaos
6 Atlantis Rising
7 Gates of Fire
8 Out of the Abyss
9 Voyager
10 Spiral Castle
11 Playground of the Damned
12 The Blessed Curse
13 Mark of the Beast
14 Mysterium
15 To Kill a King
16 Invasion
17 Metal
18 The Circus Maximus
Def. Unique
CRYSTAL LOGIC 😁
Visigoth from Utah covered 'Necropolis.' Great up and coming NWOTHM outfit. A band to watch; I think they're maturing into a force to be reckoned with. Jake Rogers is a powerful and charismatic vocalist, plus the songs are catchy and memorable.
There is a supremely good band from Toronto called Smoulder that did a amazing cover of Cage of Mirrors on their newest release.
@@Conan_WhatIsBestInLife Oh yeah I have heard Smoulder. Sarah Kitteringham who hosts on Banger TV is the vocalist. You're right, cool band! \m/ \m/
@@Conan_WhatIsBestInLife If you like MR you'd love Atlantean Kodex from Bavaria, Germany. They're incredible--epic doomy power metal with literate lyrics steeped in European lore and myth. Also check out Vulture's Vengeance from Italy; MR and Cirith Ungol musical style with vocals reminiscent of Hansi from Blind Guardian. Solitary Sabred from Cyprus are another that will resonate with fans of Mark and the Road. So many worth checking out nowadays....Tanith are still another. Dual male/female vocals, very '70s rock/hard rock/proto metal flavored, I.E., Uriah Heep, BOC, Thin Lizzy, Wishbone Ash, Magnum, Rainbow, Jethro Tull, Ashbury, even early Scorps, Priest, et al but definitely fit into this discussion in terms of appeal. Especially in terms of their mystical songwriting. Russ Tippins of Satan is a member of Tanith.
@@AMCmachine I enjoy all of those bands, Atlantean Kodex especially. Those guys get better with every album. Tanith are a local NYC act for me, even though Satan are from the UK. I’ve heard Russ lives here now so that explains it.
For even more obscure stuff I’d recommend the album Barbaric Mysticism from 2014 from the Italian band Hyborian Steel. One guess who their favorite fantasy author is 😂. Both albums from the woefully underrated Swedish band Quicksand Dream are worth your time and finally the guitarist of Smoulder has another band called Ezra Brooks who I really like. They had a song on a recent split called The Road to Allinam. It was their tribute to Shelton.
@@Conan_WhatIsBestInLife Yes, I am looking forward to new Tanith and Visigoth albums for sure. The world could certainly do with some new Jag Panzer as well. I forgot to mention Megaton Sword from Switzerland; I've just been getting into them recently and they're pretty solid. I hail from the NYC metro area also; do you remember the immortal U-68 Power Hour? They were like a David taking on the Goliath of MTV! If so, maybe you and Pete can treat us to a retrospective on it someday.
Manilla Road is my 3rd favourite 1980's metal band behind Slayer and Metallica. They were waaaaaay too underrated for such a talented group! My favourite is actually a tie between Open The Gates and Mystification. Mark was a unique singer and a great lyricist and guitar player. The Shark will remain eternal! 🦈⚔🤘
Best band of all time in my opinion my top 10:
1. Mystification
2. The Deluge
3. Open the Gates
4. Out of the Abyss
5. Crystal Logic
6. Voyager
7. Dreams of Eschaton
8. Gates of Fire
9. The Blessed Curse
10. The Courts of Chaos