October 2020 Feature Release - The Guardians Edition

It's now October which of course means that we'll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we're asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We're really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don't be shy.

This month's feature release for The Guardians is 1987's classic sixth album from US heavy/power metal legends Manilla Road entitled "Mystification".

https://metal.academy/releases/2162

My review is up and it is safe to say that I recognise all the brilliance on this record.  It is such an industrious and tenacious release that marries a charging energy with atmosphere and horrific menace that I can't help but be transfixed by it.  It still has virtually no polish applied to it (what bit there is, is simply the excellence of the musicians at work) and feels so tight throughout it almost feels inhuman.  Top pick for this month!

5/5

Listening to Mystification is just a simple reminder to myself that I do not listen to nearly enough American Power Metal. Most of it reminds me of watered down Thrash, and who wants to listen to that?

This album by Manilla Road has no synths, no symphonic breaks, and no bombastic vocal performances which are par for the course in European Power Metal. And you know what? On this record, that isn't a bad thing. While the melodic passages might be more subdued, they still hit with an emphatic gut punch that is unmistakable. The fast tremolo picking of the guitar that pollutes this album is in debt to early thrash metal, especially "Up From The Crypt". And I have to disagree with Macabre about polish on this one; for as in debt as this album is to those early, rough thrash albums by Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer, Manilla Road perform these songs with such subtle precision and polish that some listeners might not even notice!

The album is produced remarkably well, highlighted by its thunderous bass lines. This album is relentless with its grooves, and after all of that, they throw a ballad on the end of the album "Dragon Star" that is the best song on the record! Honestly, I could see myself returning to this again and enjoying it even more than I did for the clan challenge. 

8/10

So I've only just gotten around to revisiting Manilla Road's  "Mystification" album a good six months after I allocated this feature release with that very intention but it was definitely worth another look. Manilla Road & I have had a hit-&-miss relationship over the years. I quite liked their progressive rock-driven 1980 debut album "Invasion" but found the follow-up "Metal" to be disappointing. Strangely, their third album "Crystal Logic" (which is generally regarded as their best work & an unmitigated classic) did even less for me but 1985's "Open The Gates" saw my interest being restored with several incredible pieces appearing across a generally inconsistent tracklisting. So I guess it's fair to say that I approached "Mystification" fairly tentatively which may be why I didn't get to it until now. 

"Mystification" may still sound very much like a Manilla Road album but it's also a very different beast to the other material I've heard from the band to date. For starters, this is the first time that I've had absolutely no question about a Manilla Road album's US power metal status. It's a noticeably thrashier affair than their early 80's records were with only a couple of tunes that fit comfortably under the heavy metal banner. The rest offer significantly more velocity & aggression than you'd usually expect from a classic metal band however Mark Shelton's higher register vocal performance generally keeps Manilla Road from completely crossing over into speed/thrash metal territory as he possesses a theatricality that definitely ties them to power metal. The short & high energy "Up From the Crypt" is probably the only exception with its slightly more grunty delivery & it's clear that bands like Slayer have had a significant impact on Mark & his band by this stage. Just check out that start of "Masque of the Red Death" if you don't believe me.

The performances are really quite brilliant, particularly Mark's lead guitar work & the exciting drumming of Randy Foxe who plays like a man possessed for the most part with his drum-rolls being a clear highlight. Unsurprisingly, I do struggle to connect with Mark's "epic" vocal delivery a little though & that's always been a bit of a stumbling block for me to tell you the truth. I'm always left wishing that he'd spend more time shredding away on his axe with that unpolished yet infectious technique of his rather than posing some dark & mystical question to me vocally. Some of his earlier works included more lower register grunt work than "Mystification" does & I think that's a shame as I do like that style a little better. Mark's guitar solos always sound like he's improvised the whole thing on the spot &, despite his clear command of his instrument, they're more to do with atmosphere than they are to do with chops which is something I have a lot of appreciation for. In fact, you could say similar things of the production job which gives Manilla Road that mid-80's underground authenticity that a lot of modern bands lack & that's always been a strength for the band.

Overall, this is clearly the most consistent Manilla Road record I've heard to date as there are no weak tracks included. But in saying that, I don't think we get the enormous highlights that a record like "Open The Gates" offered. I think perhaps the additional thrashiness of "Mystification" has seen Manilla Road losing a little bit of the psychedelia that I loved so much about their better earlier works. For that reason, "Open The Gates" still maintains the title of my favourite Manilla Road release however "Mystification" is another interesting album from a band that I generally maintain an appreciation for but are unlikely to ever quite connect with on the same level as the rest of the underground seem to.

For fans of Brocas Helm, Omen & Eternal Champion.

3.5/5