Manilla Road - Playground of the Damned

Manilla Road's new album cover has been revealed:


The track listing:
- Jackhammer
- Into the Maelstrom
- Playground of the Damned
- Grindhouse
- Abattoir De La Mort
- Fire of Ashurbanipal
- Brethren of the Hammer
- Art of War

My buddy is a die-hard Manilla Road fan, he'll definitely be picking this up ASAP. I remember shortly after Voyager came out we listened to it while shooting pool and I thought it was pretty good even if it was a bit long.

Oh, Dutch member, Dave The Boss; where art though?

I love the image of the mouth on the dude's stomach, haha.

I just bought this recently, I will be giving it a spin soon and give you my review.

Just curious, how many people here collect Manilla Road albums?

They are generally very difficult to come by and tend to come at rather hefty prices...

The one album which commands a very high price and is ultra rare / difficult to come by is Mystification - you can easily be looking at parting ways with about 70 - 80 bucks for that album...

This band is on my want to buy list. I'll listen to some samples

Ill be getting this as i love this band and any band that plays epic power/traditional metal.

Well I have spun Playground of the Damned several times by now and yes it is a great album in its own right however perhaps not the best introduction to Manilla Road if you have never heard the band before or are not very familiar with Shelton's songwriting.

This showcases Manilla Road's more 'doomier' style, unlike some of the both older and newer albums which can be a bit speedier and more epic sounding. The 'epic' vibe traditional of Manilla Road is present here albeit at times a bit more subtle than I have grown to know Manilla Road. The biggest hit on the album for me is the Art of War, the closing track. It exudes all the elements that make Manilla Road a great band however some of the other songs tend to take more time to unfold and are not quite the instant heavy hitters I was expecting.

For those familiar with Manilla Road, this album is similar to the likes of Spiral Castle and Mark of the Beast than the more punchier Gates of Fire or classic material like Crystal Logic, The Deluge or Open the Gates. In that regard, you're exposed a more spacey sounding, more progressive oriented sound rather than immediate epic power metal gratification.

All vocal limitations aside, Shelton's voice holds up well and is seemingly ageless. You couldn't tell whether this is the same Shelton from his 80s youth or the guy he is today. I said all limitations aside because Shelton's voice is in part an acquired taste but it can also fail to reach the highs (or lows) to create the complete epic ambiance expected. However, this is perhaps what gives Manilla Road part of its identity - you're not listening to Bruce Dickinson or Matt Barlow but rather a style altogether different that I think overall achieves the same 'epic' effect as those singers.

Overall this is a good album albeit not the strongest since Manilla Road reformed (for that imo Gates of Fire).

Very good review Alex.

Thanks, however I forgot to mention the song, Grindhouse - that is a very punishing song and it is imo the heaviest on this album. Starts off with a nice clean interlude before descending into this groove-paced sludge/doom tune. It's a great headbanging number and Shelton's voice transcends a whole bunch of different styles.

Alex Dee Rokket wrote:

I just bought this recently, I will be giving it a spin soon and give you my review.

Just curious, how many people here collect Manilla Road albums?

They are generally very difficult to come by and tend to come at rather hefty prices...

The one album which commands a very high price and is ultra rare / difficult to come by is Mystification - you can easily be looking at parting ways with about 70 - 80 bucks for that album...

I only own three Manilla Road CDs. I own Crystal Logic, The Deluge, and Playground of the Damned.

They have a pretty extensive catalog considering they've never really been all that well known. Strangely, I've been posting on metal message boards for many years now, and only within the last few years have I seen them be discussed extensively.

Required Fields wrote:

I only own three Manilla Road CDs. I own Crystal Logic, The Deluge, and Playground of the Damned.

They have a pretty extensive catalog considering they've never really been all that well known. Strangely, I've been posting on metal message boards for many years now, and only within the last few years have I seen them be discussed extensively.

Yeah same here, I've only ever seen them being discussed in the last maybe 4 - 5 years (since around 2005 / 2006). The main problem with Manilla Road is they never ever had any sort of proper distribution neither in the States nor outside. Their albums, since the band's inception, have always been released via obscure labels that either went under as quickly as they rose, or worse sold off Manilla's catalog to other really sub-par labels. This went on almost album after album to the point that now some of Manilla's catalog is completely out of print because those labels do not exist anymore, other albums are available but in very limited quantities and so on. It's a sad state of affairs for this band. Even newer bands have had a smoother ride getting their albums out there.

Again, I think the likes of Metal Mind Productions should grab hold of Manilla Road's catalog and give it a proper re-release. Maybe even a boxset or something special like that with full artwork, booklets etc. These guys definitely deserve better.

The other problem with Manilla Road I think is they came out of US in the 1980s at a time when those type of bands were too new for scene, and certainly did not go down too well with American audiences, and equally at a time when European metal was still in its infancy. I think if the band had focused a bit more on Europe and hadn't split up in the early 90s, chances are they would have been better known by now with proper distribution of all their albums.

The main problem with Manilla Road is Mark Shelton. His voice is the definition of acquired taste.