OLD MANILLA ROAD MEETS NEW MANILLA ROAD
Mysterium, Manilla Road's latest output is a mesh of early Manilla Road ala Crystal Logic, The Deluge, Open the Gates and newer Manilla Road ala Playground Of The Damned and The Voyager.
The album structure is similar that that of the band's classic Crystal Logic that thrusted this band into immortality, with all tracks being mid to longish length while the last track being by far the longest of em all. Upon hearing the album one thing is very clear, the band has definitely shrugged off its more melodic approach since they got back together, a sound very prominent on their last few albums and have adopted a rawer sound reminiscent of the legendary MR which released a string of classic albums. Mark Shelton hasn't sounded this good in while and The Shark may have well found the machine to reverse time because he lashes out the signature galloping choppy riffs throughout the album right from the start. The song writing is good and you can feel the band has been greatly insipred by its own thrashy releases like The Deluge and Mystification, and heavy metal releases like Open The Gates. The band has the epic feeling which is more reminiscent of The Voyager than the classic albums and the production is great and suits the band well. It isn't super layered and all like most heavy and power metal bands today which gave them a fake, cheesy, extremely pristine one dimensional sound.
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The band has turned down the epic quotient a bit on this release though I don't know why because it is the band's strongpoint and the band can still do it as they showed on their album , The Voyager released just a few years back. The band has opted for a more straightforwards sound in some parts, but has also showed that early Manilla Road is still alive and kicking. Even after the extra ballad and the title track where 2 minutes could easily have been shaved off from either end this album is a good release which is worth hearing for any fan of the band. It is not album of the decade stuff but still a great release with the first 3 quarters of the album being solid and which many may dub as the band's greatest release since they got back depending on what aspect of the band they like most.
Favorite tracks - The Grey God Passes, Hermitage, Hallowed Be Thy Grave.
SCORE - 77/100
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