Manilla Road

Manilla Road was an American heavy metal band from Wichita, Kansas, founded by Mark “The Shark” Shelton (vocals, guitar) and Scott “Scooter” Park (bass). Beginning in 1977, the early years of Manilla Road were spent playing mostly progressive rock and space rock but eventually became noticeably heavier with time, the band’s later heavy metal sound becoming more and more apparent with the release of Metal in 1982.

Achieving moderate success in the mid-80s with several well-received releases such as Crystal Logic (1983), Open the Gates (1985) and The Deluge (1986), the band became known for both the nasal voice of vocalist Mark Shelton and his eclectic style of songwriting, with many of his compositions taking place in fantastical universes combining elements of ancient mythologies and of popular culture mythos such as Robert E. Howard’s Conan and H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu.

After a major breakup in 1992, the band was reformed by Shelton in the mid-90s, although without co-founder Scott Park and a record label. The following years for Manilla Road were spent mostly by taking gigs in underground mid-western shows without the release of any new material. Seemingly forgotten, Manilla Road was re-discovered by the metal scene after performing at the Bang Your Head festival in 2000, which resulted in the band signing a new record deal and the eventual releases of Atlantis Rising in 2001 and Spiral Castle in 2002. This second era of Manilla Road continued until the death of founder Mark Shelton, who died in 2018 the day after the band played in an outdoor festival in Germany.

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