The Courts of Chaos

The Courts of Chaos is one of those Manilla Road albums where absolutely nothing makes sense, there’s no common theme, it’s just a collection of badass and super different songs all in one full-length album. It’s probably my least favourite album of the 80’s but the competition is stiffer than a symphonic metalhead at a Nightwish concert so that basically means nothing. I still cherish this album and listen to it allllll the time. Even though there’s no real common thread linking all these songs, it still feels like a coherent experience and there’s an incredible atmosphere built here.

This album has two main features that set it apart from the rest of the Manilla Road 80’s catalogue, both involving the legendary Randy Foxe. He’s on drum and keyboard duty, but the keyboards don’t actually do much here. They’re only prevalent on a few songs, and serve to build a very nice atmosphere. They’re not obtrusive if they don’t have to be, you can hear them faintly glowing in the title track which makes that song even better than it already is. However, in exchange for atmospheric keyboards, his drums sound AWFUL. For whatever reason, even though Randy wrote and can play all of these drum tracks (which is even harder for him live since he would operate the keyboards and play slightly faster back in the day, and STILL got it flawlessly most of the time), he decided to use programmed drums using his own drum kit as a sampler. This wouldn’t be so bad if the drums didn’t SOUND horrible and artificial but the mix just makes it so abhorrent. Compare this with Bathory's Twilight of the Gods or Nordland albums which ALSO had programmed drums, and the difference is night and day.

This is what originally made me not like the album but on further listens I can look past it. You get used to it after a while, but I’m not a drummer, so maybe it’d annoy others more than it does me. With this said, Road to Chaos is essentially just a Randy Foxe solo piece and it’s pretty badass. Randy still composed the drums on this album, and they are damn amazing. This song leads into Dig Me No Grave, which is a pretty cool metal anthem, nothing too special but it’s fun.

The cover of D.O.A. by Bloodrock, while befitting of a band that loves both 70s rock and horror, is quite out of place on a Manilla Road album for the fact that it’s a cover. The Road got recognition in their hometown at first BECAUSE all their material was original. They do a very good job of making this song their own, but I still would rather listen to the original over this. It’s much less haunting than the original, this is just cool, you know?

The title track is quite awesome and I love it a lot, but compared to everything else here it’s kinda generic. When we go into From Beyond, things ramp up a LOT. The intro is weird, but after it gets its stride, this is one of the most brutal and harsh songs the band would ever record. Out of the Abyss didn’t have vocals this tough, man. This is just incredible, and the next song is even better, somehow! One of three major epics on this album, A Touch of Madness has probably the best bridge in any Manilla Road song, EVER. Maybe a close second would be Seven Trumpets, but this just fucking SLAYS. It comes out of NOWHERE as well, there’s a good two minutes between the end of the last chorus and this, which is full of amazing riffs and a cracking solo, but out of that it just HITS.

“Standing before the Labyrinth..
The birthing place of true torment..
No time left to confess..
For the Wicked there is no rest.. When touched by Madness…”

After a short breather with Vlad the Impaler, you’re struck with the double excellence of The Prophecy and The Books of Skelos, two of the absolute best epic metal songs ever recorded in my eyes. The Prophecy is very much the culmination of the journey this album’s taken us on, whilst The Books of Skelos is much like a culmination of 80’s Road as a whole, really. The Prophecy has the keys giving some very cool atmosphere behind the solos, which are the best on the album in my opinion. Even the bass gets a moment in the sun here, and it’s quite audible on this record already, so it just adds to the chaos of this song even more. That’s what describes this best - chaos. The whole record is chaotic but this song especially, it just hammers that idea home. It’s crafted to be an end to the album, it’s got the signature ‘ending song’ vibes that Manilla Road has. This band is great at leading you out of an album safely just as it is good at keeping you hooked for the whole duration.

However, real ones know this isn’t truly the end. The greatest bonus track of all time, The Books of Skelos, resides on this album officially even though it was made for Out of the Abyss. How this was a bonus track instead of that shitty DOA cover I have no idea, because this is easily the best song on the album and my go-to pick for best Manilla Road song ever, along with The Deluge and a couple others.

The song is split into 3 distinct parts, yet it all flows naturally. The Book of Ancients is a Dragon Star-like ballad that slowly ramps up as it goes along, preparing you for the road ahead. This part I think best represents the albums from Invasion up to Open the Gates, it’s powerful while still being quite laid back, and early Manilla Road has that in spades. The Book of Shadows is where we start to see the ‘thrash’ side of the 80’s Road reigned in, reminds me of The Deluge and Mystification. The best part of The Book of Shadows is how he pronounces Armageddon with a soft G. This doesn’t last long though, as you’re thrown right into THE BOOK OF SKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUULLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This represents Out of the Abyss and this album, pure aggression, speed and it just RIPS. We yet again find ourselves going at the speed of Sodom, with aggressive but not too harsh vocals (except for that middle section, DAMN.), which just totally encapsulates what late-80’s Road is all about. I genuinely adore this song and make all my friends listen to it.

In all, The Courts of Chaos is another incredible record by the Road, but unfortunately, it would be their last with this legendary lineup. The dreaded ‘creative differences’ and ‘personality clashes’ would strike again, leaving everyone to go their separate ways. The Road was dead, seemingly, but a series of fortunate and coincidental events would lead to the legacy being continued all the way up to the passing of the Shark. For now, though, the city Manilla had seemingly fallen, and Mark would go on his own separate quest, with his new band, The Circus Maximus. While they did play some Manilla Road songs live occasionally, this band was totally separate and Manilla Road would not release any more material in the 90’s. Sad, really, because I really did enjoy the sound of Courts and would have loved to see how they adapted to the grunge and Pantera-fueled hellscape of the 90’s US metal scene. Oh well, at least they didn’t get fucked by a record label like Cirith Ungol did…right?

Mark Shelton, one of the greatest metal troubadours, is not among us anymore… he passed away on July 27th at the age of 60, leaving an unsurmountable legacy behind. He joined the other immortal metalclad souls at the Courts of Chaos where by all means other exploits await him. Let’s all take a minute of silence now in honour of the great man…

it’s quite ironic, and also sad probably that one remembers the underground metal heroes once a tragedy has struck their camp. I was definitely going to pen something the Manilla Road way in the near future, but since their repertoire has been generously reviewed across the board, quite adequately at that, I’ve always postponed my contribution to it…

unfairly, I should add, as I have always been a big fan of the band although my early exposure to them didn’t win me immediately for their cause. I got “The Deluge” some time in 1987, just got intrigued by the band name, and I did like it although I found these epic battle-like sounds and these nasal, hypnotic vocals a decidedly strange, very characteristic combination. I by no means rushed to the studio to track down every other single album of theirs, but the first 15-min of “Out of the Abyss” ended up as a complement on the King Diamond’s “Them” cassette a year later; since this opus was also freshly released, I asked the guy to fill in the tape with it as I was already familiar with the band. So I believe you can imagine my surprise when “Whitechapel” blasted through the speakers, a vicious vitriolic thrasher if there ever was one which may have scared stiff the band’s fanbase back then. Still, since I had little to no information regarding the guys’ stylistic transformations through the years at the time, I was subsequently left more impressed by the way Shelton, the ultimate composed hypnotic crooner, had managed to adjust his baritone to the brutal musical delivery, matching it every bit of the way with spite and bile to spare.

Again, these 15-min didn’t quite compel me to start a quest for the rest of the band’s discography, and it was much later in the 90’s when a friend gave me a vast chunk (“Open the Gates”-“The Courts of Chaos”) of the guys’ repertoire, and when the actual Manilla Road mania began. As these five albums are pretty much the essence of the guys’ career, it wasn’t hard for one to become a most loyal fan after spending a certain period of time with them.

The album reviewed here is the logical culmination of the guys’ endeavours, the highest creative point they have reached, one that is difficult to achieve again after the reformation regardless of the consistently high quality of the music. It also nicely showed, to the band’s core fanbase’s delight I’m sure, that the musicians had had their fun with the more aggressive thrash-prone shenanigans, and although they wouldn’t abandon them completely, they would only utilize them as a helping tool to expand and enhance their far-reaching, dramatic epic excursions of old.

The element of surprise remains high at the beginning, though, with the atmospheric all-instrumental etude "Road to Chaos" which could be a precursor to literally any genre, and when "Dig Me No Grave" comes digging with these pounding semi-technical thrashy riffs and these great virtuoso lead sections, one would hardly complain if this effort sounds close to its predecessor. More surprises in stall with the cover of the obscure rock formation Bloodrock’s “D.O.A.”, a somewhat ordinary ballad with a shattering speed/thrashing exit which leads straight “Into the Courts of Chaos”, an epic doomy masterpiece, vintage early Manilla Road with the gorgeous leads circling around, also bowing to Shelton’s towering performance the man unleashing some of the finest emotional, pathos-like vocals of his career.

The two aspects alternate in the second half to a nearly overwhelming effect with "From Beyond" leaning more on the thrashy side again, a marvellous intricate shredder that would make even Heathen and Realm proud. Something more outside-the-box, like a touch of madness, for instance, was missing from this no-brainer until that point, but here it comes, "A Touch Of Madness", a superb seamless doom/thrash blend the guys relying on very intense, but patiently-woven slow rhythmic sections, the accumulated tension bursting at the seams on “(Vlad) The Impaler”, headbanging thrash to the bone, a sure leftover from the preceding roller-coaster, the still seeping aggression swallowed by the grandiose magnanimity of "The Books Of Skelos", a rare achievement in the annals of metal, 8-min of some of the finest epic progressive power/thrash ever conceived, a multi-layered, quite hard-hitting on occasion as well, opus that has to be heard to be fully savoured.

In the long run this album is a mesmerizing compendium of the styles exhibited by the band on the last few instalments, with only the mentioned title-track and the more officiantly, more epically executed "The Prophecy" fully belonging to the early Manilla Road arsenal, but the final result is so absorbing that the listener would hardly care too much about any genre classifications as this is one grand encompassing metal opera that only dexterous conductors like Shelton and Co. can assemble. It’s really difficult to juggle between two contrasting genres like epic metal and thrash, Manowar, for example, gave up the idea after just one song on “Kings of Metal”, but with a bit of vision and proficiency, and a dash of aggressive persistence as well I guess, the mixture could be achieved and would invariably hook a wider gamut of metalheads, and not only because the time was quite right for all kinds of bolder experimentations. Mentioning those, one may regret the fact that the several flashes of technical genius dispersed throughout were left kind of undeveloped, as though the guys were suggesting at something more contrived and probably even grander to come out of their hands later…

nah, just subjective speculations from an incorrigible dreamer are those as this opus here was the end of the band’s first creative period. “The Circus Maximus”, which followed suit two years later, was not intended as a chapter from the Manilla Road discography; it was a Shelton solo project that featured more introspective, even avant-garde if you like, brand of metal/rock that had very little to do with the style of his main occupation. It didn’t ruin anyone’s reputation; on the contrary, it displayed the versatility and originality of the band’s founder and main driving force; a force that rose from the ashes in the new millennium, and led its “child” to the front echelons of the metal circuit once again with a string of solid epic releases.

Whether said string will be prolonged without Shelton is not the most urgent issue in the guys’ camp at the moment. Whatever their decision in this train of thought, though, they have to know that, if they vote to carry on, they will have Shelton’s full support coming from those mythical Courts of Chaos; the shadow of the great man will always be looming over his comrades’ endeavours providing guidance, inspiration, courage, and why not even this unforgettable, inimitable hypnotic nasal croon, raised in a rowdier, more passionate octave if necessary…

“Into the Courts of Chaos
Into the halls of eternal despair
Into the Courts of Chaos
The only enemy is your own fear”

R.I.P.

Manilla Road, one of the underground’s most revered metal bands, is one of the few acts that, while staying true to their signature sound, also manages to expand and evolve their music without sacrificing the songwriting. The smooth and logical evolution from their humble first outputs Invasion and Metal to the more aggressive and complex albums of Mystification and Out of the Abyss cemented Manilla Road’s knack for seamlessly experimenting with their musical image, as well as elevating them to the status of one of the genre’s most interesting bands. The Courts of Chaos is heralded by many fans and critics as the last true classic Manilla Road album, as it sits nicely at the tail-end of their first initial run, but does it live up to the standard set by the previous records?

Released two years after the speed-monster that was Out of the Abyss, Manilla Road opted for a more atmospheric sound on The Courts of Chaos, which thankfully worked in their favour. Being prone to chasing new ways of presenting their style, the band brought in a heavier use of keyboards to provide a more gothic or, for the lack of a better word, campy approach to atmosphere. And whether the feeling of “camp” is deliberate or not, it certainly adds to the enjoyment of the album. The album itself opens with the instrumental track Road to Chaos, and it’s the perfect introduction to the style presented on the album, where a creepy keyboard-driven intro in the vein of classic Hammer Horror movies sets the tone.

The Courts of Chaos also emphasises the epic nature of Manilla Road’s songwriting more than the previous album, with numbers such as the title track and The Prophecy, as well as one of the band’s crowning achievements; The Books of Skelos. The title track, Into the Courts of Chaos, is an almost ethereal number where the clean guitar and the soaring vocals almost tells a story of their own, without diminishing the epic nature of the lyrics. The Prophecy also excels with its larger than life keyboard licks, amazing guitar solos and a truly foreboding chorus complementing the lyrical theme of apocalyptic visions of the future. The real winner on this album however, is the CD only bonus track The Books of Skelos, inspired by the writings of Conan author Robert E. Howard. Representing everything Manilla Road is about, this song is without a doubt one of their greatest compositions, both in regard of writing, structure and performance. An amazing clean guitar intro reminiscent of the wonderful Dreams of Eschaton from the Crystal Logic album sets the scene, introducing the first of the song’s three parts. The second part bridges over into a more thrash-oriented affair until both the lyrics and the music builds up the third and final part, where chaos and mayhem ensues as Shelton’s demonic voice, which contrast his otherwise clean singing, screams to the backdrop of a frenzied sacrificial ritual.

The album is also not without its “thrashier” counterparts, where tracks like Dig Me No Grave and (Vlad) The Impaler serve as the more standard musical numbers, focusing on riffs and straight-forwardness. While the former track sports a catchy chorus and some brooding riffs, the latter is all about speed and aggression, both almost serving as a couple of “breathers” amidst the moodier numbers. Special mention also goes to the song From Beyond, based on the H.P. Lovecraft story of the same name, where the musical soundscape is almost as weird and alien as the text it is inspired by. With an eerie, yet groovy beginning, the song quickly evolves into a chaotic piece highlighted by frantic riffs, aggressive vocals and paranoid lyrics. Surely one of the more memorable pieces from the album, even if the song itself is not one of the albums highlights.

But despite the albums strong offerings, it is not without its flaws. The cover of Bloodrock’s D.O.A. feels out of place on the album, even if Manilla Road manages to make the song their own. The song is not bad by any means, and the song’s heavy usage of keyboards fit right in with the record’s theme, but it’s rather obvious that the song is not an original composition, which again hurts the flow of the album. It does not help that the song is presented in all its unedited seven minute “glory” either. Furthermore, the track A Touch of Madness, while not horrible, has a couple of major flaws; its length and the writing. By the end of the song, the otherwise fine main riff becomes a droning annoyance, and coupled with a forgettable chorus and a rather weak vocal performance by Shelton, the track overstays its welcome more than any other song on the album.

The members themselves execute their respective roles perfectly, with Shelton being the main star on the album. The riffs, the solos and the vocals all come together with such ease, and it’s a pleasure to listen to. Foxe, although programming the drums instead of playing them himself, adds one of the album’s highlights, namely the keyboard. They never feel too prominent nor do they feel underplayed, and they always add to the mood. The drums do feel a bit too mechanical, but the overall playing is as one would expect from Foxe, technical and innovative, albeit a tad chaotic. Park’s bass is audible, and while he is featured more prominently on tracks such as The Prophecy, it is sadly nothing extraordinary. The production on the album feels organic, save from the programmed drums, and all the instruments and the vocals are audible and without obvious flaws. The lyrics also fit the overarching gloomy theme well, with homages to both H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. The cover art also deserves a mention as it fully represents the atmosphere on the album; dark and epic.

The Courts of Chaos may not be Manilla Road’s best offering, but it certainly stands as one of their most intriguing releases. Serving as a fitting end to a magnificent string of albums, representing various tidbits from their entire career up to that point, while still managing to retain an identity of its own. But as strong as the album is, it feels more reserved for a well-versed Manilla Road fan, as opposed to a person’s first foray into their discography. That being said, the album is highly recommended, but should be enjoyed with an understanding of their ongoing evolution.

Since their debut album in 1980, Manilla Road had been getting heavier and heavier with each subsequent album, culminating in 1988's raw, occult thrash metal album, Out of the Abyss. The question on most fans' minds had to be "where do they go from here"? OotA was about as dark and heavy as it got while still retaining the same degree of melody. Would they continue in the same style, or perhaps explore even more extreme metal? The answer came with 1990's The Courts of Chaos; they did neither. Although it's arguably nearly as dark as OotA, it isn't even close in terms of heaviness and aggression. It still retains heavy thrash influence, but it would be incorrect to say it is purely thrash metal. The production here is a bit murky, adding to the strange, almost cosmic atmosphere; Shelton's vocals are in top shape, though definitely less raw than they were on the thrashier parts of OotA. The guitar tone too is less raw, but it works better for the mellower songwriting. The main complaint here are the drums, which Mark Shelton has stated are samples pieced together rather than an actual drum performance. Although they don't detract much from the album much for me, they do sound flat and simple throughout most of the album and could definitely be improved. However, the sound on the album is still far from bad.

The album starts off with the instrumental "Road to Chaos". Unfortunately, it's rather dull, droning on with melodies that do little until it finally picks up toward the end with a creepy synth riff, building an atmosphere of dread of something unknown. Next is "Dig Me No Grave", which is a solid, if perhaps slightly too repetitive number that's exceptionally catchy. The song is one of the rougher and thrashier pieces, and Shelton uses the same riff and vocal line throughout the song with slight variation, building more and more tension, each time exploding in the short chorus: "DIG-ME-NO-GRAAAAAVEEE!!!!" Despite its simplicity, it works well as an angry, anxious anthem. Next is D.O.A., a cover of the Bloodrock song, and although I haven't the faintest idea who Bloodrock are, it's pretty obvious once the song gets going that this isn't a traditional Manilla Road song; the epic tendencies normally present are absent here, and although the dark, murky, dreadful feel is still retained, the song is very dull, most of the riffs going nowhere, and although there are a few decent moments (particularly the guitar solo at the end), it's ultimately not worthwhile.

"Into the Courts of Chaos" is an atmospheric, melancholic, chilling epic, and here you can tell the album really begins to pick up, attaining the majesty Manilla Road are known for. The opening acoustic riff is simply breathtaking, and the song only builds from there, become cavernous and majestic, as though one is entering another world, fabled but never before discovered. The atmosphere is really completed by the murky keyboards, although the focus is still Shelton's vocals and the guitar. There really isn't a bad moment here, the riff progression is pretty seamless and consistently fantastic. Highly recommended. "From Beyond" is a dark, occult number that wonderfully evokes some story equal parts sci-fi and horror, especially with lyrics such as "the tuning forks are set" and vocals from Shelton that sound like some crazed mad scientist ready to communicate with the extraterrestrials at last. That opening riff is just perfect, and although the quality of the song dips slightly partway through, it's definitely a solid number, reusing a harsher version of the verse melody from "Dig Me No Grave", sounding even more evil and frantic than before.

"A Touch of Madness" continues in a similar vein, opening with a strange, dark riff that is solid if unspectacular. The rest of the song is similarly solid but unspectacular, although there are some highlights, such as a murky wail by Shelton that sounds almost alien, and a pretty great, crushing guitar solo. "Vlad the Impaler" is also merely solid, feeling less occult and atmospheric and more thrashy than the rest of the album; the highlight here is definitely the guitar solo. The album goes back up from solid to spectacular with "The Prophecy". Musically it feels like it picks up where "Into the Courts of Chaos" left off. Its dark majesty feels like a further exploration into the realm discovered in the title track, and it definitely has a strong epic flair. Again keyboards help build the vast, arcane atmosphere, and the harmony between the keyboards, the riffs, and the leads toward the end is just priceless. Definitely an excellent song.

Finally, we have "The Books of Skelos" which is unquestionably the best song here, and one of the best Manilla Road songs ever, if not the best. Everything about this song just screams epic. The ancient, warm intro is simply unparalleled, finally feeling as though this other world explored in the title track and "The Prophecy" is fully manifested; as though this is the full tale of its history. More than any other Manilla Road song, this gives me the feel of being transported to another world. The thrashier half is great too; relentless, dark, frantic and arcane; as though some dark wizard is making use of the titular Books of Skelos and all their occult power. Overall, this is definitely a song you don't want to miss out on experiencing. Although not the strongest Manilla Road album, The Courts of Chaos is definitely an improvement over the rather inconsistent Out of the Abyss, and has a murky, cosmic, sci-fi sort of feel all its own, while still feeling very much like a Manilla Road album. If you're a fan of Manilla Road or epic metal, definitely get this release.

On this album, the Manilla guys explore mainly horror themes, so the music
is also appropriately darker and more 'gothic'. It features a number of very
interesting and unusual songs, by the band's standards.

The opener, 'Road to Chaos' is an instrumental piece, consisting mainly of cold synthesiser passages, sounding like a cliche horror movie soundtrack, but creating a creepy atmosphere.

'D. O. A.' is about the phenomenon of dying - it is overall pretty calm and quiet, but still creating an uneasy, almost psychodelic feeling in the listener, due to the haunting melody, great vocal performance and the chilling keyboard pattern in the background. The song might be a bit overlong, but it's interesting anyway.

'From Beyond', a lovecraft-based story, is a tale about a mysterious scientifical experiment, which will end tragically, of course :) The beginning is acoustic and calm, yet still foreboding. Then, as things start to get out of control, so does the music - getting heavier and wilder verse after verse, giving the effect of growing tension and momentum. Mark Shelton, the vocalist, does a great job deliverng really demonic screams. Such an intensive feeling of terror can rarely be found in music - imo it's even better than King Diamnond stuff or the black metal realm. This song is almost black metal anyway. A small masterpiece.

The rest of the album is more or less typical Manilla Road stuff, that means rather slow songs with very intensive, half-thrash at times riffing. A lot of emphasis here is also on creating an epic feel, which is achieved by making the songs quite long and developed into many parts. The band's maninman, Mark Shelton, seems to have a natural talent for writing catchy vocal lines, he also delivers a lot very skillful guitar solos. The vocals are executed in a rather unusual manner, 'cause Shelton has a strange, kind of 'nasal' voice. He is a very verslite singer though, being able to convey the melody well and sometimes switching to a more throaty, rough voice, sometimes delivering demonic screams.

More standout tracks include 'Dig Me No Grave', a wicked, pounding metal anthem done in Manilla Road's dark style, the title track, being imo one of the best MR songs ever. The album ends with a huge epic song, called The Books of Skelos, which starts off gently as a ballad, and turning into ferocious and brutal speed metal in the middle.

On the 2002' reissue there is a live bonus track 'The Far Side of the Sun'. I don't know the original song, and the sound quality on this track makes it hard to judge the song - but there sure is some serious shredding going on.

I'm not sure about the drums on this record - in the booklet nobody is listed as the drummer, so I guess they might be programmed. That's not a problem though, 'cause the beats are very varied and there is a lot of fills and rolls ;)The guitar work is nothing short of superb, with great solos and interesting arrangement ideas all along. And the bass is even audible.

Overall, this is a very interesting album, recomended to all Manilla Road fans and people who want some dark and atmospheric music. Beware though, descent into the courts of chaos is very challenging ... will you dare?