MANILLA ROAD Necropolis Rhythm Guitar Cover 1983 HEAVY METAL

Taken from the 1983 Album Crystal Logid by US Metal Legends Manilla Road. A Classic. I am only playing my interpretation of the rhythm guitar parts on this and leaving all of the lead guitar duties to the late, great Mark Shelton. Thanks as ever for watching. Crystal Logic is the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Manilla Road, released in December 1983 (and reissued in 2002). On this album the band fully embraced heavy metal, leaving behind the space, progressive and hard rock influences which could be found on the two previous albums. History Early years (1977–1982) Manilla Road was created by guitarist and vocalist Mark Shelton in 1977 along with fellow r Scott Park on bass, Benny Munkirs on drums and Robert Park on rhythm guitar. The band name "Manilla Road" came to be one night when Shelton and Munkirs were both drinking while watching Monty Python's Flying Circus. After playing in local bars around Wichita, the group first gained attention with their song "Herman Hill", inspired by the Herman Hill riot. Following an accident that took the life of the band's head sound and light engineer, drummer Benny Munkirs decided to leave the band along with Robert and was replaced by Myles Sype on drums. Unhappy with Sype's drumming, the rest of the band found a replacement in Rick Fisher, a high school friend of Shelton. It was with this early lineup that Manilla Road released their first studio album Invasion in 1980 on the band's own label, Roadster Records. Between this time and their next release the band recorded material in 1981 for an album to be tentatively titled Dreams of Eschaton, however this was not released until 2002 by Monster Records. The next studio album was Metal in 1982, which began to define the future musical direction of Manilla Road. Their "classic" sound was truly solidified with the release of Crystal Logic in 1983. The reception of the Crystal Logic album resulted in the band getting exposure in Europe, which in turn landed them an overseas record deal with French label Black Dragon Records. Second lineup (1982–1991) Manilla Road's second lineup; from left to right: Scott Park, Randy Foxe, Mark Shelton Despite the success of Crystal Logic, drummer Rick Fisher did not feel at ease with the way the band was evolving musically. With Fisher agreeing to step down, Shelton and Park went searching for a drummer who could play double bass drums, in accordance with their newly evolving sound. Drummer Randy Foxe auditioned and was promptly added to the band after demonstrating his ability on the double bass. This second lineup would stay together for the next five Manilla Road studio albums (along with a live release, Roadkill, in 1988). The Open the Gates studio album in 1985 was the first one to receive significant promotion from the start due to the efforts of their new label Black Dragon. Their next studio album, The Deluge in 1986, followed up on that success. While commercial success never was a main goal for Shelton, the band's popularity in Europe at the time reached a career peak. The release of Mystification in 1987 coincided with the beginning of long-term financial troubles for Black Dragon Records in Europe. After Mystification came Out of the Abyss in 1988. The album was initially released by American label Leviathan Records (David Chastain's) instead of Black Dragon due to their distribution issues. Selling significantly better than Mystification. The next studio album, The Courts of Chaos, was released in 1990. The release of the album was unusual in that it was done by both Black Dragon Records, for the European market, and Leviathan Records, for the North American market. TThe Courts of Chaos would end up being the last Manilla Road release to feature both Randy Foxe and Scott Park. The Circus Maximus (1992–1994) In 1991, personal tensions in the band while touring were beginning to surface, particularly between Foxe and Park. The band members decided to take a hiatus and go their separate ways. Mark Shelton formed a band signed under Black Dragon Records called The Circus Maximus along with Andrew Coss and Aaron Brown, who did the front cover artwork for both Out of the Abyss and The Courts of Chaos. Despite never having been intended to be a Manilla Road project due to the lack of musical coherence with the previous releases, the album was nevertheless released in 1992 under the name "Manilla Road" in Europe at Black Dragon's insistence. Together with the bad reception of the album by critics and fans alike, the incident convinced Shelton to go on a recording hiatus that would last for nearly a decade. On July 27, 2018, a week before the band was booked to perform at Wacken 2018, band founder Mark Shelton died in a German hospital the day after the band played in the Headbangers Open Air. The cause of death was attributed to a heart attack having been precipitated by severe heat exhaustion.

Added 11 Sept 2026