Necropolis

from the LP Crystal Logic, Roadster Records, 1983



I’m a sucker for the underdog in almost any given situation, be it sports or films or music, and there is perhaps no better underdogs to root for than the homespun heavy metal of Manilla Road; although their name implies it, they are neither Filipino nor from the Philippines, and in fact hail from the desolate no-man’s-land of Kansas (gasp). I’ve driven through Kansas a lot in life, more than any mortal being should be expected to actually, so the idea of living there engenders nothing but the highest respect for those who would dare do so looking like these guys did (do an image search, trust me, it’s worth it)---these dudes were sitting alone at lunch, for real. The fact is, they absolutely fucking WAIL, and recording in Kansas kept them insulated from the flurry of lame passing trends, giving their sound an edge of genuineness and earnestness missing in all that big hair of metal’s mid ‘80s mainstream.