Manilla Road is an American heavy metal band from Wichita, Kansas, USA, for… Read Full Bio ↴Manilla Road is an American heavy metal band from Wichita, Kansas, USA, forming around its master of lead guitar Mark 'The Shark' Shelton (vocals and guitar). They are considered to one of the early pioneers of the epic metal subcategory of traditional heavy metal and one of the most influential bands in that style.

Manilla Road was created by Shelton in 1977 with high school friends Benny Munkirs, Rick Fisher and brothers Robert and Scott Park. After playing in local bars, the group first gained attention with their song "Herman Hill," inspired by the Herman Hill riot. Their first album "Invasion" was released in 1980 on the band's own label, Roadster Records. Between this time and their next release the band recorded material for an album to be titled "The Dreams Of Eschaton", however this was not released until 2002 (under the name "Mark of the Beast") as they were not happy with the sound. Shelton has been quoted as saying the music was "not metal enough" and "sounded like shit." Despite this "Mark of the Beast" was critically well received when it was eventually released. These early albums have more in common with progressive rock and proto-heavy metal than the band's later epic metal sound.

The next record was "Metal" in 1982, which began to define the future musical direction of Manilla Road. Their "classic" sound was solidified with the epic release of "Crystal Logic" in 1983.

The next five Manilla Road albums (along with a live release, "Roadkill") featured new drummer Randy Foxe, who had more of a thrash-oriented style than original drummer Rick Fisher. Along with "Crystal Logic" (1983), the new lineup's first two albums, "Open the Gates" (1985) and "The Deluge" (1986), are generally considered to be classics in the field of epic heavy metal. It was on these three albums that Manilla Road's style became fully formed. Lyrics typically feature fantastic elements from Norse mythology, Arthurian legend or other literary sources. These are often combined in one setting, the concept album "Atlantis Rising" (2001), for example, features a war between the Æsir and Cthulhu, centered around the city of Atlantis.

"Mystification" (1987) suffered from exceptionally poor production resulting, ironically, from the substandard equipment at a new studio the band hoped would improve their sound. The recent re-release has fixed this problem to a large extent. After Mystification came "Out of the Abyss" (1988), widely criticised at the time for its thrash metal influences. The band released one more album, "The Courts of Chaos" (1992), described by Shelton as "the first true Manilla Road masterpiece" before splitting up because of personal and musical disagreements between Scott Park and Randy Foxe.

In 1992 Mark Shelton recorded "Circus Maximus" with Aaron Brown and Andrew Coss. Despite having never been intended as a Manilla Road project, the album was released under this name at the record company's insistence.

Manilla Road re-formed in 1994 and released "Atlantis Rising" in 2001, again with Mark Shelton as the only original member. On this occasion, however, the sound was much more consistent with the Manilla Road of old and it was the band who decided to continue using the name. Their latest albums are "Spiral Castle" published in 2002, "Gates Of Fire", in 2005, and "Voyager" in 2008. In May 2009 they released their second live album called "After Midnight Live", which was recorded live, on the air, at KMUW radio studios, Wichita, Kansas in December of 1979 shortly before the release of their debut album "Invasion". The album "Playground of the Damned" was released in 2011, followed by "Mysterium" in 2013, "The Blessed Curse" in 2015, and what was their final release, "To Kill a King" in 2017.
Mark "The Shark" Shelton died in Germany from a heart attack at the age of 60. Manilla Road were on tour at the time of Shelton’s death; he had performed at Germany’s Headbangers Open Air Festival the previous night.

Court of Avalon
Manilla Road Lyrics

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The sprit of the ice
Will lead us through this fight for life
Manilla shall be free
From the clone of war they call The Priest

We pray we do not fall
And waste our lives for no avail
The Crystal leads our way

We will live through the second doomsday

Who do you see?
The power of fire in me
I have to use it
I won't abuse it
We must set Manilla free

The emerald towers rise
I seems as though they touch the sky
The Golden bridge of Zor
Sapphire heat that melts the cold

In the court I see
The mighty clone they call The Priest
The battle rages on
In the Court of Avalon

Who do you see?
The power of fire in me
I have to use it
I won't abuse it
We must set Manilla free

We'll carry on
We've got to fight for the son
All my feelings
They send me reeling
Through the Court of Avalon

I knew the time would come
When final justice would be done
The freedom fighters few
Gone trough hell all for you

The city free at last
We've finally shed our turmoiled past
Ice Spirit she sails on
We won the war in the Court of Avalon

Who do you see?
The power of fire in me
I have to use it
I won't abuse it
We must set Manilla free

We'll carry on
We've got to fihgt for the son
All my feelings

Send me reeling
Through the Court of Avalon

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Manilla Road's song Court of Avalon depict a battle fought in a mystical realm in order to set the city of Manilla free from the grasp of war. The singer talks about the spirit of ice guiding the fight, and how they pray not to fall and waste their lives for no avail. They follow the Crystal and will live through the second doomsday. They see themselves as powerful warriors, with the power of fire within them, but they insist that they won't abuse it, as their goal is to set Manilla free. The emerald towers that seem to touch the sky and the Golden bridge of Zor, along with the Sapphire heat that melts the cold, set the mystical tone of the whole journey.

The battle takes place in the Court of Avalon, where they encounter the mighty clone they call The Priest. The battle rages on, but they insist on carrying on with the fight to set Manilla free. They've got to fight for the son and all their feelings send them reeling through the Court of Avalon. They've been through hell as freedom fighters, but they finally managed to shed their turmoiled past, and with the help of the ice spirit sailing on, they won the war in the Court of Avalon.

Line by Line Meaning

The sprit of the ice Will lead us through this fight for life
We rely on the power of the spirit of ice to guide us through this intense struggle for survival.

Manilla shall be free From the clone of war they call The Priest
We must liberate Manilla from the destructive force known as The Priest, who represents the horrors of war.

We pray we do not fall And waste our lives for no avail The Crystal leads our way We will live through the second doomsday
We hope to avoid failure and protect our lives from being wasted. The Crystal is our guide to survive the imminent doomsday.

Who do you see? The power of fire in me I have to use it I won't abuse it We must set Manilla free
Do you see the fire within me? I must use it to liberate Manilla, but I won't misuse it in the process.

The emerald towers rise I seems as though they touch the sky The Golden bridge of Zor Sapphire heat that melts the cold
The towering emerald structures reach out into the sky, stretching across the Golden bridge of Zor. The warmth of the sapphire heats up the frigid cold.

In the court I see The mighty clone they call The Priest The battle rages on In the Court of Avalon
I witness the all-powerful clone known as The Priest in the court. The fight continues to rage on in the mystical realm of Avalon.

We'll carry on We've got to fight for the son All my feelings They send me reeling Through the Court of Avalon
We can't give up, we have to keep fighting for the sake of our children. The intense and overwhelming emotions I feel propel me through the Court of Avalon.

I knew the time would come When final justice would be done The freedom fighters few Gone trough hell all for you
The time has arrived for justice to finally be achieved. The small group of freedom fighters has been through unimaginable suffering, all for the sake of others.

The city free at last We've finally shed our turmoiled past Ice Spirit she sails on We won the war in the Court of Avalon
The city has finally been freed and the turbulent history is over. The Ice Spirit sails away, victorious after winning the war in the Court of Avalon.

We'll carry on We've got to fihgt for the son All my feelings Send me reeling Through the Court of Avalon
We won't stop now, we must continue the fight for the sake of our children. My emotions continue to overwhelm me as I journey through the Court of Avalon.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS

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