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.
Slaughterhouse
Manilla Road Lyrics
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Like hell's inferno
In The Slaughterhouse
The chainsaws roar,
In deadly thunder
In The Slaughterhouse
Destined to kill
He slays at will
Of a thousand faces
Maddened to rage
Feet in the grave
Living off flesh,
Of the victims he has slain
In The Slaughterhouse
No guest is safe,
>From bloody torture
In The Slaughterhouse
There is no place,
You can call safe
Inside this house,
Is a realm of Chaos
Enter and die
House of black light
Butcher of life,
Could have you under the knife
In The Slaughterhouse
The corpses rot,
Decapitated
In The Slaughterhouse
The lyrics of Manilla Road's song "Slaughterhouse" depict a macabre scene of horror, with vivid descriptions of bloodshed, violence, and death. The opening lines, "The fires burn red, like hell's inferno, in The Slaughterhouse," set the tone for the rest of the song, emphasizing the intense heat and flames that accompany the brutal acts committed in this terrifying place. The use of chainsaws, a common tool of horror movie killers, adds to the sense of horror and danger. The song's protagonist is a murderer with a thousand different faces, who kills freely and without remorse, completely given over to rage and violence. The Slaughterhouse itself is an isolated and terrifying place, where chaos reigns and no one is safe from bloody torture.
The chorus of the song adds to the sense of despair and doom, as it describes the Slaughterhouse as a "house of black light" where the "butcher of life could have you under the knife." The lyrics suggest that once you enter the Slaughterhouse, there is no escape, and there is a sense of finality to the violence that occurs within its walls. The final lines, "the corpses rot, decapitated, in The Slaughterhouse," paint a gruesome picture of the aftermath of the violence, emphasizing the senseless destruction of human life that takes place in this terrifying place.
Line by Line Meaning
The fires burn red,
The fires inside the Slaughterhouse are raging with intensity, likened to the fires of hell.
Like hell's inferno
The fires are so intense, they are comparable to the flames and heat of hell.
In The Slaughterhouse
The place in focus is the Slaughterhouse.
The chainsaws roar,
The sound of chainsaws echoes throughout the Slaughterhouse like deafening thunder.
In deadly thunder
The sound of the chainsaws is both deafening and deadly, filling the Slaughterhouse with an ominous vibe.
In The Slaughterhouse
The place in focus is still the Slaughterhouse.
Destined to kill
The murderer's fate is set, as their only purpose is to kill.
He slays at will
The murderer kills indiscriminately, without restraint or hesitation.
The murderer,
This line refers to the killer described in the previous two lines.
Of a thousand faces
The murderer has taken on many different personas, making it difficult to pinpoint their true identity.
Maddened to rage
The murderer is crazed with anger and malice, consumed by their desire to kill.
Feet in the grave
The murderer's reckless behavior puts their own life at risk, as they could easily become a victim themselves.
Living off flesh,
The murderer sustains themselves by consuming the flesh of their victims.
Of the victims he has slain
The murderer has killed enough people to have a sustained food source in their victims' flesh.
In The Slaughterhouse
This line reiterates the focus on the Slaughterhouse.
No guest is safe,
Anybody who enters the Slaughterhouse is in grave danger, as nobody is exempt from the killer's wrath.
>From bloody torture
Torturous acts will be perpetrated on guests unlucky enough to enter the Slaughterhouse.
In The Slaughterhouse
Once again, the Slaughterhouse is brought to the forefront of attention.
There is no place,
There is absolutely nowhere inside the Slaughterhouse that can be considered safe.
You can call safe
There is no such thing as safety inside the Slaughterhouse, with everything and everywhere being a potential danger.
Inside this house,
The Slaughterhouse is being referred to as a house or dwelling of sorts.
Is a realm of Chaos
The Slaughterhouse is an uncontrollable, chaotic space where anything can happen.
Enter and die
Anyone who enters the Slaughterhouse risks facing certain death.
House of black light
This line is unclear, but it could refer to some kind of otherworldly, harmful, or otherwise unsettling visual effect of the Slaughterhouse.
Butcher of life,
The killer inside the Slaughterhouse is responsible for taking countless lives without restraint or remorse.
Could have you under the knife
Anyone who crosses paths with the Butcher could quickly find themselves being threatened with a deadly weapon like a knife.
In The Slaughterhouse
The Slaughterhouse is once again brought to the center of attention with this line.
The corpses rot,
Multiple victims' bodies have been left within the Slaughterhouse and have begun to decompose.
Decapitated
The victims have been killed so brutally that their heads have been separated from their bodies.
In The Slaughterhouse
The Slaughterhouse remains the focus of attention until the very end of the song.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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