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.
Spider
Manilla Road Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Moving like a black fist
Moving like a dark flame
Spider, when to sleep
Sink it in my flesh
Sink it in so deep
What you did to my daddys' leg
What you did to my head
The spider, in my dreams
Want ot wake up
Want ot scream
You don't know what you did
To me with your wicked little mind
You don't know what you do
To me with your wicked little mind
Never wonder why
Spider, now I'm dreaming
And my body is something to bite
To suck it dry
Tear into my gut, wouldn't you try
If you were bigger
If you were bigger
You don't know what you did
To me with your wicked little mind
You don't know what you do
To me with your wicked little mind
Fucking little mind
No, no, no
So now I'm coming to kill you
At least your awake I'm alive
Tiny black eyes open
Trying to hide
Maybe I'll miss you
Run into the night
Find a place to go to sleep
And dream of flies
The lyrics of Manilla Road's song "Spider" are filled with images of fear and disgust towards a spider. The song starts with the singer asking the spider if it has a name, and then describing it as "moving like a black fist" and "moving like a dark flame". The fear of the spider intensifies as the lyrics tell how the spider has sunk its fangs deep into the singer's flesh and how it once bit the singer's father's leg. The lyrics then reveal that the spider has become a recurring nightmare, causing the singer to wake up screaming.
The second half of the song becomes more aggressive towards the spider, as the lyrics describe the singer's dream of turning on the spider and killing it. However, the lyrics also suggest that the spider is something to respect, with the singer acknowledging that it is only due to the spider's small size that the singer can harm it. The song ends with the spider escaping, and the singer dreaming of flies - a possible reference to the spider's future prey.
Overall, the lyrics of "Spider" seem to reflect a classic fear and disgust towards spiders that many people can relate to. It is interesting to see how the lyrics shift from simply describing the spider to actively confronting and attempting to kill it. The use of nightmares and dreams in the lyrics also adds a layer of psychological fear to the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Spider, do you have a name
The singer is addressing a spider and asks if it has a name.
Moving like a black fist
The spider is moving swiftly and with force.
Moving like a dark flame
The spider is moving quickly and ominously, like a flickering flame.
Spider, when to sleep
The singer questions when the spider sleeps.
Sink it in my flesh
The singer wants the spider to bite him/her and sink its fangs into the flesh.
Sink it in so deep
The singer wants the spider to bite deeply into the skin.
Spider, under my bed
The singer is warning the spider that it better not be under his/her bed.
What you did to my daddys' leg
The singer accuses the spider of biting his/her dad's leg.
What you did to my head
The singer accuses the spider of affecting his/her mind.
The spider, in my dreams
The spider appears in the singer's dreams.
Want ot wake up
The singer wants to wake up from the dream.
Want ot scream
The singer wants to scream in the dream.
You don't know what you did
The singer is scolding the spider and saying it doesn't know the harm it has caused.
To me with your wicked little mind
The spider's actions are attributed to its supposedly malicious motives.
Never wonder why
The spider shouldn't be surprised why the singer is so angry.
Spider, now I'm dreaming
The spider is once again appearing in the singer's dream.
And my body is something to bite
The singer feels vulnerable and exposed to be bitten by the spider in the dream.
To suck it dry
The spider is imagined to drain the singer's life out of him/her.
Tear into my gut, wouldn't you try
The singer taunts the spider to attack his/her gut instead of just biting the skin.
If you were bigger
The singer implies that if the spider was bigger, it would be more of a threat to him/her.
No, no, no
The singer is firmly opposing the spider or its actions.
So now I'm coming to kill you
The singer has had enough and plans to kill the spider.
At least your awake I'm alive
The singer acknowledges the fact that the spider is now on alert since it senses the danger from the singer.
Tiny black eyes open
The spider's eyes are tiny and black.
Trying to hide
The spider is trying to avoid the singer's wrath and hides itself.
Maybe I'll miss you
The singer is not sure if he/she is going to kill the spider in the end.
Run into the night
If the spider escapes, it would run away into the night.
Find a place to go to sleep
If the spider escapes, it would find a place to go to sleep.
And dream of flies
The spider would dream of catching flies.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
vae victis
great song great album!!
Manny Ruiz
What a mean song. Love the riff and the groove.
kakolykia
What a creepy track! I like it
djehan kidd
spidaaahhhhhhhh
Mohammad Hazim
Spider 🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕸️🕸️🕸️🕸️🕸️