Manilla Road - To Kill a King

Manilla Road To Kill a King cover
Manilla Road
To Kill a King
GoldenCore Records / ZYX
2017
4.5
With some eighteen albums Manilla Road have been toiling since the late 70s and releasing albums since 1980, predictably, taking a dirt nap in the early 90s due to the rise of grunge and resurfacing post millennially with Brian Patrick on vocals and more lately the German drummer, from a Roxxcalibur and every band that plays at KIT and is in need of one, Andreas Neuderth and as I just found out, via the internet, a new bassist, not that such details really matter.
 
Poorly recorded, but sounding “vintage” to the ears of those who like the band, musically flawed, but with “great guitars”… (well some good riff ideas do exist – but the guitar playing ain’t great 40 years in) and with dump unexciting vocals (shared between Shelton and Hellroadie) that both sound pretty bad. This is going to be right up the alley of people who enjoy fantasy literature and comics, consider Pagan Altar to be a great band and all that (aka not me!)…
 
I suppose, I did like “The Arena” because it features very little singing (pretty bad) and has a pretty epic theme, but other than a few riffs on the title track that’s a ten minute snoozer, a few “In the Wake” and bits and pieces here and there. “To Kill a King” is an album I will happily never bother with, ever again. I demand great vocals, great choruses and a production that at least sounds like someone tried to make a good sounding album and not just recorded a rehearsal. I suppose to each his own…