?Classics? of power metal #1: MANILLA ROAD - Open The Gates (1985), upon further review

In my attempts to write about music, I've been fond of the idea of "something extra" to try to put my finger on why when song X and song Y have many of the same elements, song X is just okay while song Y absolutely smokes.  I feel like Open The Gates is full of songs that have the same elements as many relatively low-fi bass heavy thrash-adjacent metal tracks from the mid '80s yet find ways to stand out.

Let's go back to the first two tracks, again.  "Metalström"* is an average song for me, one of the only truly average cuts on the record.  It has a decent riff with lively drumming, a decent tune sung with conviction but not any particular skill, and rides those few things to the end; a metal song like many others of its time.  "Open The Gates" (the song) is a cut above.  I find it hard to tire of listening to the one, over and over.  What's different?  Well, there's a special something somewhere!  OTG has a killer simple but powerful riff, but a riff alone doesn't make a song.  I think what does it is the way the chorus plays with the same two-note pattern as the riff (da-DUM, da-DUM) but then throws in that key change on the second iteration (on "in Hell").  That particular two-note figure soars, so that the next line can then resolve the chord.  That's my attempt to dissect why I love listening to "fight well, in Hell; open the gates!" so much.  Also, one underappreciated trick that I'm discovering I love is dropping right from the chorus back into the verse, as OTG does on its second verse.**  Anyway, stone cold classic of a song.

In many cases I do think Randy Foxe (his first appearance with the band) is the one providing that little extra kick to make every song hit harder than it would with a lesser drummer.  If ever anyone understood the assignment of "keep the time, throw in an energetic fill on the down-beat," you can hear it here, although it sounds like from time to time the band gives him an extra measure to just go nuts for a second or two before sliding immediately back into pocket.  The mixing and drum production would make me shocked if he didn't cite Bill Ward as a major influence, and I do enjoy Randy's overt Sabbath worship on the most overtly Sabbath worshipping song here, "The Ninth Wave."  Elsewhere, I don't know enough about music to say whether or not Randy can be said to have his own distinct style, just that he's one of the best parts of nearly every track.

Whatever the source of the special something, nearly every song has it.  Once the riff starts, my reaction on relistening quickly becomes "oh, right, this is one of the good ones," and then the record's over and they're all the good ones. 

On a compositional level, I can't speak highly enough about the way songs are built so that Mark's limited vocal range doesn't prevent the choruses from hitting.  The closing run of "Road Of Kings," "The Hour Of The Dragon," and "Witches Brew" is a particularly good section for choruses, but again, the record is all good ones.  I'm not entirely sure how far to walk back my previous post's less than flattering comments about Mark as a vocalist.  Rather than call him a bad singer, I'm going to have to stick with "limited."  He only has a few notes that he can hit reliably, so he confines himself to those notes.  He has a certain gruff power and knows how to write a minimalist vocal melody that lands.  Mark also expertly shifts back and forth between two basic delivery styles to emphasize different things on songs like "Witches Brew" that demand it.  That thing where he pushes his voice as high as it'll go on the final verse (but not chorus) of "The Ninth Wave" so that it feels more intense without him needing to sing any louder (because he honestly can't, on those notes)... this is not something that most songwriters would get right the way Mark does.  Granted, we all already knew that the way a rock band uses its vocals can be more important than the technical skill of said vocalist; it's just somehow even more true than usual for Manilla Road.

When something doesn't work as well, that's the conspicuous part.  I wish "Astronomicon"*** hit quite as hard as it could, because the intro actually sounds beautiful, vocally speaking, and the idea of turning the part leading up to "it's not just fantasy" into the chorus once the song kicks in is sound, but the singing is too a little to coarse to quite pull it off.  A pretty good song that's this close to being great.  I also think Mark's vocal limitations (besides the even sillier than usual lyrics) are what make me like "Heavy Metal To The World" less - one of the few times he really tries to punch above his weight.  It's too bad he honestly does sound better doing the slow and mid tempo stuff, because I do crave some more speed (then again, "Weavers Of The Web" and "The Hour Of The Dragon" are here for that).  I guess that actually bodes well for my attempts to see how much I can enjoy power metal - this project isn't called "?classics? of power-adjacent proto-epic metal," after all.

Last major appreciation I want to make about the record as a listening experience is how unified it is.  Even acknowledging that "this song sounds kinda like Sabbath, whereas this one sounds kinda like Maiden" is not quite the level of sonic diversity that metalheads might like to pretend, it is a fact that the songs on Open The Gates vary quite a bit in speed, scope, length, and structure, meshing a few early metal subgenres (trad, NWOBHM, power, thrash, maybe a splash of doom).  Yet the tone and playing stay the same even as they change other things up, leaving no doubt that it's the same three guys.  I'm sure this survey of power metal will include some bigger ensembles, but there's something to be said about such big soundscapes that're always clearly just three dudes.  Not even much multi-tracking that I'm noticing.

Favorite track:  "Open The Gates"

Runner up:  "Road Of Kings"

Least favorite track:  " Metalström"

Rating:  4/5

Things I learned about power metal:  

1)  "Epic metal" is a recognized subgenre, linked to power metal but not subsumed by it, that's not quite my thing

2)  A limited singer is no barrier to a catchy vocal melody

Will I come back to Manilla Road?:  Eh, probably sooner or later.  Not dying to do so right away, but at some point I should at least spend some time with the apparently equally influential follow-up "The Deluge," and maybe at least find a playlist or greatest-hits collection to scan the rest of the ouvre.

Next:  First impressions of Adramelch's Irae Melanox, whenever I get around to it!

* Also, MR, you're from Kansas.  The ironic umlaut isn't that funny. 

**Why don't bands do that more often?  Are they focused on making sure the singer has a chance to take a breath?  

***AKA "what if 'The Last In Line,' but Manilla Road?"