MANILLA ROAD - Open The Gates LP 180g BLACK (Pre-Order)

01 Metalström
02 Open the Gates
03 Astronomica
04 Weavers of the Web
05 The Ninth Wave
06 Heavy Metal to the World
07 The Fires of Mars
08 Road of Kings
09 Hour of the Dragon
10 Witches Brew

Mark Shelton - Guitars, Vocals 
Scott Park - Bass 
Randy Foxe - Drums, Keyboards, Vocals 

»Open the Gates« was originally released via Black Dragon Records in 1985. It was the first label deal Manilla Road had struck outside their own Roadster Records label. The atmosphere within the Manilla Road camp at the time of the album's original release was electric. Mark “The Shark“ Shelton remembers vividly: “We were in a whirlwind of excitement. A musical feeding frenzy you might say. All of us in the band were getting along really well and the whole thing seemed to be going really smooth with a good future outlook in our heads.“
The original vinyl release on Black Dragon came with a bonus 12" single. This was down to the time restriction of vinyl back then. Sales were more than healthy when the album was originally issued in Europe.
Throughout the years, Manilla Road have become quite well-known for their concept albums but »Open the Gates« was only partly a concept album. It was mostly geared to the King Arthur legend.
"Metalström" opened the album in true Manilla Road style. To this day a lot of fans wonder if "Metalström" was a printing mistake or not. Mark Shelton reveals: “'Ström' is just another way of saying 'storm' so the title is referring to a metal storm, basically. So whether they thought it was a misprint or not, it really did not matter because everyone got the same meaning out of it, no matter which way you thought it was. But there was much discussion about it and the topic seems to still come up now and again.”
Along with »Crystal Logic« and »The Deluge« Manilla Road's »Open the Gates« is clearly one of the band's most well-regarded albums (to this very day it's cherished by fans and press alike).