Crystal Logic

Although 1980’s Invasion and 1982’s Metal found Manilla Road exploring hard rock, heavy prog, and Hawkwind-esque space rock, it wasn’t until 1983’s Crystal Logic that the Wichita, Kan., trio fully came into the heavy metal sound that made them one of the most championed cult bands of their ilk. Produced by Mark Mazur, the pitched-down vocal narrative of the opening “Prologue” suggests that this is a concept album about a lost city of the dead that lays just beyond the River Styx. That notion is pursued in the following “Necropolis,” a throttled approximation of New Wave of British Heavy Metal loaded with barbed chorus melodies. The title track displays more complex songwriting, with sinewy guitar work and clever arrangements. Frontman Mark Shelton’s dexterous leads are incredible throughout, most noticeably in the opening of the short and catchy “Feeling Free Again” and especially in the amazing 12-minute epic “Dreams of Eschaton/Epilogue.” Some of the band’s sludgy proto-metal roots surface in the Sabbathesque standout “The Riddle Master.”