Mystification (album)

Mystification
Studio album by Manilla Road
Released	August 1987
Recorded	1986
Studio	All Green Music Memphis, Tennessee Miller Studio, North Newton, Kansas
Genre	Heavy metal thrash metal
Length	43:02
Label	Black Dragon [1]
Producer	Manilla Road, Paul Zaleski, Larry Funk
Manilla Road chronology
The Deluge (1986) Mystification (1987) Out of the Abyss (1988)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Chronicles of Chaos	9/10 [3]

Mystification is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Manilla Road, released in 1987. ^{[4] [5]} It was re-released in 2000 on Sentinel Steel Records.

The album was inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe. ^[6]

Critical reception

AllMusic wrote that "bandleader Mark Shelton's stirring guitar work often comes to the rescue, spinning beautiful melodic yarns across the near epic 'Children of the Night' and the Haley's Comet-inspired 'Dragon Star', while additional album standouts such as 'Spirits of the Dead' and the title track finally display the clever combination of melodic savvy and compelling oft-spiritual lyrics to get them through." ^[2]

Track listing

1. "Haunted Palace" – 4:23
2. "Spirits of the Dead" – 4:24
3. "Valley of Unrest" – 3:41
4. "Mystification" – 5:35
5. "Masque of the Red Death" – 5:21
6. "Up From the Crypt" – 3:02
7. "Children of the Night" – 6:55
8. "Dragon Star" – 5:56
9. "Death by the Hammer" – 3:45

• The 2000 re-release has a different track list, and includes the song "The Asylum" as the tenth track.

Credits

Manilla Road

• Mark Shelton – lead vocals, guitars
• Scott Park – bass guitar
• Randy Foxe – backing vocals, drums and percussion

Production

• Paul Zaleski – producer
• Larry Funk – co-producer, edit
• Manilla Road – producer, arranger, edit, concept
• L. Ryan Hendricks – concept, artwork

References

1. Bukszpan, Daniel (September 15, 2003). "The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal". Barnes & Noble Publishing – via Google Books.
2. "Mystification - Manilla Road | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
3. "CoC : Manilla Road - Mystification : Review". www.chroniclesofchaos.com.
4. "Manilla Road Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
5. Sharpe-Young, Garry (September 15, 2007). "Metal: The Definitive Guide : Heavy, NWOBH, Progressive, Thrash, Death, Black, Gothic, Doom, Nu". Jawbone Press – via Google Books.
6. Pollin, Burton K. (2003). "Music and Edgar Allan Poe: A Fourth Annotated Checklist". Poe Studies. 36 (1–2): 90.