It has been a really crazy year for the Road so far and there is much to tell about what has happened in the last couple of months so let’s get started for this might be a bit of read.

We had some really bad storms in Kansas this year and usually we make it through this time of the year without many problems but this year was a bit different. I had a huge 100 plus year old Elm tree in my back yard that was uprooted during one of the many storms we had in Wichita. It destroyed my neighbor’s garage and damaged mine as well as ripping out the power lines from my house and studio causing an electrical fire on the back of the house. It did not stop storming for 3 weeks and took a whole month to get the damage repaired and power restored back to the house and the studio.

All of this set us back a bit on our intended recording schedule and after we got back up and running again we only had about 2 weeks before we had to be back out on the road again heading to Canada to play in the Wings of Metal festival in Montreal. It was a great time and a killer audience and I would like to thank everyone that helped make this event a memorable one for us. The Canadians are turning out to be as crazy as the European Manilla Road fans. It was a lot of fun.

We then ventured back to Wichita, Kansas for 2 weeks of working frantically in the studio until we took off again for touring in Germany and Belgium. We just finished doing 2 shows in Germany in Russelsheim and Ludwigsburg. Both shows were really fun and the audiences were great. Then we ended up at the Ages of Metal festival in Belgium (which was sold out) and had a really crazy time playing there. Many thanks to all the promoters, crews and fans for making all of these shows really cool. It was another great tour experience for all of us in the Road. Having the stage invaded by the front row of the audience in Belgium during the song Necropolis was totally intense and wild. Great times in Europe once again.

We were supposed to be doing a show in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates but unfortunately due to financial difficulties that the promoters were having our part of that show was canceled. So now we are hanging out in Germany with our drummer making plans for the next years worth of touring. I am now doing my best to get caught up on my emails and facebook stuff and also working on business for the Road that I have not paid enough attention too since the storms hit the studio.

We are only 4 bass tracks away from being finished with the recording of the next Manilla Road album. I am hoping to have it released in the first quarter of 2014. We will most likely be mixing the project in the same studio that we did Mysterium in with Steve Falke again. Since Mysterium turned out so well I see no need to change studios or engineers and at this point in time I would have to say that the sound of the recordings is even better than that of Mysterium. We just keep learning as we go along and doing our best to make everything sound better than before.

Still planning on doing another Hellwell album and we have 4 songs already recorded for the next album but it will still be some time before that project will be finished due to working on the next Manilla Road album. I have had a lot of people ask when the next Hellwell album will be out but please understand that Manilla Road is and always will be my first priority.

It has been a really great year for Manilla Road so far (except for the small setback of the Kansas weather) and I wish to extend my thanks for all the support that has come from our fans, the journalists, radio stations and promoters that have all made this possible. Manilla Road has truly turned into a bit of a phenomena and a dream come true for me and my band mates. But still none of this would have been possible without the support of our ever growing fan base. I always dreamed of Manilla Road being this well known in the metal world but at the same time it was highly unlikely that this was going to ever happen to a small unknown Kansas band like ourselves. I have all of you to thank for this and I hope that we can live up to your expectations in the future. So I guess that is about it for now and of course I want to wish you all the very best in your lives and say to all of you that dreams can come true if you strive hard enough and keep believing in yourself. I’m not saying it’s an easy road but it is possible.

To one and all May the Lords of Light Be With You and Blessed Be.
Up The Hammers & Down The Nails
Shark