Metal Church
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Metal Church is an American heavy metal band from Seattle. They formed as Shrapnel in 1981, their legendary first album was released in 1984, and the band's most recent work, A Light in the Dark was released in 2006. Metal Church was formed when the Thrash/Speed Metal Genre was still evolving and is one of the few rock bands to come out of Seattle that does not belong to the Grunge movement or genre. Most of their early work had a special trademark that resembled many of the European Black and Death Metal bands of the 1980s. The songs in their most successful albums, the self-titled Metal Church and The Dark, proved to be thoroughly-worked albums. David Wayne's vocals resembled those of the growls used by the European black metal bands but in a very high pitched tone. The lyrics from the album The Dark talk about death, assassination, and fears. Metal Church is still a working band; they are working with their third vocalist.
History
Early History (1980s)
Metal Church originally formed as Shrapnel in 1981, with Mick Murray on vocals, Kirk Arrington on drums, Craig Wells and Kurdt Vanderhoof on guitars, and Duke Erickson on bass. Mick Murray, however, left the band due to personal and creative differences. He was replaced by the charismatic David Wayne. This is still considered by fans as the classic line-up. From 1983 until 1987, this line-up, alongside Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Testament, and Exodus, helped in defining thrash metal. Lars Ulrich played with an earlier formation of Metal Church, before he moved to L.A. where he met James Hetfield and formed Metallica.
Before releasing their self-titled debut album, Metal Church released a demo tape, called the Four Hymns. This album contained the hits Batallions, Deathwish, Gods of Wrath, and the song by which they are most recognised, The Brave. The demo tape is now out of print. These songs, however, can be found in [here].
It should be noted that in the demo tape, they had a sound quite similar to Judas Priest and Metallica, in the sense that they utilized dual rhythms and topics based on war or dark themes. Batallions and Gods of Wrath are two examples of such sounds.
In 1985, their self-titled debut album was released, to critical and commercial success. It earned them a large fanbase, and is still considered one of the best heavy metal albums of the 1980s. The song Metal Church is still considered one of the band's most creative songs. Another song which helped boost sales of this album was a Deep Purple cover song, Highway Star.
By the time Metal Church released The Dark, they were a full-fledged thrash/speed metal band, touring with legendary acts like Metallica. (Both Lars and Kurdt are good friends, even today; Marshall is the guitar tech of Kirk Hammett and has played guitar for Metallica while Hetfield recovered from injuries).
In 1989, the band replaced Wayne with Mike Howe, and released Blessing In Disguise. Almost as dark in tone as The Dark, it was another classic album, considered by some of their fans as their best.
Break-up and Solo careers (1990s)
Following the release of 1991's The Human Factor, Kurdt started working solo, although he still worked for the benefit of the band. His new band, "Hall Aflame", released their debut album, Guaranteed Forever, through I.R.S. Records.
The band broke up in 1993 after the release of Hanging in the Balance. The main reason was the decline of thrash/speed metal, which was being replaced by more pop-oriented heavy metal. This is one case which was presented by fans, was the rise of the beloved grunge band Nirvana and the legendary Groove Metal band Pantera. However, the band members enjoyed their time in their solo bands; Kurdt and Kirk formed "Vanderhoof" and released their self-titled debut album in 1997, and Wayne, who formed "Reverend" in 1989, was enjoying commercial success.
Resurrection (1998-2004)
The founding members of Metal Church released the album Live in 1998. The band then started working on a new studio album. However, Craig Wells departed from the band due to personal and creative differences. He was replaced by John Marshall.
Masterpeace was released in 1999, to critical and commercial success.
Vanderhoof released A Blur in Time in 2002, and Kurdt started working for new material for Metal Church's studio album.
In 2004, both Kurdt and Kirk recruited Ronny Monroe, ex-Malice guitarist Jay Ronalds, and Steve Unger. The result was the "back-to-their-roots" album Weight of the World.
However, in 2006, Kirk Arrington left the band due to health complications. His replacement was Jeff Plate, who previously worked with Savatage.
On June 26th, 2006, Metal Church released tehir latest album, A Light In The Dark, which also featured a tribute to David Wayne, who died last year.
Current members
- Ronny Munroe: Vocals
- Kurdt Vanderhoof: Guitar
- Jay Reynolds: Guitar
- Steve Unger: Bass
- Jeff Plate : Drums
Former members
- David Wayne (January 1, 1958 - May 10, 2005): Vocals (On Metal Church, The Dark, Live, Masterpeace)
- Mike Howe: Vocals (On Blessing in Disguise, The Human Factor, Hanging in the Balance)
- Craig Wells: Guitar (On all up to and including Live)
- John Marshall: Guitar (On Blessing in Disguise, The Human Factor, Hanging in the Balance, Masterpeace)
- Duke Erickson: Bass (All except The Weight of the World)
- Andrew "Raven's Claw" Peters: Drums
- Kirk Arrington: Drums (On all up to The Weight of the World)
Discography
- Four Hymns (1982)
- Metal Church (1984)
- The Dark (1986)
- Blessing In DIsguise (1989)
- The Human Factor (1991)
- Hanging In The Balance (1993)
- Live (1998)
- Masterpiece (1999)
- The Weight Of The World (2004)
- A Light In The Dark (2006)
External links
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