Metal Church

Some of the most fun classic metal releases are the ones that push boundaries of several genres, which is even less common in the less extreme styles. Metal Church rooted their craft in several uprising soils, namely the thrash and speed metal side of things, but there’s obvious USPM here as well. From the gate, I’ll admit that I’m a bit of a David Wayne simp, and I favor his albums in the band by default. But that aside, the debut album titled Metal Church would exhibit some incredible songwriting from everyone, along with the album’s follow-up.

Riding in on steady riffing that seldom breaks harsh speeds, the majority of this is oriented around riff placement being the most important factor. The speed metal parts work so well when preceded by a doom-laced crawling rhythm. Going hand-in-hand with Wayne’s vocals coming in at the right time, the title track displays this incredibly. Longer construction for these is key, working well with the balladry of “Gods Of Wrath” to lay on their take with cleaner guitars and delivery. It would wind up leading to the greatest guitar solo on the record. Opener “Beyond The Black” is filled to the brim with licks and catchy chops, topped off with crushing wails coming in crystal clear, which couldn’t have opened things any better if the band tried.

There are certainly thrashier tinted tunes to be found in Metal Church. “Hitman” is the prime example, contrasting the precision of the more intricate numbers and dialing in the chaotic factor everyone loves. If that isn’t enough, the drums tie all of these approaches together so wonderfully. Kirk Arrington really had an ear for impressive fills that flow wonderfully from one direction to another. The quick instrumental “Merciless Onslaught” brings more of that to the table as well.

Although I think the band reached their peak on the following record, this is undeniably incredible. It also has a rawer, less refined tone that nothing after this has replicated. I can’t really ask for a better balance of straightforward construction and utilizing advanced writing. Untouchable debut for sure!

You know, all that we’ve managed to establish in the 34 years following its release is that Metal Church was a great debut and Metal Church is a great band name. By which I mean that we haven’t figured out such things as what sub-genre of metal the San Franciscans were playing at their formation, nor whether David Wayne really was the finest singer to pass through their ranks - not even really how that guitar on the front cover got the way it did. I’m not particularly worried about the issue of vocalists, seeing as Metal Church had drastically changed their style by the time Mike Howe came to the mic, not to mention when Ronny Munroe appeared, though the other two points deserve looking into during this review.

For me, there are several great songs on Metal Church, though there are two that especially stand out as significant to my development as a person and as a music fan. The first one is ‘Merciless Onslaught’, which might seem like a strange place to begin, because it’s an instrumental that lasts less than three minutes - filler, right? Hahaha, no no no; this is the most persuasive argument on the album that Metal Church were an early thrash metal band and might even have been capable of moving the genre on a step if Kirk Arrington’s blistering drum work is anything to go by. For me, though, it’s the first time I ever realized that a band could plagiarize music so deliberately, for it was the Witchery song ‘Bone Mill’ that made me aware of the intensely speedy main riff and the caffeine-addict drum fill that I have imitated many times when waiting impatiently for the Metal Archives to load after a cup or two of the black stuff. I still love the Witchery song despite the steal, but ‘Merciless Onslaught’ is a real pent-up sprint of a song, the only reason for it being instrumental so that we can listen closely as the band wipe the floor with Metallica and Anthrax’s efforts from 1984, then go on to load the back half with solos courtesy of Kurdt Vanderhoof and Craig Wells that are essentially a more varied form of what Kirk Hammett was trying to do around the same time.

So that’s my Metallica bitterness all used up and time to introduce ‘Hitman’. Maybe more of an obvious choice as a highlight, this is approaching thrash territories in terms of speed and playing style in the verses, although I would personally say that they were closer to speed metal in that I can imagine Iron Maiden playing the song without the guitar crunch and with different lyrics. Anyway, I want to talk about the chorus, because one of my favourite moments in metal is the part when Wayne warbles out, “It was you, woah-oh-oh-woah,” in the most achingly weird and bittersweet manner you could imagine. When I first moved to China, this was one of two songs I would play all the time (the other was ‘I Walk to My Own Song’ by Stratovarius, so sue me) simply because the emotion put into that vocal summed up all my complicated feelings in a way that I couldn’t really explain and still can’t put into words.

What we learn from those two examples is manifold and not very complicated: firstly, I like talking about myself too much; secondly, Metal Church has some songs that are verging on thrash but doesn’t quite use the same playing techniques; thirdly, the instrumentalists and vocalist all do a great job. Wayne’s voice soars really fucking high on a song like ‘Gods of Wrath’, as if the chorus was dedicated to his pet dog, though one can see from the construction of that epic number that Metal Church weren’t all about speed, taking their time through a clean balladic build-up and lurching into hard rock guitar chords with a thick metal crunch. Said thick metallic crunch is one reason why this gets tossed around as a thrash contender, since there’s no doubt that your Saxons and Judas Priests didn’t have distortion like the guitarists do here, even if Arrington’s drums don’t quite have the definitive slap on the snare that would have taken the intensity up to a more extreme level. As such, I’m not inclined to throw this in with the thrash crowd, though ‘(My Favorite) Nightmare’ does go very close to Overkill’s debut; there are many of the songs here like the superb ‘Beyond the Black’ and ‘Battalions’ that sound like an similar version of what Jag Panzer, Helstar, and Liege Lord were doing at the same time, which was tagged “U.S. power metal” - essentially just classic heavy metal with a bit more bite.

There’s little point in going into every song here, not only because it’s been done elsewhere, but because each one is a little different and ranges somewhere between the examples already described. However, the cover of Deep Purple’s ‘Highway Star’ is indicative of the group’s mindset, since this is just about the most frenzied, fast, and heavy that metal would get before the introduction of extremity. The way that Metal Church change minor elements of the song to quicken it up slightly and transform the verses into absolute speeding mayhem is just evidence that the group were really fucking tight rather than doing anything totally revolutionary. So that’s my view of the album - just about the limits of how far a band can push traditional heavy metal. I suppose the reason that the cover bears that fossilized guitar (and also covering my arse in case anyone reads back to my two promises in the first paragraph) is that this kind of metal hasn’t really gone anywhere since Metal Church more or less perfected it with their debut. This is still set in stone as one of the best examples of pure balls-out metal. Fall to your knees and worship.

At the beginning of the 80's, American bands influenced by the NWOBHM seemed to have two choices: either play power metal or thrash metal; however, Metal Church mixed both sounds, offering to the listener a very balanced sound which is almost as melodic as Iron Maiden music, but also as aggressive and outrageous as the music played by the incipient thrash metal movement. And if the sound as such results aggressive, David Wayne's vocals ended up adding more aggressiveness to the same. Nevertheless, the album is surrounded by a dark epic atmosphere that makes it keep the aforementioned balance.

Musically speaking, the band does not show limitations nor flaws throughout the album's songs, regardless of whether they were playing mid-paced or speedish numbers. Vanderhoof and Wells were like the guitar playing dream-team in this album, as they were able to create very engaging riffs and impressive guitar solos. Undoubtedly, the guitar playing in the opening track is their most impressive moment here. And the most remarkable performance could be attributed to their drummer Kirk Arrington, who was able to provide impressive notes throughout the songs and a lot of intense headbanging moments.

"Beyond the Black" is a song that definitely shows much of the USPM basics, starting with its intro riff and its atmosphere. Although a mid-paced number, it tends to go a little bit faster up until its explosive faster-paced closing. Then the album goes more faster, but definitely, their thrashy and smashing instrumental "Merciless Onslaught" is their most energetic and explosive number. The drumming displayed herein goes miles away from the rest of the songs, including the one featured on their awesome epic number "Battalions".

The album seems to go in a very impressive direction and it could even compete with Metallica's debut album, and it is definitely a collectible basic item. But unfortunately, in the image-conscious America, musicianship is not part of the formula needed by a band in order to be successful and this caused the album not to have the expected success. Believe it or not, this circumstance became such an issue for the band, mainly when they defined their musical direction going forward, giving rise to internal conflicts that menaced their existence.

Metal Church's debut is well-known by most metal fans. It is regarded as a classic, many hold it as one of the top ten or twenty greatest metal albums of all time. Obviously from my rating, I disagree. I do enjoy some of these songs, but therein lies the problem. I would divide the album song quality into two section: the excellent and the average.

There are two excellent songs on this album, the first two. Beyond the Black deserves every ounce of praise it gets as a metal classic. It is one of the twenty or so greatest metal songs of all time. The second song is the title track. It isn't as great, but you could probably squeeze it into a top hundred or so greatest metal songs list without too much complaint. For an opening one-two punch, this is possibly the best I've ever heard. Then the album continues.

The rest of the album is various shades of average. The instrumental and the Deep Purple cover might be the better, but that isn't saying a ton. Hitman is a song on a topic many a band before and after would cover, and I find Priest's Killing Machine and Megadeth's debut's title track to be much better takes on the subject. The rest is just very meh, not awful, but far from standout. Battalions is indeed faster, but feels like some of the previous music simply sped up.

All in all, this album reminds me of that promising rookie who just didn't really pan out, but who's initial promise and production obfuscates the relative mediocrity that was the rest of his career, or album. In this instance, I'm not really sure why. The vocals are great and the songwriting starts very strong. The instrumentation is solid, if unspectacular. Perhaps the musicianship simply couldn't handle anything more complex than the opener, so they fell back on genre cliches. I would probably still call this their finest hour, and I have to say plenty of great, great metal bands never approached Beyond the Black. I would advise downloading the first two songs, and leave it at that.

My first encounter with California's Metal Church probably came around a year after their eponymous debut dropped, the band had achieved some visibility even at the dawn of their career and people were talking about them in my junior high and the neighboring high school where all the cool kids we wanted to be were hanging out. This is more than likely due to their proximity to Metallica, both geographically and by the fact that they were to become label mates once Elektra issued this record; not to mention that both groups wore their genre on their sleeve by picking incredibly obvious, cheesy band names. Though I admit, 'Metal Church' has a spiked hardness about it which resonates down through the ages, the moss-laden cruciform guitar image against the foggy backdrop an iconic cover despite the fact it looks like it popped out of some awful 80s horror film.

Another parallel to Metallica was that these guys were a bit difficult to pin down in terms of their exact style, but then they manifest right a time when the 'heavy metal' genre hadn't exactly splintered off into a dozen directions. Thrash was just shedding its baby fat, new artists were testing the waters, and Kurdt Vanderhoof and crew were no exception, exploring a hybrid of thrash, power and traditional NWOBHM not unlike Kill 'Em All, if a fraction less raw and vicious in its execution. The band had already cycled through a number of lineups on its earlier demos, but with the 1982 tape Four Hymns and this debut, they finally arrived at the 'classic' lineup of Duke Erickson on bass, Kirk Arrington on drums, Craig Wells and Vanderhoof slinging the six-strings and, perhaps most importantly, David Wayne on the vocals: the most important roster of the band's career, which saw the best results on their studio work.

Wayne was a particular selling point for me personally, because around this same time I had also been getting into some other little bands called Accept and Savatage, and for me David was a nice combination of Jon Oliva's mid-ranged, dirty rasp and Udo Dirkschneider's AC/DC-like air siren, though never quite so wild as the latter in terms of discharging a chorus. In fact, he's got this amazing control that I totally admired: just slather on some reverb in a tune like "Metal Church" and witness how expertly the guy howls off into the night. This is a time when metal riffing was so iconic, daring and for the large part inventive that a front man really had to possess a distinct personality to stand out against it, and I feel that with Metal Church, Wayne assured us he was every bit the genre paragon that an Araya or Hetfield would prove.

All around, I really enjoyed the production and the dark attitude persisting through the debut, even though it hasn't stood up to me as my favorite in their canon (that spot belongs to its successor, The Dark), and I rarely revisit as much as other classics of the period. The guitars are intense, busy and mightily structured, the ominous power/thrash riffing of songs like "Beyond the Black", "Battalions" and "Merciless Onslaught" sure to sate fans of other US acts of the mid-80s like Helstar, Omen and Vicious Rumors. There are a few more traditional pieces with simpler guitars in an early Priest/Maiden vein like "Gods of Wrath" or "In the Blood" that felt a fraction dated even by this time, and some straight speed metal like "Hitman" which one could compare to Canadians Exciter on their earlier efforts, but I tend to fancy the more atmospheric, 'epic' tunes on the album like the first two, including "Metal Church" anthem itself with the speedy bass lines and muted picking in the verse.

As an 80s record, you know what to expect in the mix: loud vocals engineered to stand on the shoulders of the instruments, but Metal Church was actually more even than most, with a great organic drum tone and a bold balance of the guitars that sounds crisp and clear even compared to modern studio works. Erickson is a strong factor in songs like "Metal Church" or "(My Favorite) Nightmare", though he doesn't stand out all that much elsewhere. The leads are appreciably frenetic and as a rhythm team, Wells and Vanderhoof provided a damned solid exchange, though every time Wayne opens that throat for some godlike howl the attention is immediately refocused elsewhere. Lyrics of war, murder and apocalypse ensured that the album would be taken seriously despite its 'looks', and the cover of Deep Purple's "Highway Star" was a decent touch molded well to the band's grimier execution: in 1984, it hadn't quite been played out to death yet.

Still, Metal Church often feels mildly uneven, with a few of the songs clearly grandfathered in from where the band were pursuing a more British, hard rocking course. There's a sense of timelessness to the recording, like many albums of the decade, but it doesn't have those insanely memorable chorus sections or constant riffs to blow your wad over. The sophomore had cuts like "Ton of Bricks", "Start the Fire" and "The Dark" which probably wouldn't evade my brain if I were lobotomized, but here the money shots seem a little low on spunk. Compare this to Powerslave, Don't Break the Oath, Defenders of the Faith or Ride the Lightning and there was a clear gulf in quality, so I had a notion that Metal Church were second stringers right from the startling line, though this and the followup are well worth owning, the crown jewels of this iron parish.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

How fucking sweet is that album cover? It's almost as epic and amazing as the music on the record, which should alone tell you how brilliant "Metal Church" is. In 1984, there was a trifecta of power metal albums, with the two others being Omen's "Battle Cry" and Jag Panzer's "Ample Destruction" (Though, there were several other fantastic records of the US power metal genre), but Metal Church's debut record makes those two legendary records seem nearly obsolete. This album is that damn great. Every single aspect of what makes an album awesome is present here, from the vocals, the riffs, drumming, aura, and everything in between, there isn't a single complaint that could be made about these power metallers (They weren't a thrash band, despite the popular belief, which dictates that they are) and the flawless record that they created.

The riffs are insane, whether they're the thrashing ones on "Battalions" and the greatest instrumental ever composed, "Merciless Onslaught," or the simple midpaced ones that are prominent on the title track. There's simply no way to deny the catchiness of each riff, but you've got to give credit Kirk Arrington on drums, because his drumming is equally terrific. The fills that can be found on the intro to "Hitman," as well as the intense and thunderous rhythms on "Merciless Onslaught" make all of the riffs that much better. David Wayne's vocals are another fantastic compliment to the music as they bring a different feeling on just about every track. His clean singing on "Gods of Wrath" is top-notch and can be compared to some of the genre's best pure singers, while his fast-paced vocals on "Hitman" and "(My Favorite) Nightmare" are more like those of an early thrash band.

In addition to the thrashier songs and catchy, simple power metal tunes, there are some much more epic tracks that blow away songs by the much more epic-styled European power metal bands. The album opener "Beyond the Black" begins with a stellar clean guitar introduction that serves as the backdrop to the sample vocals, before turning into a midpaced riff that is guaranteed to get your headbanging, as well as some incredible solos (Which is a common theme on this album, as every song has awesome solos). "Gods of Wrath" also switches effortlessly between clean passages and beautiful vocals, and heavy riffage that balances out perfectly. The description of Metal Church's debut album is nearly pointless, because the only thing that really needs to be said is that it is perfect and if you don't realize this, then you need to be burned and died immediately.

Highlights
The whole fucking album, but if I could only recommend three...
"Beyond the Black"
"Merciless Onslaught"
"Battalions"

Originally written for Nightmare Reality Webzine.
nightmarerealitywebzine.blogspot.com

It is believed by many music listeners that thrash metal bands' best albums are almost always their debuts. Just about everyone thinks that Testament will never outdo "The Legacy," that Exodus will never rise above "Bonded By Blood," and that Annihilator will never do better than "Alice In Hell." The same is often said about Metal Church's debut though I've always found them to be an exceptionally consistent group. Their debut is definitely not different...

Musically, this is probably the Church's heaviest album to date. The next three albums definitely have their fast/heavy moments, but they rarely approach the raw sound of this effort. Tracks such as "(My Favorite) Nightmare" and "Battalions" are full of fast guitar riffs and "Hitman" show a great deal of Motorhead influence that are shared by so many of their peers. Of course there are also plenty of more theatrical moments in tracks such as "Beyond the Black" and the title track (Hey, that rhymed!), a borderline ballad in "Gods of Wrath," and classic/power metal influences in the hooks of several tracks.

While the entire band is exceptionally talented and plays off of one another quite nicely, I believe that the late vocalist David Wayne and drummer Kirk Arrington are the real stars of the show. Wayne may be best known for his raspy snarls and high pitched wails, but he also pulls off cleaner vocals on "Gods of Wrath." It's a rare occasion that I really pay attention to a certain drummer's work, but Arrington pulls off a performance that is as impressive as it is chaotic. Nearly every song is filled with exciting fills and energetic timekeeping and he completely dominates tracks such as "Merciless Onslaught" and "(My Favorite) Nightmare." It makes me wonder why he isn't as noticeable on future efforts, but I might just need to pay attention more...

Aside from the usual raw production and Wayne's occasionally challenging vocals, this album's main flaw seems to be within a few lesser songs. While "In the Blood" is a pretty decent rocker, it feels rather out of place on this album and may be my least favorite track. Their cover of Deep Purple's "Highway Star" can make for a fun listen, but it doesn't quite match the original and doesn't get too many plays on my part.

All in all, this is a very strong debut that is essential listening for thrash metal fans anywhere. Get it if you haven't got it already!

Pros:
1) Stand-out vocal and drumming performances
2) Great number of different styles represented
3) Strong songwriting

Cons:
1) Somewhat raw production
2) A lesser track or two

My Current Favorites:
"Beyond the Black," "Gods of Wrath," "Hitman," "(My Favorite) Nightmare," and "Battalions"

This is Metal Church's debut, and it's a damn nice one! It features several brilliant thrash moments accompanied by a quite fine production. David Wayne's vocals are also very cool on here, just like they are on The Dark. This is just another reason why Metal Church is right up there with Slayer, Vio-lence, Kreator, you name it. They should easily be in the top 10 thrash bands ever.

The album starts with no slouch; Beyond the Black, which is a quite good epic thrash number, and the fan favourite METAAAAAALLLL CHUUUUUUUUUURCH! Yeah, couldn't resist... if you haven't heard that screech before and you listen to it for the first time, I'm sure you'll know why I just had to mention it. The song itself is midpaced, and works extremely well. One of the all-time thrash classics!
Next is the insanely fast instrumental 'Merciless Onslaught' which does its title justice. Holy shit! Then, 'Gods of Wrath' is a pretty nice ballad with a cool solo, 'Hitman', 'In The Blood' and 'Battalions' are also nice. The last song I have to mention is '(My Favourite) Nightmare', which is my favourite off this album indeed! It starts with a killer intro riff with nice tempo changes, and then the verses assault you with awesome vocal lines and great drumming. The vocals are top-notch in this song, damn close to perfect. Also see the final section, with that part 'scream for your life!'. I never grow tired of stuff like that, truly amazing.

So yeah, this is one of the many great albums by Metal Church. Overall I would say it's about as good as The Dark. However, I don't care that much for the cover, which sounds too much like rock & roll for my taste. Still pretty nicely done, I suppose. Also, The Dark has two more self-written songs which is also a plus.
Still, if you don't own this go and get it, it's extremely good!

Metal Church. The very name evokes images of darkened cathedral spires and the occult rituals likely held within the structure's expansive architecture. The album that bears the mystical structure's name is far less mysterious, but infinitely legendary, as it is one of the finest dislays of the pure essence of heavy metal in traditional, power, and thrash metal forms. The band's debut integrates elements of all three, resulting in one of the best, most original albums you're ever likely to hear. Suspend your disbelief: this is triumphant and fascinating and remarkable and a thousand other positive adjectives used to describe one's ideal metal album.

Whatever traditional/power metal influences were still retained in the band's sound in 1985 are absent from the album's beginning, as this is pure, untainted thrash metal at it's finest. A brief, creepy spoken-word clean intro leads into the crushing riffage of "Beyond the Black," an unrelenting, undeniably heavy track that's as bleak as it is catchy. David Wayne's vocals are considerably better than on the band's demos: here his shrill, wicked falsetto soars over the guitars like a carpet bombing. This approach continues into the eponymous "Metal Church," a thrasher with a tempo so deliciously sinister that it'd have no trouble dropping the jaws of the uninitiated. Again, Wayne's vocals are over the top and unbelievable, carrying the pace set by the riff-wielding tag team of Kurdt Vanderhoof and Craig Wells and high-speed percussion wunderkind Kirk Arrington. Kirk really gets to strut his stuff on the next track, instrumental pounder "Merciless Onslaught." What about Duke Erickson on bass you might ask? Well if he hasn't had the opportunity to impress thus far (he has, as his bass has a significant presence even among the dueling guitars), he'll do it in the classic power ballad "Gods of Wrath." His fills are almighty, as is David Wayne's ability to alternate between his raspier vocals with a surprisingly clean melodic tone for the verses. Note that at this point in the album, there's already been a ton of sweet guitar solo moments, most notoriously the back-and-forth section in the title track.

Side two begins with the very Iron Maiden-ish "Hitman," with some great harmonies and an unexpectedly brutal riff in the bridge. "In the Blood" keeps this spirit alive, but takes the speed down to a mid-paced stomp, similar to the relationship between the first two tracks. "(My Favorite) Nightmare" is another quick one, with some particularly unique drumming by Mr. Arrington. "Battalions" closes things off in triumphant fashion, with classic power metal riffage, an amazingly catchy chorus, and some of the best lyrics on the album. "We form tonight! We kill tonight!" Headbanging is obligatory here. But the madness doesn't end there. The final track on the album is a cover of the Deep Purple classic "Highway Star," sped up and thrashed out with an insane vocal interpretation by Wayne. Unfortunately, the boys make up their own solos, rather than utilizing the Jon Lord/Ritchie Blackmore ones. Originally, this disappointed me enough to lower the album's score a bit, but I brought it back up after acquiring a version with the rare bonus track "Big Guns." This song fucking rules: too goddamn heavy to be power metal but with vocal melodies too melodic and skyscraping to be typical of thrash. I highly recommend hunting this song down, it's worth it completely.

There's not even the semblance of a weak moment on this masterpiece. This is one of the truly indispensible heavy metal albums, at least needing to be heard if not owned. If one were to truly find fault in it, one would be required to seriously reconsider their entire stance on heavy music. Don't write this off as absent fanboyism: this is legitimately great and I'm trying my best to express it. So check this bad boy out, and save your disappointment for the new Metallica album.

I find it incredibly difficult to do Metal Church justice because they far transcend any other band I have yet encountered. Whatever rating may appear at the top of my Metal Church reviews, the first five albums are (however cliché it may be) essential. To be entirely fair I would need place Metal Church’s albums at 100% and work from there, but that discredits the wonderful works of many other bands and further obscures the already nearly worthless ratings system. Metal Church deserves every ounce of praise I can bestow upon it and monetary compensation in proportion to this praise.

Speaking of fame and fortune, I often puzzle over how Metallica hit it big when everything they did Metal Church pioneered and perfected. Mixing thrash and melodic passages? Check. Progressive songwriting? Check. Catchy vocals that owe more to NWOHBM than most thrash vocal performances? Check. The anecdote about Metal Church rejecting Lars Ulrich as a member says everything about the relationship of these two bands. I guess it shouldn’t surprise me considering Metallica’s only good ideas originated in other bands.

Amusingly enough, Metallica shares Metal Church’s one flaw: a tendency to ride a couple riffs for a little too long. Superlative as Metal Church’s riffs might be, imagine any of this album’s three centerpiece cuts (Beyond the Black, Metal Church, Gods of Wrath) with another riffset elevating these three songs to new levels of divinity. As it is, they are merely demigods able to smite us with catchy, yet oppressively heavy riffs and sooth with completely germane, mellifluous breaks.

“Merciless Onslaught” breaks up the three epics and appears to be a fan favorite. To be sure, the riffs are absolutely killer, but even with the diminutive duration I find the song grows monotonous. I would prefer they had cannibalized this song for riffs to rectify the situation detailed above.

Then, Metal Church proves itself capable of writing material on the level of other bands with the only above average “Hitman” and “In the Blood” before striking back with the vicious “(My Favorite) Nightmare” which draws from the still inchoate speed metal rather than thrash. Finally, the album ends (ignore the Deep Purple cover) with perhaps the best track on the album in “Battalions.” I must constantly check myself from humming this song. The rousing and epic vocals trump anything by innumerable power metal bands trying to capture the same emotion with huge backing choruses and symphonies. Just goes to show you Metal Church can beat nearly anyone at their own game, except this is 1984, long before power metal even formally existed. Way ahead of their time, Metal Church is.

‘Metal Church,’ Metal Church’s debut, is also probably my favorite Church album. This album has everything that is essential to a thrash masterpiece, and even combines elements from Speed and Power metal to make a mixture that works REALLY well.

The album starts off with ‘Beyond The Black’ which is probably one of my favorite thrash songs of all time. It starts out slow with gentle drumming and inaudible voices in the background. Finally at 35 seconds into the song, a shrieking guitar kicks off the song, then slows down again. Again, more guitar, slowly building up tension as you’re waiting for the greatness of the song. Finally heavy riffs start pounding, and David Wayne’s shrieking vocals get the song rolling.

Heavy, catchy, highly distorted riffs are everywhere on the album. Intensified with pounding percussion fit in perfectly with David’s vocals. The more I listen to his singing, the more I realize how underrated he is. No one ever mentions David Wayne as one of the best thrash singers, but he is in fact amazing. Not the BEST, but definitely somewhere over there near the top. The man definitely needs more credit. (R.I.P. David Wayne)

The atmosphere built up in this album is amazing. Dark, mysterious, eerie… it’s perfect. This can especially be heard of the second track, ‘Metal Church.’ The guitar riffs combined with the bass in the background is the perfect combination for any metal album, with amazing solos inbetween the screaming vocals make this second song another one of my thrash favorites.

The rest of the songs are also amazing, especially ‘Hitman’ and ‘Battalions.’ Hell… this whole album is filled with favorites of mine. The only lacking song on this whole CD in my opinion is ‘In The Blood’ which, although not necessarily a bad song, it simply doesn’t compare to the rest.

The one bad flaw that this album has is the production. It is recorded SO FUCKING QUIET. I have to turn the volume up all the way and it still seems to be too quiet. This can be very annoying at times… But don’t get me wrong. The rest of the production is great. Mixing is amazing. Bass in the background is mixed perfectly with the drums, and especially the raw guitar sound is amazing. The only problem here is the volume. This can be easily fixed on the computer by turning up all the settings for the file in a program such as iTunes or Foobar, but this of course cannot be done on a CD player or stereo system.

Another thing which I feel like I need to mention is the overall sound of the instruments. I did mention this before, but did not really go into details. It’s the simple RAW sound of the instruments that makes this CD such a great listening experience. The distortion level of the guitars is high. The drums make a nice raw crunchy sound, and this is greatly boosted by the also-raw effects of the bass. Again, this is another quality of the album that fits perfectly with David Wayne’s shrieking vocals.

The album finishes off with ‘Highway Star,’ a cover of the classic Deep Purple song. If you’d ask which version is better, the Deep Purple one or the Metal Church one, I honestly couldn’t tell you. Of course, both versions are great. But they’re also so different. Metal Church did a great job making Purple’s song darker, faster and thrashier. The solos on this song are absolutely amazing. The song finishes up with a short drum solo, and closes up the album perfectly.

This album is highly overlooked, but it is without a doubt great, and forever a classic thrash album; a mandatory addition to any metal fan out there. Get it. Metal Church will never fail to amaze you.

-Marcin C.

Metal Church are kind of like the forgotten prodigy of thrash metal. This band had all the elements to take them to the same heights as Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth etc... but it just never materialized to that level. These guys wrote some of the best thrash riffs I've ever heard, their songwriting was at the same level as any top band of the era and their singer, David Wayne, was absolutely phenomenal. In 1984 they delivered their first full length release, one that I would consider a landmark of classic heavy metal.

The album opener is "Beyond the Black", and this song rips, plain and simple. The main verse riff is made for headbanging and the arrangements are flawless. An amazing opening track with some very cool attitude filled vocals from Wayne which makes for a very epic feel. Speaking of epic, the band's namesake song "Metal Church" is one of the finest thrash songs ever crafted. The riffing is top notch, and the vocals simply take the song to another level of horn worthy heaviness. The riff before the solo tradeoff immediately after the second chorus is mind boggling. These riffs were original and the note selections were perfect. The song ends in prime fashion with Wayne screaming "The Metal... Church!". This song has righteous written all over it. The instrumental "Merciless Onslaught" is pretty catchy as well, and paves the way for another classic.

"Gods of Wrath" is another standout track. It's the ballad of the album, with Wayne singing in a cleaner tone than he usually does. The clean chords are very pretty (and also very reminiscent of some of Metallica's clean passages later on ;). Then the main riff hits you like a ton of bricks as Wayne launches a scream to the stratosphere. The chorus is amazing, filled with emotion and the arrangements once again fit the sound perfectly. The guitar solos as well add to the depth of the track, creating a very cool soundscape that makes the song end in near perfect fashion. This might be the best song on the record.

"Hitman" is a fast and thumping track with a catchy chorus, "In the Blood" is full of riffs and has an amusing vocal performance once again. (My Favourite) Nightmare is not the best song on the record but nonetheless is pretty good. "Battalions" however is one sick closer with Wayne showing off a more baritone sound to his pipes and some very catchy sections with cool lead guitar tradeoffs.

The Deep Purple Cover "Highway Star" is pretty good and features some kickass screams, but is not the albums's highlight in any way.

This is a band that deserved to go to the top. Their songwriting, the feel of the music as well as the originality of their riffing was maybe too much to behold for the mainstream metal community, seeing as how Metal Church has become somewhat of an underground sensation. These guys are thrash metal legends and this album is one of thrash's finest.

This album has no limits. It's got ass-kicking thrash songs, epic heavy metal anthems, and a catchy power ballad! I still have no clue why this band never made it as big as other similar bands (Metallica, Testament, Megadeth...).

Anyway, if you want to headbang on some excellent power/thrash this is your wet dream. The album starts aggressively, then slows down (in a good way), and then kicks your ass with some NWOBHM-ish fury.

The album opener, Beyond The Black, is the heaviest song with new york thrash-style riffs and an excellent melodic solo at 5:20. David Wayne (vocals) shrieks, screams, and even sings the lyrics! He has a very unique voice that changes with the change of the atmosphere of the song. He can even sing baritone (Battalions)! Anyway this song is very heavy and catchy at the same time.

The title track is equally heavy but with a catchier chorus and some solo trading between the guitarists, even the drummer gets a little drum interlude.
Next is the instrumental, Merciless Onslaught, which starts of with some double-bass pounding then the riffage begins and continues to rip until the end of the track.

The album slows down with the ballad Gods Of Wrath, which is the best song on the album. It starts with a clean part and the vocalist can really sing in those verses! The song gets heavy during the chorus which is total ownage and then the guitarists just rip through some well-played melodic solos.

Now the album shifts gears and speeds up with the Maiden-ish Hitman, which is a fun little song about a guy who hires a hitman to kill his cheating wife. In The Blood is more straight-forward speed metal. The vocalst hits some really high notes on this song! (My Favorite) Nightmare is my favorite "fast" song on the album! The opening riff actually sounds like early Slayer and the song is really fun. Despite its length it's no filler, the solos are fast and melodic and the lyrics are really cool... "SCREEEEEEEEEAAAM!!!!!! Scream for your life!!" ... and silly :) "a banshee now awaits, I warn my friends, or is it now too late?".

Battalions is probably the most well-known song from the album. It's an epic Manowar-ish anthem with probably the best vocals on the album. A lot of cheese in the lyrics ("We must rest to regain our strength") but metal as fuck! ("We fall tonight! We kill tonight!") Lots of riffage and catchy as well. The Deep Purple cover is nothing special, but it's still a cool addition to this impressive album. It's a lot heavier but the solo is not very true to the original.

The production is PERFECT, the guitars are very audible, the drums are mixed just right, the bass is audible, and the vocals cut perfectly through the instruments! I wouldn't have guessed it was recorded in 1984!!

This is very essential to all metal fans. Buy it now along with their sophomore album which is similar to this one and equally impressive!

Really that title deserves a couple more exclamation points, because David Wayne's voice is just that powerful. I practically had to tie my left hand down in order to maintain some semblance of journalistic integrity.

It might seem that so much has been said about this album already by myriad other reviewers that the points can only be hammered in at this point, but some points are worth making.

Without any doubt, "Metal Church" proper, "Battalions", and "Gods of Wrath" are the real sledgehammers here. "Metal Church" and "Gods of Wrath" are both slow-builders, but "Metal Church" emphasizes its driving rhythm as a backbone for the lyrics where "Gods of Wrath" is the Metal Church's nod to the idea of 'power ballads'. Fortunately, while those tend to suck tremendously, "Gods of Wrath" manages to stay interesting for its 6:40 length. "Battalions" -- David Wayne's vocal performance on this is absolutely killer, and especially on the catchy chorus --- but don't try it at home! You'll only embarrass yourself! This is the best song on the album, though.

"Merciless Onslaught" is quite a passable instrumental, and the band certainly does rip it up for 3 minutes... but it could have done with some singing. Ah well.

"Beyond the Black" is a pretty solid song, but something about it didn't quite gel for me. It's easy to see where the others were coming from on this one, though... and that's pretty much my sentiment for most of the rest of the album. "Hitman", "In the Blood", "(My Favorite) Nightmare" are --- let's be frank --- put in the order they are just to make sure that you don't get too much ass kicked by, say, a 1-2 punch of "Metal Church" - "Battalions".

And while we're being frank we may as well admit that "Highway Star" makes the original version sound like a real plodder --- this is a quite competently done cover from poor source material that manages to be one of the better songs on the album.

Overall, this album is a no-brainer MUST-BUY. You are only allowed to think twice if you don't like getting hammered by wicked, thunderous riffs and awesome vocals, and if that's so I suggest finding yourself a subscription to Rolling Stone, stat.

...is on this essential platter. I remember that at the time this was released, all the German bands out there at the time had vocalists that sounded like the Wicked Witch of the West. And upon hearing this band at first, with that criteria, I thought they were German too. Imagine my surprise when I heard that this utterly annihilating force was from Seattle! And annihilating is the capsule description of this album.

Terry Date captured a raw, hungry band exercising lethal force in his studio, with David Wayne's bloodcurdling shriek stopping you in your tracks, and no-frills metal pounding the order of the day. Drummer Kirk Arrington's furious double bass prowess fuels countless neck-snappers like "Battalions" (one of my fave tracks here), the instrumental "Merciless Onslaught" (a perfect title, too), and "My Favorite Nightmare", but plenty of mid paced power rears its ugly head too like the epic "Beyond The Black". The distorted spoken word part that starts this album as part of that tune, with sad clean guitar beneath it, sets an eerie tone and will make your hair stand on end, then "BTB" roars in with wailing soloing and anvil chorus crunch. Even the trashing of Deep Purple's classic "Highway Star" fits in here as an amusing album ender.

Wayne, throughout this album, reigns supreme as a shrieker par excellence with his iron-lunged caterwauling suiting the music perfectly, and he even throws in some clean vocals on the chilling "Gods of Wrath" that are pretty good also. Kurdt Vanderhoof and Craig Wells throw in numerous screaming solos that make up for their relative lack of technical ability with feeling and aggression as well as bounteous amounts of ATTITUDE. This is no limp-wristed 80s hair farmer outfit, as many American bands were at that time!

Metal Church were as brutal as they came back then without being death metal, and had atmosphere and subtlety as well to show they were no joke. Even as your head is battered between your shoulders with their ruthless assault, you will love every last second of it. Even "In The Blood" is pretty damn good, filler though it comes off as--it ends too abruptly to be really taken seriously. GET THIS GET THIS GET THIS, and see why grunge deserves to be the last thing Seattle is known for. This is metal pure and uncluttered, ugly and uncompromising, and you need it bad.

Howling winds, drums rattle, brooding bass and shredding guitars, thus starts the essential hymn “Metal Church”.
Though only released in 1984, this easily is THE Metal debut, and one of the best too. Compared to the first Maiden it’s definitely heavier and more epic than Kill `em all. If you want every instrument and the vox in the right place, you’ve got to get this one. What we have here is basic metal tending to speed on one hand and thrash on the other. Rumbling bass, crunchy drums, raw guitars and the evil vox of David Wayne plus the superb cover artwork (this truly is a monument for the electric six-string) make this release a milestone. Extensive well placed solo parts, fine drumwork and the well fitting vox relegate many other bands to second place.
The more epic songs include “Beyond the black”, “Gods of wrath” and “Metal Church”. The more thrashy and speedy side is covered by the remaining titles. “Merciless onslaught” is a rip off instrumental riff orgy and “Highway star” the well-done Deep Purple cover (which proves that DP definitely belongs on this homepage). “In the blood” represents the only filler here, not a bad but boring one.
Résumé: Buy or die …

Boris prettymuch summed up everything already. This album has alot in terms of good and heavy riffs. Kirk Arrington is also the perfect backbone to the band's sound..after all he is one of the best thrash drummers out there. 'Gods of Wrath' has always been my favorite here. Its somewhat of a half ballad that speeds up to mid-paced for the chorus and has some of the best singing on the album from David Wayne. 'Beyond the Black' is one of the obligitory MC songs, and I'd say one of their most popular tracks. This is one heavy song with some thundering riffage and great drumming throughout, especially towards the end where the song goes from mid paced to a thrash-fest. The next best song here is the classic title track with its hauntingly cool lyrics "Metal Church will find you, cant run very far..Metal Church inside you knows just who you are".. other than that theres some solid bass to be found here.

Other standouts include the fast paced Maiden sounding 'Battalions', the very cool song with the horror lyrics '(My Favorite) Nightmare', and the instrumental 'Merciless Onslaught' that shows us the true meaning of christmas..er...I mean thrash!!

If your going to start a Metal Church collection...start with this one..or Blessing In Disguise.

This one (or the one after it) is their heaviest album, and is a great combination of thrash and speed metal. As is the case with Metal Church, there really are no bad songs here - some are better than others, but all will do a competent job of ripping your face off.

The best: "Beyond the Black" - the album opener. An awesome opening riff leads to some killer verses... "they said it came with just one bomb!" Then it gets really absurdly heavy in the middle. "In the Blood" is hugely underrated, as is the pretty rare bonus track "Big Guns". The title track is very nice, and so is the cover of Deep Purple's "Highway Star", though they do biff the solo quite badly. That's okay, there's only one Richie Blackmore. Also, "Battalions" has that impossible yet triumphant vocal line in the chorus, oh yeah and lots of riffs. The fact is, most of these songs were in the books by 1982 - this band was rather ahead of its time.

Overall - like every Metal Church album, it's very good and worth getting. It's in the middle of the pack - not as good as Hanging in the Balance for example, but still, all Metal Church is good, and this is no exception.