This Present Wasteland

Knowing what I know now, that this would be the final Metal Church album before another dissolution, it's hard not to gaze upon its cover as some sort of memorial service for the once great West Coast band. But beyond that, more than most of those leading up to it, This Present Wasteland is an album which struggles for a distinct identity, and for much of its play length, comes up pretty short. Competent, but even less compelling than the few before it, it's probably the least impressive of the full-lengths involving Ronny Munroe on vocals. Not through any fault of his own, because he's the strongest component of the group here by an order of magnitude, but the album spends about 40 minutes in mediocrity before it finally dishes out a song to remember it by. This Present Wasteland, indeed...

Not nearly so dirty or past-obsessed as A Light in the Dark, you could probably argue that this fits between that and The Weight of the World in tone. Munroe has shifted away from the grimier low range he was exploring on the previous effort, and here he flexes his pipes more along the lines of Weight. There are points on the album where he sounds quite close to Tim Aylmar of Pharaoh, and others where he pursues a wavering, lethal Dickinson inflection, or some pure Rob Halford screams. He tries to make the best out of some highly atmospheric tracks like "Deeds of a Dead Soul" (8 minutes of slow burn heavy metal with some synthesizers and clean guitars) or "The Perfect Crime", which sounded like something off a mid 90s album by Queensrÿche, but despite the well rounded structure of these, they all feel a bit dry in terms of delivering memorable riffs and chorus sequences. Balanced off against the harder drivers like "Meet Your Maker" or "The Company of Sorrow", or the bluesy hard swagger of "Crawling to Extinction", the first half of the album seems like dreadfully average, but well performed and produced heavy metal with a mildly dark angle to it.

The final three tracks are likely the best, with "Mass Hysteria" pumping a straight mix of modern power metal with potent bass grooves and some nice melodies added to what otherwise would be some generic, if busy riffing. "Congregation" kind of enforces the whole funereal feel of this record, but it has some of those Aylmar styled vocal lines which imprint themselves on your mind. However, "Breathe Again" took me entirely by surprise, opening like a bouncy and uplifting NWOBHM anthem and then manifesting some excellent verse guitars that made me think I had taken a wrong turn onto Pharaoh's Be Gone. The vocals here are great, the breakdown which once more reminded me of Queensrÿche or calmer Fates Warning, and though it might seem the friendliest song on the album, it's definitely one I wanted to listen through repeatedly. Unfortunately, the rest of the record just doesn't reach this plateau of success.

As with the other Munroe records, the lyrics are appreciably poignant and effective here, even if the Internet rant "Monster" seems as exaggerated and ridiculous as these things usually are. 'I am just a screen name and a new profile'. Who the hell really feels that way? It's a tool, not a soul sucking conspiratorial leech. 'We've created a monster, it's taking us down.' Hilarious. Philosophical differences and cliches aside, though, you can tell they put a little effort into the 'script' of the record. The production is crisp and well balanced across all the instruments, without feeling squeaky clean or wholly synthetic. As simple as it is, the cover is one of their most eloquent and eye catching, especially with that familiar shadow being cast by the cross, and I do sort of dig how the title reflects the band's state of being at this time. With Wayne having passed away, and the rest of the classic lineup members spread thin elsewhere in the music spectrum, there is little if any chance that Metal Church will manifest in a configuration which rivals its heyday. This Present Wasteland is far from an impressive finale, but there have been worse swan songs for longstanding acts, so it seems they at least experienced closure with some confidence.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

The gloriously-named Metal Church have been banging away for nearly 30 (!) metal years, plying the world with metal of a resolutely Metaaaal status, for metalheads, who never gave up on err, metal. They come with the release of album no.9, "This Present Wasteland", and I bet most perusing this site have never even heard of them. I hope that my frankly excessive use of a certain word in the first sentence gives away the game here - Metal Church aren't going to sing a wimpy song about their girlfriends or write a song utilising a DJ anytime soon. Bands like Metal Church basically exist for people like me, a place to go to pray and worship for more metal, long after the majority have jumped the sometimes sinking ship some of us resolutely call 'home'.

The basic premise of Metal Church's style hasn't changed much since the mid-late 80s, as they still sit astride the fences of power, thrash and heavy metal with an identity that neither sounds modern nor as retrospectively out-of-date as many of the new, old-school thrash bands. Bearing similarities to 80s (and beyond) metal talents W.A.S.P., Heathen and Sanctuary (who's demise led to the creation of Nevermore), MC will appeal to anyone who likes metal with balls, solos, clean (and oft high-pitched) vocals and well-written 'rocking' (urgh, I detest that word) tunes. The production throughout "This Present Wasteland" is wonderfully solid; by which I mean everyone has their space in the mix and nothing can be said to be too high or low, allowing the enjoyable riffs of "Monster" and "Deeds Of A Dead Soul" to be played out to the max. One thing that is not to be doubted is vocalist Ronny Munroe's confidence in his own voice; in "Breathe Again" he bounces from side to side soaring at every conceivable opportunity akin to Matt Barlow (Iced Earth), becoming a key focal point for the listener (and no doubt, audience) to marvel at.

The "Master Of Puppets"-weened "In The Company Of Sorrow" offers another indication to the influences at work in the existence of Metal Church being the thrashiest of the 10 offerings on "This Present Wasteland", while potential album highlight "Crawling To Extinction" hones the kind of groove Pantera possessed at their peak but with the added bonus of some excellent vocal melodies. I think you'll get the picture by now - the time for bands like Metal Church was really about 20 years ago but with a steadying increase in metal noted the last couple of years, Metal Church could be in a position to reap the rewards of years of hard work with a stupefyingly solid record in "This Present Wasteland". Unlike Hammerfall and the kinds who have never offered anything new to the well-worn formula of classic heavy metal, Metal Church do it comfortably on this record with the result being an enjoyable 57 minutes of shameless Metal lifestyle on record.

Originally written for Rockfreaks.net

If some were to ask me what band truly embodies metalness, my response would be swift, it would be sure, and it would be Metal Church. Essentially every element of the style’s foundation are to be found in this riffs at the helm, zero subtlety, unapologetic melding of early thrash metal and straight up heavy metal. Most of what you encounter has since become cliché, but regardless of how many times it is done, few have ever done it this well while simultaneously avoiding the trappings of an ever evolving music scene. After being in this business for 28 years, their latest offering “This Present Wasteland” proves once again that there’s no point in teaching an old dog new tricks, especially if the old tricks continue to keep the metal gods pleased.

This is the third album to feature vocalist Ronny Munroe, front man of the obscure 80s outfit Rotweiller. His vocal contribution is heavily reminiscent of early 80s heavy metal icons such as Harry Conklin, Geoff Tate, Rob Halford, and a little bit of wicked sleaziness imported from Blitz Ellsworth, which melds very well with Kurdt Vanderhoof’s mixture of NWOBHM, thrash and epic era Black Sabbath oriented riffs. Combined with a very tight and bare bones rhythm section and a straight line approach to guitar soloing, the resulting sound is something that sounds like a journey back to 1986. And for those of you whose knowledge of said year is limited, just think of this CD and pretty much all the other ones put out by this band as the perfect way to piss off those annoying grunge kids who can’t get over Kurt Cobain; the fact that Metal Church also hail from Seattle will add some additional insult to injury.

In spite of being released in the age of big time production, featuring deafening yet empty sounding drums and over-processed guitars, Vanderhoof and company have elected to take a late 80s Thrash approach to production. The guitar sound contains that brilliant blending of crunch and depth that made late 80s Overkill and Anthrax it’s unique charm, while the bass and drum character gives the sound a strong yet non-overbearingly heavy bottom end. But the overriding character of the sound is the crispness of it all; the clear separation of attack and sustain, which gives thrash metal its percussive edge. Where things contrast with the Bay Area sound that this mostly compares to is that the tempo isn’t always going at full speed, a stronger melodic presence and basic structural approach walks hand in hand with memorable riff work, and a more direct homage is paid to the pre-thrash influences upon said style.

The dual emulations of thrash and heavy metal tend to avoid intermingling each other within a single song, but instead trade up dominance from song to song. Those looking for a healthy does of early 80s speed/thrash need look no further than opening crusher “The Company Of Sorrow”, the slower and heavily Overkill-like “Monster”, the melodic riff monster “Mass Hysteria”, and the all out aggressive assault of “Congregation. Things settle into a little bit of an early 90s power/groove meets Annihilator style with “Meet Your Maker”, which is among the weaker songs on here, but still plenty of fun for anyone who enjoyed “Carnival Diablos”. Things go a little back towards a Ronnie Dio era Sabbath approach with “A War Never Won”, almost to the point of becoming an overt “Children Of The Sea” homage with a dirtier vocal interpretation and a heavier guitar sound. Things get really interesting when the band completely leaves the thrash realm and morph into a more percussive variation of the Candlesmass version of epic doom metal on “Deeds Of A Dead Soul”.

Although this isn’t quite in the same league as the mid-80s classics that they became most known for, this is definitely something that transcends the concept of fashion and just plain kicks ass. It’s a direct refutation of the conventionally held opinion that new generations need simply rely on the heroes of their own era and not bother with those who originally explored the lands we now tread. Like the core at the center of the earth, though the layers of rock that exist around it are in constant flux, the general nature of what moves the metallic magma remains relatively constant and the force it exerts is quite powerful.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on April 14, 2009.

Metal Church has always been a band who delicately combined thrash with pure heavy metal. With this new release, the band proves yet again what makes them so good. Kurdt Vanderhoof unleashes some headbanging riffs and Ronny Munroe has never sounded so strong. New lead guitarist Rick Van Zandt also shows some technical prowess in this album.

One of the most noticeable things on this release is this album is full of energy. Jeff Plate provides some lighting fast drumming and Vanderfoof gives some riffage fully complementing each other. The opening "The Company of Sorrow" exemplifies this point. The arrangement on "Monster" is also calculated and goes from mid-paced to sheer thrash in the middle and is a highlight of this album.

Ronny Munroe delivers a great performance especially with the beginning of "Monster" when he belts out "We've created a monster." He shows great versatility with the fast songs and not rushing anything on the slower, mid-paced songs. The only glaring problem found with Munroe was it seemed his voice was straining on "The Perfect Crime" and that he was gonna run out of breath on the chorus.

A couple problems arise in "Deeds of a Dead Soul" which is a bit long and would have been better if it was a couple minutes shorter. It just plods along and has an overuse of the chorus. "Breathe Again" sounds totally uninspired with a generic riff and dull playing by Van Zandt. It sounds lifeless and seemed more of a throw in track than anything.

The production is clean sounding, but it is not overproduced. Every instrument is clearly audible. Vanderhoof's guitar sounds fierce and pulse-pounding and the bass is heard and there is a sweet bass line in the opener. As I said before, the album is full of energy and that has to do with the production in some areas.

Any Metal Church fan will be pleased with this album. The linear notes are also interesting to look at as other fan submitted artwork for the album are in there. All members of the Church give a strong performance on the songs found here and it is very impressive that they are still churning out memorable performances after all these years.