Metal Church

Who said crazy controversies couldn't happen in metal? David Wayne, the brilliant vocalist that started one of the best bands in heavy metal history, Metal Church, went out on a limb while making this solo album. The band name was named after his last name, Wayne. The album name: Metal Church, which was very controversial. Not to mention it pissed most of the guys off in Metal Church. After Wayne's departure in Metal Church, another talented vocalist named Mike Howe lifted the band up with three more perfect albums. A bit of jealousy on Wayne's part? Maybe.

Wayne would rejoin Metal Church to create a live album and a full-length album, Masterpeace, which was all but a masterpiece. In fact Metal Church hit an all time low with this album. Wayne left the band again and even went out of his other solo band, Reverend, to make this album. Even the cover of the album pokes at Metal Church, with the headstone cross guitar lying in the cemetery.

With such a controversy thus created, how did the music fair? Lets just say this album should have been Masterpeace. Armed with master guitarist Craig Wells, old time member of Metal Church, Wayne created an album that is full of heavy metal and ranks up their with at least The Dark. It is not really a bad album; it has it's good songs, while others could be removed from the album. Basically what we have is Metal Church like songs, but really more technical. There are a lot of cool riffs on this album -they are just littered everywhere. Wayne's vocals are also really amazing on this album. This is very familiar with his work with Metal Church.

The songs are rooted with lyrics of death and horror, which is an ever present theme in David Wayne's writing. Another thing I like is how each song brings something different to the platter. This offers a lot of variation and not a lot of repetition, so it doesn't get boring quick. Like the song D.S.D. offers a slow tempo, but still allowing it to be dark and powerful. The next song Nightmare Part 2 speeds it up really fast -brilliantly. Ballad For Marianne is a brilliant song because it is one of those Metal Church soft songs. You know the ones that are slow and get heavy during the chorus and solo. These songs were good with Metal Church and they're still good now. So basically a couple of songs can go, including the cover of Mississippi Queen. There are just some songs that can not (or rather should not) be done in metal. If you love Metal Church's first two albums you will love this album. Like I said before, this should have been Masterpeace.