SKIP METALLICA, PROCEED DIRECTLY TO METAL CHURCH
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 at 1:30pm by Corey Mitchell
There has been a veritable smorgasbord of Old Fart-approved albums over the last twelve months. New full-lengthers from the likes of such metal greats as Exodus, Death Angel, Overkill, and the mighty Testament (review here) have made this one of the most memorable and satisfying years to be an Old Fart metal fan (Metallica’s newest excluded purposefully).
Joining the aforementioned second-tier thrash titans from the 80’s with a new release is none other than Aberdeen, Washington’s Metal Church. The always under-appreciated progenitors of melodic thrash have returned with a brilliant work of art worthy of repeated headbanging sessions in the form of their newest release, This Present Wasteland.
Metal Church’s new album is everything that Metallica wanted Death Magnetic to be. It has powerful grooves, tight thrashiness, excellent vocals, stellar songwriting, memorable choruses, plus, achieving the almost impossible task of maintaining an aura of what made them great in the first place combined with the ability to be relevant in these drastically different times in heavy metal music.
One of my all-time favorite metal albums is Metal Church’s The Dark. Led by the late David Wayne’s soaring, yet gritty vocals, the band wrote catchy tunes, epic tunes, and heavy ass tunes that would make Kim Kardashian envious. Twenty-two years later, led by vocalist Ronny Munroe, the band has resurrected itself above and beyond my wildest imagination.
There is something to be said about an album that can evoke strong memories of what many Old Farts consider two of the brightest eras of our beloved musical genre. I’m talking, of course, about the New Wave of British Heavy Metal era encapsulated by such classic heroes such as Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden. The other would be the Bay Area Thrash scene of the early- to mid-80’s of many of the bands mentioned in the first paragraph. Throw in an additional dash of ’00 “extremeness” and you have yourself one of the top three albums of 2008.
The only remaining member of the classic Metal Church line-up is guitarist and main songwriter Kurdt Vanderhoof. I always held an affinity for Vanderhoof as he always looked out of place, even within his own band, as the clean-cut frat-boy (pre-mook) looking nice guy. Despite his then-outsider appearance, he always wrote some of the catchiest and heaviest hooks ever heard in metal (listen to “Ton of Bricks,” “Gods of Wrath,” or “Watch the Children Pray” for further evidence). His work on This Present Wasteland is no exception. From the opener “The Company of Sorrow,” to the thrashy “Meet Your Maker,” to his epic “Monster,” Vanderhoof’s songwriting is taut, vicious, and incredibly memorable.
The main reason why so many of the songs on this album will stick in your head after one spin is because of the incomparable singing of Ronny Munroe. This man, who is nearly as old as James Hetfield, can sing his ass off. If you miss the days of great metal vocalists who actually sing, like Rob Halford, Ronnie James Dio, Bruce Dickinson, or Geoff Tate, you will devour this like Goat the Head at a Bavarian feast. Munroe takes elements from all of the aforementioned great singers (plus Triumph’s Rik Emmett and even some blues belters), makes it heavy enough for the younger set raised on Cookie Monster vokillz, and comes up with a truly unique, ball-busting sound that propels him to the top of the current heap of metal vocalists. Plus, he brings the added bonus of enunciating his words so you can actually understand what the hell he is singing about!
The myriad musical styles present within this disc run the gamut of heavy metal history from rock to thrash to power metal to death metal and more. It never sounds contrived, and it is always heavy as fuck, without trying to string together 18-gajillion riffs within one song to prove that they “still got it.” The bluesy-stomper opening riff of “Crawling to Extinction,” combined with its bluesy-crooner style vocals, says more about Metal Church’s skills and confidence than most bands can achieve spread out over 70+ minutes.
I was really looking forward to September 2008 as the month of the Old Fart, what with the release of a new Metallica album and a new Metal Church album. Sadly, Metallica let me down miserably with a poorly produced pandering piece of putridness. Metal Church, on the other hand, has resurrected my faith in Old Fart bands yet again.
This Present Wasteland soars past Death Magnetic in every discernible category and immediately jumps into my top three albums of 2008 alongside Jucifer and Testament. Of course, I’m sure you know which album we will hear about ad nauseum for the next 12 months, while this true gem will be sadly overlooked by the masses.
Don’t make the same mistake as everyone else this year. Instead of burning your hard-earned cash on Metallica’s Death Magnetic, do yourself a favor and aid the shoddy American economy by picking up Metal Church’s This Present Wasteland. You will feel better about yourself and your taste in music.
-CM
(4 ½ out of 5 horns)
[Metal Church's official website]
[Metal Church on MySpace]
[Corey Mitchell is also a best-selling author of books and blogs about serial killers, mass murderers, and brutal crimes against humanity.]
Did this come out in 1989?
Dear Corey,
I think its about time you rinse your mouth out with buck shot. Metallica> Metal Church every day of the week. Faget…
@ John: Jesus Fucking Christ, at least learn to spell “faggot” correctly.
Corey, Ignore the naysayers previous comments.
Quality ,quality cd, even in these times it will be dismissed as out dated rubbish, missing the fact it’s a really rather good listen.
Doesn’t the opening track sound like it’s off ‘The human factor’?
Top review.
I agree that this year has been spectacular for thrash, particularly the old guard. Those Testament, Death Angel, and Exodus records are first-fuckin rate. The newbies like Warbringer and Toxic Holocaust are doing well for themselves for the neo-thrash gang. But, I’m sorry to harp, I really like Death Magnetic.
That said, this review has me pumped to hear this new Metal Church.
It had me pumped to then I took a listen…
You’re kidding, right?
You guys are fagets if you think this is better than Metallica.
Faget? this must be a new insult/word that hasn’t made it across the pond to blighty yet.
Still, at least i’m not a faggot.
@John (AKA Pig AKA Lars): Dear Corey,
I think its about time you rinse your mouth out with buck shot.
Thanks, I was wondering how to get your mom’s cankerous pus-filled vaginal scent off my tongue.
Snoogens,
Old Fart
@ Wayne: I am really looking forward to this Friday’s Overkill/Toxic Holocaust/Warbringer show in San Antonio. Perfect blend of old vs. new thrash. I’ll have a review up next week.
John = pwned!!
Nice one Old fart.
@Corey
“Thanks, I was wondering how to get your mom’s cankerous pus-filled vaginal scent off my tongue.”
Ah, so much dignity in modern journalism.
@Roy:
I don’t know what’s funnier, you looking for dignity at a blog called MetalSucks or not realizing when the Old Fart needs to let off some steam at the expense of a Kornbaby.
Lighten up, Frances.
I have long thought Metal Church’s debut album is one of the five best debuts of all time. Of course, for that very reason (GNR also suffers this dilemma, in my opinion), I’ve been mostly disappointed with every subsequent release. The revolving door of supporting musicians hasn’t helped. However, this one is getting good reviews, so I’ll buy before listening.
Corey, I agree 100% with you re: Testament’s newest. And with Death Angel’s latest selling for $5.99 on iTunes, I couldn’t resist. I still respectfully disagree with your opinion regarding Death Magnetic, but that’s a discussion that’s more than a dead horse at this point.
However, as further testament (pardon the pun) to the difference in tastes, I think Jucifer is not only unlistenable, but completely unlistenable.
@ Sammy:
For me, Metal Church’s debut and follow-up are the definition of classics. I’m with you on everything after that point. This new one, however, has pulled me back into the Metal Church fold with both guns blazing.
I actually listened to this album before I heard Metallica’s newest release and I believe that may have something to do with my extreme disappointment with the latter (and also seeing Testament kick much ass live less than a month ago). The production on This Present Wasteland blows away the supposed “genius” of Rick Rubin on probably 1/1000 the budget. Everything sounds thicker, punchier, and settles into your gut, heart, and head whereas DM sounds like sick flies buzzing inside of a garbage can. Plus, Metal Church’s songs are much more memorable, heavier, and just make sense. It’s not like stringing a bunch of unrelated riffs together to create 10-minute “epics.”
As for Jucifer, I blame my love of P.J. Harvey. Jucifer is like her even angrier, pissed-off slutty sister who will bang you just to spite said sister.
Some other bands vying for my Top 10 end of the year list include Pyramids, Matriden, Ganon, Vinterikket, 5ive, Cult of Luna, Gamma Bomb, Fuck Buttons, Meshuggah, and Burning Skies…’cause, you know, I’m an elitist bastard and all.
@Corey
“Elitist bastard”? Don’t you mean “elistist, self-important, like to show off your fancy vocabulary bastard”? Oh wait, that’s me.
I haven’t listened to anything by Metal Church since The Dark. Thanx for the review, I think I’ll have to give this one a listen. Saying this is better than Death Magnetic isn’t really saying much though.
the thing that is so lame about these bullshit slams is simply this: Oh wow, the new Metal Church sound like thrash…. the new Metallica sounds like METALLICA. Give me discernible uniqueness over stupid “troo” thrash any day of the damn week
You’re still kidding, right?
@ Axl, if you knew anything you would know thats the way Korn spells “faggot” like “Faget”. Which was off of the debut album….shows how little you know about rock and roll puss…oh and in case you are wondering Korn>The Showdown
@ Corey, hey if you need my moms puss to get through your day thats between you and her, but at the end of the day…you are indeed a queer. And still Metallica>Metal Church
@ John: Who gives a shit how Korn spell…they are nu-metal trash! Seriously, shut up before you further embarrass yourself further.
rave review. Never heard them, but this time i’ll try
@ myself…double further for the win
I’ve not heard this yet – though this review has me eager to hear it.
Vanderhoof has written some fantastic metal over the years, the first two albums obviously, but no love for “Blessing in Disguise”? I’ve always considerred that their Meisterwerk!
Oh yes, sorry, Faget!
So I listen to this album last night. I was very interested to hear it since Corey gave it such a rave review; claiming that Metal Church is still putting out exciting new albums while saying Metallica is recycling crappy riffs.
I can honestly say this is one of the most uninspired, unoriginal, and just plain boring metal albums I have ever listened to. The songs are nothing new and sounds like every crappy throw back thrash band out there with nothing that sets them apart from anyone else. This wouldn’t neccesarily be a bad thing if the songs were actually good….but they are not. The guitar work is not impressive, the solos sound like I have heard them all before a thousand times.
Futhermore, Corey should be kick in the nuts for putting Ronny Monroe in the same catagory as Rob Halford, Ronnie James Dio, and Bruce Dickinson. Are you kidding me?! This guy isn’t even close to as good as those legends.
Metal Church may have been good back in the day, but now they are just blend of mediocre metal musicans with no good songs left under their belt. No wonder this record only sold 920 copies the first week.
@Iron Mayden: I honestly could not agree more with you. I luckily have a friend who doesn’t have an iPod (I do) but had an iTunes gift card and downloaded this album and the new Death Angel album as well (hell that one was only $5.99).
Everything you (Iron Mayden) said about the Metal Church album is correct. Ronnie Munroe, while not a bad singer, is so dated in his style that he sounds (and looks) stuck in a very bygone era. His lyrics (if he is the lyricist) are laughable at times and painful at others. The guitar is muddled throughout, but I do like most of the solos. The songs are too long for no reason, and have this power metal wannabe feel to them. The Death Angel album, on the other hand, could be their best. It’s a fantastic listen. But this Metal Church recording, really just a Vanderf
oops! This is really more of a Vanderhoof with a bunch of other musicians solo effort. It’s extremely weak.
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