Metal Church
| Metal Church | |
|---|---|
 Metal Church live Wacken 2016 |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Heavy metal , speed metal , thrash metal |
| founding | 1981, 1999, 2012 |
| resolution | 1993, 2009 |
| Website | www.metalchurchmusic.com |
| Founding members | |
| Kurdt Vanderhoof | |
| Kirk Arrington (until 2005) | |
| Mike Murphy (until 1981) | |
| Duke Erickson (until 1993) | |
guitar |
Craig Wells (until 1993, 1998) |
| Last occupation | |
guitar |
Kurdt Vanderhoof |
singing |
Mike Howe (1988–1994, since 2015) |
bass |
Steve Unger (since 2004) |
guitar |
Rick Van Zandt (since 2008) |
Drums |
Stet Howland (since 2017) |
| former members | |
singing |
David Wayne † (1981–1989, 1998–2001) |
guitar |
John Marshall (1989-1993, 1998-2001) |
Drums |
Andrew "Raven's Claw" Peters (? -?) |
guitar |
Jay Reynolds (2004-2008) |
singing |
Ronny Munroe (2004-2014) |
Drums |
Jeff Plate (-2017) |
Metal Church is a US-based Metal - band from Seattle . It was founded in 1981 by Kurdt Vanderhoof under the name Shrapnel.
At the time of its founding, the subgenres Thrash Metal and Speed Metal were still in development. Metal Church shaped this significantly.
history
1980s
Kurdt Vanderhoof formed the band together with Kirk Arrington, Mike Murphy, Duke Erickson and Craig Wells, whom he knew from high school days. At first they appeared as a cover band and only gradually began to write their own songs. Instead of Kirk Arrington, another friend of Vanderhoofs, the later Metallica co- founder Lars Ulrich , was initially planned as the drummer. At the time of the founding of Shrapnel, however, he moved to Los Angeles . In 1983 the band was renamed Metal Church. The name goes back to Kurdt Vanderhoof's apartment in San Francisco , the so-called “Metal Church”, in which everything revolved around heavy metal for him and his friends. In 1984 the debut album was released, which was positively received and also gave the band a commercial success. With the release of The Dark , Metal Church were mentioned in the same breath as Metallica, with whom they went on a big tour. The band separated from David Wayne during this time, as he could not moderate his alcohol problems . With the new singer Mike Howe (previously with Heretic ) and the album Blessing in Disguise , Metal Church were at the height of their career in 1989.
1990s
On The Human Factor , Mike Howe showed himself to be fully integrated into the band in 1991. After this album was released, Kurdt Vanderhoof continued his solo career without giving up Metal Church entirely. Together with the loss of importance of the entire genre in the 1990s, however, this led to the band disbanding in 1993 after the release of Hanging in the Balance . The individual musicians spent the following years with their solo projects.
Reunion
Metal Church reunited with David Wayne in 1998 when heavy metal was picking up a bit. The first signs of life were the live album Live , which only contains one concert from the eighties. Masterpeace followed in 1999 , which met with divided reviews. In 2001 David Wayne left the band, in 2004 Ronny Munroe, Jay Reynolds and Steve Unger joined. Vanderhoof's side projects delayed the release of the album The Weight of the World until 2004.
In 2005, Kirk Arrington had to leave the band for health reasons and was replaced by Jeff Plate . David Wayne died on May 10 of the same year after a car accident.
On February 21, 2008, the band announced that guitarist Jay Reynolds had left the band for personal reasons. He was succeeded by Rick Van Zandt, who had already played with Ronny Munroe.
In July 2009 the band announced on their website that they had broken up, but would play one last concert at Rocklahoma. The remaining concerts for 2009 have been canceled. One of the reasons for the separation was the bankruptcy of their label SPV .
The second reunion took place in October 2012. In October 2013 the band released their album Generation Nothing . In September 2014 Ronny Munroe left the band. In 2015 the band announced on their Facebook page that Mike Howe will return to the band after more than 20 years and that a new album is planned. In 2016 the band released their comeback album XI and in December 2018 another album followed with Damned if you Do.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 US
|
|||
| 1984 | Metal Church Ground Zero |
- | - | - | - |
First published: July 1984
|
| 1986 | The Dark Elektra Records |
- | - | - |
US92 (23 weeks) US |
First published: October 6, 1986
|
| 1989 | Blessing in Disguise Elektra Records |
DE39 (4 weeks) DE |
- | - |
US75 (15 weeks) US |
First published: February 7, 1989
|
| 1991 | The Human Factor Epic Records |
DE39 (4 weeks) DE |
- | - |
US75 (15 weeks) US |
First published: March 26, 1991
|
| 1993 | Hanging in the Balance SPV / Steamhammer |
DE79 (8 weeks) DE |
- | - | - |
First published: October 7, 1993
|
| 1999 | Masterpeace SPV / Steamhammer |
- | - | - | - |
First published: July 22, 1999
|
| 2004 | The Weight of the World SPV / Steamhammer |
- | - | - | - |
First published: September 28, 2004
|
| 2006 | A Light in the Dark SPV / Steamhammer |
- | - | - | - |
First published: June 16, 2006
|
| 2008 | This Present Wasteland SPV / Steamhammer |
- | - | - | - |
First published: September 23, 2008
|
| 2013 | Generation Nothing Body of Work Recordings |
- | - | - | - |
First published: October 22, 2013
|
| 2016 | XI Rat Pak Records |
DE34 (1 week) DE |
AT51 (1 week) AT |
CH30 (1 week) CH |
US57 (2 weeks) US |
First published: March 25, 2016
|
| 2018 | Damned If You Do Nuclear Blast |
DE68 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH83 (1 week) CH |
- |
First published: December 7, 2018
|
| 2020 | From the Vault Nuclear Blast |
DE85 (2 weeks) DE |
- |
CH78 (2 weeks) CH |
- |
First published: April 10, 2020
|
Live albums
- 1998: Live
- 1998: Live in Japan
Singles
- 1985: Gods of Wrath
- 1986: Start the Fire
- 1986: Watch the Children Pray
- 1988: Iron Man (with Sir Mix-a-Lot )
- 1989: Fake Healer
- 1989: Badlands
- 1991: Date with Poverty
- 1991: In Harm's Way
- 1991: In Mourning
- 1991: The Human Factor
- 1993: Gods of Second Chance
- 2015: Badlands
Videography
Video albums
- 2007: Dynamo - Classic Concerts 1991
Music videos
- 1986: Watch the Children Play
- 1989: Badlands
- 1991: Date with Poverty
- 1991: In Harm's Way
- 2016: No Tomorrow
- 2016: Needle & Suture
- 2018: Damned If You Do
Web links
- Official website
- Metal Church at MusicBrainz (English)
- Chart sources: DE / AT / CH / US
Individual evidence
- ↑ Metal Church Singer rejoined By Mike Howe . In: Blabbermouth.net . April 30, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2015.