Metal Church is an American heavy metal band formed in 1980. Originally based in San Francisco, California, the group's first lineup featured vocalist William McKay, lead guitarist Rick "Chief" Condrin, rhythm guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, bassist Steve Hott and drummer Rick Wagner. After around a year, Vanderhoof relocated to Aberdeen, Washington, and restarted the group with vocalist Mike Murphy, lead guitarist Craig Wells, bassist Duke Erickson and drummer Tom Weber. The current lineup includes Vanderhoof alongside bassist Steve Unger (since 2003), lead guitarist Rick Van Zandt (since 2008), drummer Stet Howland (since 2017) and vocalist Marc Lopes (since 2023).
Kurdt Vanderhoof formed the first incarnation of Metal Church while living in San Francisco in 1980. [1] The original lineup included vocalist Billy McKay and drummer Rick Wagner, both of whom were members of Sinister Savage (later Griffin), who remained for around "two to three months". [2] [3] Vanderhoof, McKay and Wagner were initially joined by lead guitarist Rick "Chief" Condrin and bassist Steve Hott. [4] After McKay and Wagner both returned to Griffin later in the year, Ed Bull took over on vocals and Aaron Zimpel joined on drums, however Bull left shortly thereafter due to "tensions" with Condrin. [5] While still in San Francisco, the quartet of Vanderhoof, Condrin, Hott and Zimpel recorded the first Metal Church demo, an instrumental four-track called Red Skies, in 1981. [6]
Later in 1981, Vanderhoof moved to Aberdeen and formed a new version of Metal Church under the name Shrapnel. The initial lineup included vocalist Mike Murphy, lead guitarist Craig Wells, bassist Duke Erickson and drummer Tom Weber, although Murphy left before the recording of the band's next demo, 1982's Hitman. [7] Shortly after, David Wayne replaced Murphy and Kirk Arrington took over from the outgoing Weber; the new lineup released Four Hymns and an untitled third demo in 1983. [7] Shrapnel was also renamed Metal Church in 1983. [8] In 1984, Metal Church released its self-titled debut album on independent label Ground Zero, which leads to Elektra Records signing the group in 1985. [8] The band's major label debut The Dark followed in September 1986. [9]
After the recording of The Dark, founding member Kurdt Vanderhoof stepped down from the band's lineup, although he would continue to write material and occasionally feature on future recordings. [10] He was replaced initially on tour by Mark Baker, before John Marshall took over on a more permanent basis. [11] [12] The new lineup toured throughout 1987 and early 1988, before Wayne left in the summer and initially joined a group called Intrinsic, [13] before forming his own group Reverend later in the year. [14] Mike Howe, formerly of Heretic, took Wayne's place as frontman of Metal Church. [15] Howe, Wells, Marshall, Erickson and Arrington released Blessing in Disguise in 1989, The Human Factor in 1991 and Hanging in the Balance in 1993. [16] The band broke up in 1995 due to various "internal conflicts". [17]
In 1998, when compiling the album Live , the 1982–1986 lineup of Metal Church (David Wayne, Craig Wells, Kurdt Vanderhoof, Duke Erickson and Kirk Arrington) reformed to start working on new material; Wells backed out early into the process, however, and John Marshall returned to take his place. [8] The new lineup released Masterpeace in July 1999. [18] For a subsequent European tour, Brian Lake and Jeff Wade filled in for Erickson (who was unable to play due to family commitments) and Arrington (who was detained), respectively. [8] Vanderhoof has subsequently claimed that Arrington was unwell during this period and "barely played" on Masterpeace. [19]
After the 1999 tour dates, Metal Church essentially disbanded. Wayne claimed that "Kurdt and the guys did not want to continue with Metal Church", after which the singer used the band name as the title of his next solo album. [20] Vanderhoof claimed in a 2016 interview that the reunion was "a bad, bad idea", claiming that "We did a tour and it was awful". [19] In the summer of 2001, however, around the time of the release of Wayne's Metal Church album, various band members explained that the group was still together, albeit inactive while Vanderhoof focused on his solo project. [21] [22] Wayne officially announced his departure in June 2001. [23]
Metal Church did not re-emerge until October 2003, when it was announced that a new lineup including Vanderhoof and Arrington alongside vocalist Ronny Munroe, lead guitarist Jay Reynolds and bassist Steve Unger was recording a new album. [24] The album was released as The Weight of the World in 2004. [25] In February 2006, it was announced that Arrington had to leave the group "due to health complications from years of struggling with diabetes". [26] Jeff Plate took his place, starting with recording for A Light in the Dark in January. [27] In February 2008, Jay Reynolds left the band for "personal reasons". [28] Rick Van Zandt replaced him, debuting on This Present Wasteland . [29]
On July 7, 2009, Metal Church announced that it was disbanding, citing "far too much frustration and disappointment in trying to keep moving forward", including the impending (but later reversed) insolvency of its record label SPV GmbH. [30] The group had earlier had to pull out of several live performances due to Vanderhoof's ongoing back problems. [31]
Metal Church announced in October 2012 that it would be reforming for shows in 2013, with a lineup of Ronny Munroe, Jay Reynolds, Kurdt Vanderhoof, Steve Unger and Jeff Plate. [32] By the time they played their first show back in January, Rick Van Zandt had returned in Reynolds' place. [33] The band released Generation Nothing later in 2013, and after a subsequent touring cycle, Munroe stepped left to "pursue other interests" in September 2014. [34] His replacement was announced as the returning Mike Howe in April 2015, after a short trial period during which time he wrote new material with Vanderhoof. [35] A new album, XI , was released in 2016. [36] Plate later announced that he was leaving the group in March 2017. [37] The following month, former W.A.S.P. drummer Stet Howland was announced as Plate's replacement. [38]
The band released Damned If You Do in 2018, [39] followed by From the Vault in 2020 which included four new studio tracks. [40] These were the final Metal Church recordings to feature Mike Howe, who died by suicide on July 26, 2021. [41] The band became inactive following Howe's death, with Vanderhoof waiting until September 2022 to confirm that it would continue with a new vocalist, who they had reportedly chosen. [42] In February 2023, it was announced that Marc Lopes was Metal Church's new singer. [43] A new album, Congregation of Annihilation , was released that May. [44]
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kurdt Vanderhoof |
|
| all Metal Church releases from Red Skies (1981) to The Dark (1986), and from Live (1986) onwards – plus additional contributions to Blessing in Disguise (1989) and Hanging in the Balance (1993), and songwriting on The Human Factor (1991) | |
Steve Unger |
|
| all Metal Church releases from The Weight of the World (2004) onwards | |
Rick Van Zandt |
| lead guitar | all Metal Church releases from This Present Wasteland (2008) onwards | |
Stet Howland | 2017–present |
|
| |
Marc Lopes | 2023–present | lead vocals | Congregation of Annihilation (2023) |
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rick "Chief" Condrin | 1980 (died 2014) | lead guitar | Red Skies demo (1981) | |
Steve Hott | 1980 | bass | ||
William McKay | lead vocals | none | ||
Rick Wagner | drums | |||
Aaron Zimpel | 1980 (died 2019) | Red Skies demo (1981) | ||
Ed Bull | 1980 | lead vocals | none | |
Carl Sacco | 1981 | drums | ||
Duke Erickson |
| bass | all Metal Church releases from the Hitman demo (1982) to Masterpeace (1999) | |
Craig Wells |
| lead guitar | all Metal Church releases from the Hitman demo (1982) to Live (1998) | |
Tom Weber | 1981–1982 | drums | Hitman demo (1982) | |
Mike Murphy | lead vocals | none | ||
Kirk Arrington |
|
| all Metal Church releases from the Four Hymns demo (1983) to The Weight of the World (2004) | |
David Wayne |
| lead vocals |
| |
Mark Baker | 1986 | rhythm guitar | none | |
John Marshall |
| guitar (rhythm 1986–1996, lead 1998–2001) |
| |
Mike Howe |
| lead vocals | all Metal Church releases from Blessing in Disguise (1989) to Hanging in the Balance (1993), and from "Badlands" (2015) to From the Vault (2020) | |
Ronny Munroe |
|
| ||
Jay Reynolds |
| lead guitar |
| |
Jeff Plate |
|
| all Metal Church releases from A Light in the Dark (2006) to Classic Live (2017) |
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
Brian Lake | 1999 | bass | Lake temporarily replaced Duke Erickson, who was unable to tour due to family commitments, in 1999. [8] | |
Jeff Wade | drums | Wade performed some drums on Masterpeace and took over from Kirk Arrington on the subsequent tour. [8] | ||
Ira Black | 2005 | rhythm guitar | Black substituted for Kurdt Vanderhoof in summer 2005 when the guitarist had "prior commitments". [45] | |
Paul Kleff | 2016 | lead guitar | Kleff and Caffery stepped in for Rick Van Zandt during early 2016 when he had to have eye surgery. [46] [47] | |
Chris Caffery | ||||
Bobby Ferkovich | 2019 |
| Ferkovich performed on an Australian tour in the summer of 2019 when Steve Unger couldn't make it. [48] |
Period | Members | Releases |
---|---|---|
1980 |
| none |
1980 |
| |
1980–1981 |
|
|
1981 |
| none |
1981 (as Shrapnel) |
| |
1981–1982 (as Shrapnel) |
|
|
Early 1983 – summer 1986 (initially as Shrapnel) |
|
|
Fall 1986 |
| none |
Late 1986 – summer 1988 |
| |
1988–1995 |
|
|
Band inactive 1995–1998 | ||
1998 |
| none |
Late 1998 – June 2001 |
|
|
Band on hiatus 2001–2003 | ||
October 2003 – January 2006 |
|
|
January 2006 – February 2008 |
|
|
February 2008 – July 2009 |
|
|
Band inactive July 2009 – October 2012 | ||
October – late 2012 |
| none |
Late 2012 – September 2014 |
|
|
April 2015 – March 2017 |
|
|
April 2017 – July 2021 |
|
|
Band on hiatus July 2021 – February 2023 | ||
February 2023 – present |
|
|
Metal Church is an American heavy metal band formed in 1980. Originally based in San Francisco, California, they relocated to Aberdeen, Washington the following year and briefly called themselves Shrapnel. Led by guitarist and songwriter Kurdt Vanderhoof, the band has released thirteen studio albums and is considered to be an integral part of the Seattle heavy metal music scene of the 1980s. They achieved considerable popularity that decade, with two of their first three albums entering the Top 100 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The band's early lyrical topics such as conflict and paranoia later expanded into philosophical, political and social commentary.
Hanging in the Balance is the fifth album by American heavy metal band Metal Church, released in 1993. It was Metal Church's last album before their two-year break up from 1996 to 1998, and the last to feature vocalist Mike Howe for more than two decades until his return to the band in 2015. Reportedly Howe disliked the album cover so much that it contributed to his decision to leave the band. It is also their last studio album with longtime guitarist Craig Wells and drummer Kirk Arrington.
Heathen is an American thrash metal band originating from the San Francisco Bay Area, active from 1984 to 1993 and again from 2001 onwards. Despite never achieving commercial success, the band is often credited – alongside Exodus, Testament, Forbidden, Death Angel and Vio-lence – as one of the leaders of the Bay Area thrash metal scene of the mid-to-late 1980s, and they have gone through several lineup changes, leaving guitarist Lee Altus as the only constant member. To date, Heathen has released four studio albums: Breaking the Silence (1987), Victims of Deception (1991), The Evolution of Chaos (2009) and Empire of the Blind (2020).
The Dark is the second full-length album released by American heavy metal band Metal Church, released on October 6, 1986. This was the last album featuring the group's "classic" lineup of David Wayne, Kurdt Vanderhoof, Kirk Arrington, Duke Erickson, and Craig Wells, until Masterpeace (1999), which reunited the four-fifths of that lineup, with John Marshall replacing Wells.
A Light in the Dark is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church, released on June 16, 2006 in Germany, June 19 in the rest of Europe, and June 27 in the US. This was the third Metal Church album to feature the cruciform Gibson Explorer on a cover, as well as the last to feature Jay Reynolds on guitar. It was also the first to feature Jeff Plate on drums.
Presto Ballet is a progressive rock band founded by Metal Church guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof. Their sound is highly reminiscent of 1970s prog rock, as the band was founded chiefly as a tribute to classic progressive bands such as Yes and Kansas.
Blessing in Disguise is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church, released on February 7, 1989.
The Weight of the World is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church. It was released in 2004 through the Steamhammer/SPV label.
Masterpeace is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church released on July 22, 1999 via Nuclear Blast. It features the return of vocalist David Wayne, absent since The Dark (1986), being the band's final studio album to feature him before his death in May 2005. All original members recorded on Masterpeace except guitarist Craig Wells and drummer Kirk Arrington. Jeff Wade filled in for Arrington on the album and on tour. This was the second Metal Church album to feature the cruciform Gibson Explorer on a cover, the first being the band's 1984 debut.
Ronny Munroe is an American singer, most noted as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Metal Church from 2003 until the band broke up in 2009. His second tenure with the band lasted from 2012 when the group reunited until 2014, where he left to "pursue other interests". He also had a brief stint as the vocalist for Lillian Axe. He was also the lead singer of progressive rock band Presto Ballet. In October 2011 Munroe joined the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, as a vocalist. In 2022, Munroe became the lead vocalist of Vicious Rumors. and Munroe's Thunder Project in 2016
This Present Wasteland is the ninth studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church. The album was released in the US on September 23, 2008, and in Europe on September 26. This is the first album to feature guitarist Rick Van Zandt.
Mike Howe was an American heavy metal singer who performed with Metal Church, Heretic and briefly with mid 80s Los Angeles metal band Snair.
Heretic is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles. Beginning in 1984, the group's initial career saw two releases on Metal Blade Records and touring alongside noted heavy metal groups. After their 1988 breakup, singer Mike Howe joined Metal Church while other members founded Reverend.
Generation Nothing is the tenth studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church. It is their first after their late 2012 reunion, and their fourth and last to feature vocalist Ronny Munroe.
XI is the eleventh studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church. It was released on March 25, 2016, and is the band's first album in 23 years to feature vocalist Mike Howe. XI was considered a comeback for both Metal Church and Howe since the latter's hiatus from the music industry following the band's first breakup in 1996; the album received generally positive reviews, and was their first studio album since 1989's Blessing in Disguise to enter the Billboard 200 chart, where it peaked at number 57, the band's highest chart position in their career. This is also Metal Church's final album with drummer Jeff Plate, who left the band almost exactly a year after its release.
Damned If You Do is the twelfth studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church, released on December 7, 2018, through Rat Pak Records. It is their first release with former W.A.S.P. drummer Stet Howland, who replaced longtime member Jeff Plate in 2017, and their final album to feature vocalist Mike Howe before his suicide in 2021. Music videos were made for the songs "Damned If You Do" and "By the Numbers".
Congregation of Annihilation is the thirteenth studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church, released on May 26, 2023 through Rat Pak Records. It is the first album to feature new vocalist Marc Lopes, who joined in the summer of 2022 as the replacement of the late Mike Howe.
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