Metal Church to release a new album

Great new interview.

Evidently, this showed up in my mailbox today. Can't wait to check it out later.

007 wrote:

Evidently, this showed up in my mailbox today. Can't wait to check it out later.

Me too!

Still waiting for my copy. A couple of weeks hopefully. Not more.

Got the new album in the mail today. I gotta be honest… I’m not feeling it. None of the songs have catchy hooks and nothing sticks in my head.

I think the new singer is talented, but he tries too hard. He wants everyone to know he can hit the high notes constantly. And his voice has no feeling. Mike Howe is irreplaceable. But I think Ronny Munro did a great job on Generation Nothing.

Troublezone wrote:

Got the new album in the mail today. I gotta be honest… I’m not feeling it. None of the songs have catchy hooks and nothing sticks in my head.

I think the new singer is talented, but he tries too hard. He wants everyone to know he can hit the high notes constantly. And his voice has no feeling. Mike Howe is irreplaceable. But I think Ronny Munro did a great job on Generation Nothing.

A friend of mine who got the album gave me the same feedback.

Maybe it needs more spins.

Gilbert wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

Got the new album in the mail today. I gotta be honest… I’m not feeling it. None of the songs have catchy hooks and nothing sticks in my head.

I think the new singer is talented, but he tries too hard. He wants everyone to know he can hit the high notes constantly. And his voice has no feeling. Mike Howe is irreplaceable. But I think Ronny Munro did a great job on Generation Nothing.

A friend of mine who got the album gave me the same feedback.

Maybe it needs more spins.

I think the next album will be better. They need more time to gel. The chemistry isn’t fully there yet.

One other complaint is that Kurdt doesn’t work with outside producers anymore. I don’t really like his style of recording. He should go back to Terry Date and it would be much better sonically.

Troublezone wrote:

Got the new album in the mail today. I gotta be honest… I’m not feeling it. None of the songs have catchy hooks and nothing sticks in my head.

I think the new singer is talented, but he tries too hard. He wants everyone to know he can hit the high notes constantly. And his voice has no feeling. Mike Howe is irreplaceable. But I think Ronny Munro did a great job on Generation Nothing.

Agreed on all counts, except “Pick a God and Prey” has been lodged in my brain since it was released as a single.

It's a very good album. The new singer reminds of David Wayne and Doctor Butcher era Jon Oliva. Lots of good songwriting on this one. I like it better than any of the Howe reunion material.

Dammed If You Do is still my favorite since their classic era, but I’m interested to see how this one compares to the others after I’ve lived with it for a while.

Can't wait to get my copy. I haven't checked the album on YouTube. Prefer the total surprise element.

I haven't gotten the new CD yet, but I like what I've heard thus far. Like Gilbert sez, I am resisting the urge to listen to the full album on YouTube cuz I'd like it to be as "fresh" as possible when I do get the disc.

Fat Freddy wrote:

I haven't gotten the new CD yet, but I like what I've heard thus far. Like Gilbert sez, I am resisting the urge to listen to the full album on YouTube cuz I'd like it to be as "fresh" as possible when I do get the disc.

It’s not terrible by any means… only a few complaints.

1. The production could be better. It doesn’t have the sonic power as what Terry Date or Andy Sneap could do with it. Kurdt’s style of recording is more suited for his progressive 70’s stuff.

2. The title track has a rushed and awkward chorus. The cadence of the words just doesn’t sound good. If they had slowed it down on the chorus part, it might flow better. Like Halford usually does with Priest.

3. The new singer is trying too hard. He seems determined to step into David Wayne’s shoes. The high notes are everywhere. It can be a bit tiring. I have the same complaint toward Michael Sweet. Just ease back a bit and let the music breath. A well placed scream is more effective than a bunch of them too often.

They probably can't afford a producer like Terry Date anymore.

Fat Freddy wrote:

They probably can't afford a producer like Terry Date anymore.

That’s true, but I think Kurdt likes to handle it himself. More power to him. I just don’t like his results as much.

How's the new singer?

Lari wrote:

How's the new singer?

I picked up the new CD this afternoon. I've only had a chance to listen to a couple of tracks so far (on the drive home from the store) but based on those I'd say he sounds a hell of a lot like the late great David Wayne. Obviously I'll have more to say once I give it a few more listens.

On a related note, MC played the first live show with the new singer last night at Reggie's in Chicago. Check out this set list: only one track from the new album and a ton of old-school goodies. Given the new guy's vocal resemblance to D.W., they seem to be leaning heavily on stuff from the first two albums, which is fine by me:

1. Ton Of Bricks
2. Start the Fire
3. Battalions
4.Burial At Sea
5. Psycho
6. Watch the Children Pray
7. Badlands
8. Fake Healer
9. Gods of Wrath
10. Pick a God and Prey
11. Metal Church
12. Beyond the Black
13. The Human Factor

...holy crap, I can't believe they dusted off "Burial At Sea" off The Dark, that's one of my favorite deep cuts from them. (David Wayne's opening scream on the album version is in-saaaaaane!)

The new album is dedicated to Mike Howe, but is a David Wayne worship session.

The album is starting to grow in me. The first song is great! I still don’t like the title track though…

I’ll spin the disc more tomorrow.

Troublezone wrote:

The album is starting to grow in me. The first song is great! I still don’t like the title track though…

I’ll spin the disc more tomorrow.

Still waiting for my copy.

Gilbert wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

The album is starting to grow in me. The first song is great! I still don’t like the title track though…

I’ll spin the disc more tomorrow.

Still waiting for my copy.

Should be arriving soon.

Troublezone wrote:

Gilbert wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

The album is starting to grow in me. The first song is great! I still don’t like the title track though…

I’ll spin the disc more tomorrow.

Still waiting for my copy.

Should be arriving soon.

Hopefully

I listened to this album 3 times now. Some of the songs are really good.. most are garbage! If the production wasn't so damn dry, I think some of the songs would stick better. But that dry production just makes the album sound boring and uninteresting.

The singer though is amazing!! I don't mind him screaming as much as he does because I love it! Next album maybe he will do more (if they do another album).

Lots of good riffs though and some superb drumming overall.

Lurideath wrote:

I listened to this album 3 times now. Some of the songs are really good.. most are garbage! If the production wasn't so damn dry, I think some of the songs would stick better. But that dry production just makes the album sound boring and uninteresting.

The singer though is amazing!! I don't mind him screaming as much as he does because I love it! Next album maybe he will do more (if they do another album).

Lots of good riffs though and some superb drumming overall.

I agree with the dry production! It’s no good for this music. Like I had previously said, Kurdt is big into 70’s prog bands.

If producer/engineer Chris Tsangarides (Painkiller) was still alive he would be perfect for an album like this!

As far as the excessive screams… I’m not into it. I like them used sparingly for effect in strategic places. I have the same problem with Michael Sweet! LOL

OK, so I've had the new Metal Church for about two weeks now. I was gonna share my thoughts in a review on my HubPages blog but I haven't had any time to write stuff over there lately, so here we go:

First off, I'm simply glad that there is a new Metal Church album, period. After Mike H. passed away it seemed like the band's future was in doubt for a while so I'm happy that they've decided to continue.

I do like Marc Lopes' vox. Very similar to the late, great David Wayne. Judging from the live clips I've seen on YouTube, he can do justice to the old MC stuff so it sounds like they're in good hands going forward.

I do like the new album quite a bit. Obviously the death of Mike H. put Kurdt Vanderhoof in an angrier mindset, cuz this is the nastiest, thrashiest Metal Church album since The Dark.

That said... there are a few songs on here that are absolute bangers (title track, "Pick A God & Pray," "Making Monsters"), but there are also a few that needed some more time in the oven. A lot of times, the songs sound great till they hit the chorus (see: "Children of the Lie," "Me The Nothing") and then they stop dead.

I guess the main problem is a lack of hooks in many of the songs. Mike Howes' stuff always had a killer hook that you could latch onto and sing along with. Half of the tracks on Congregation of Annihilation don't really have that. It makes me wonder if they rushed into the studio to cut this record before they'd had time to truly "gel" with the new guy.

Overall, I like the new album. Not as much as I liked the last couple with Mike Howe, but more than any of the Ronny Munroe era albums, anyway.

So that's my take, for whatever it's worth. Your mileage may vary, depending on which MC vocalist you liked better back in the day (Wayne or Howe).