Kev Rowland
When Metal Church entered the studio to record their eleventh album the line-up was the same it had been for some years, except that frontman Ronny Munroe had decided to step down after ten years in the band. Kurdt Vanderhoof wasn’t sure if wanted to continue with Metal Church at this point, but then wondered if Mike Howe may be interested in picking up where he had left off twenty years before. Mike was in the band from 1988 to 1995, singing on three albums, and once he had heard the material he was back. What is unusual, is that apart from singing with Heretic prior to joining Metal Church, Howe has rarely recorded or performed, so he was coming back into the pit some twenty years on from leaving it, yet it sounds as if he has been performing with the band for years.
Howe has one of the strongest and finest voices in metal, while Vanderhoof has been providing metallic riffs in this band for nearly forty years (apparently a young Lars Ulrich even auditioned at one point), and having Howe back has given him a new sense of purpose and energised everyone involved. This is classic metal, nothing fancy or genre breaking here, just guys playing good old fashioned heavy metal with strong hooks, riffs, load of leather and denim. I can smell the sweat coming out of the speakers, as this is the music I grew up, horribly hot halls with way too many people and far too much testosterone, speakers blasting and an audience wanting to be blown away by what was happening on stage and a band surrounded by Marshalls prepared to do just that. Music like this is a comfort blanket, nothing weird is going to happen, it is metal nothing more and nothing less. Yes, there are some acoustic guitars here and there, but don’t worry, they are just to provide emphasis to the electric ones, which are the ones that really matter. Superb.
