Vault Of The Metal Church

When Metal Church reunited with Mike Howe back in 2015, I couldn't have anticipated how productive the band would be. I kind of expected them to release an album of new material, do a quick tour and that would be the last we'd hear from them. I'm so happy to have been proven wrong. The band has released two fantastic albums, a live record, and have plans for a third studio album in late 2020/early 2021...and on top of that they have just delivered a new collection of previously unreleased songs.

From The Vault is a double album that features a few new songs, and I can't get over how great they sound. Damn, these are great and are worth the price of admission alone! They also throw in a re-recording of Conductor from 1993's Hanging In The Balance, and the band prove they still have the chops as the new version easily measures up to the original.

To close out the first record we get five songs that were left over from the Damned If You Do sessions, and while a couple of them are instrumentals, it doesn't feel like you are getting some cheap throw away songs...every one of these deliver a solid punch, and I'm glad that the band didn't let these fall to the wayside.

Over on the second record, Metal Church deliver a few cover songs, as well as two songs that were recorded live in Japan. These are fun to have, but not crucial by any means. For me, this collection is all about the first piece of vinyl...the rest of it is just nice to have, but not something that I'll need to spin too often.

The packaging on this is top notch. With the gatefold sleeve, OBI style stip, dust sleeves, and the album cover print with lyrics, Rat Pack Records did a great job pulling this together.

Number 118 out of an unknown number.