Congregation Of Annihilation

Mike Howe had rejoined Metal Church in 2015, and released two great albums with the band before his untimely death in 2021. Metal Church has seen a few different singers over their long career and the Mike Howe albums are just as crucial to me as the original David Wayne ones. I figured that the loss of Howe was the end of the band, so I was surprise to hear that the band had a new singer and were releasing a new album. Initially I wanted nothing to with it. No thanks, I'm good.

After the album was released, I didn't want to be that guy that cuts a band off and doesn't give them a chance after a change. Kurdt Vanderhoof is still the guy writing all the music for Metal Church, so I decided to check a new song with an open mind, and goddamn, it was really good. Metal Church still delivers some great traditional metal, and after checking out the full album, I knew I had to pick one up.

Rat Pak has always done a great job with packaging for the recent Metal Church albums, and Congregation Of Annihilation is no exception.

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.

Blessing In 1989

One of my favorite things to do this year has been to dive into those albums celebrating their 30th anniversary, and chasing down those records from 1989. Man, so many great albums were released that year, and it has been a blast immersing myself into that time period and reminiscing about those days when I was 18/19 years old.

I've been looking to pick up a copy of Metal Church's first album with Mike Howe, Blessing In Disguise, for a long time. Seems like I spend some time each year trying to hunt one down, but it never works out, and then I forget about it and move on to something else. I've been after this record for so long, I've come close to adding it to my Top Wants list for the year, just to keep front and center on my radar, but once I started chasing those 30th anniversary albums this year, I was bound and determined to finally get the job done.

Blessing In Disguise was the first Metal Church record since their departure with vocalist David Wayne. Those first two albums with David Wayne as the singer are kind of a big deal, and they are straight up classics. When he left, they were some big shoes to fill... but then Mike Howe came into the band and brought the band to another level. It is like trying to compare DiAnno and Dickinson era Iron Maiden, with Wayne and Howe, I'm torn between which one I prefer...both are just so good.

Damned In The Metal Church

When Mike Howe reunited with Kurdt Vanderhoof for another run with Metal Church a couple years ago, I was blown away with how great they still sounded. No doubt...they could still deliver so solid metal. Given that it had been 20 years since Howe had been in a band and touring, I kind of figured that this would be a short lived reunion. I thought they would get together, have some fun recording a new album...maybe tour a bit, and then Mike Howe would go back to the life he'd been living and that would be it. I was very happy to be wrong when I heard that they were recording a new album earlier this year.

Now, I really loved the last Metal Church album with Howe, XI. It was definitely one of my favorite metal albums in 2016, so I was curious to see if the band could pull off that same magic this time around.

The album was just released a couple weeks ago, and now I've got to keep jamming this record to see how it stacks up before the end of the year. It is going to be tough to figure where Damned If You Do lands when I'm putting my list together, but I might be enjoying this album more than their last one.

I was excited for a new Metal Church record, so I dove in head first and ordered the deluxe pressing straight from the label.

The packaging for this pressing is so good...with all kinds of nice extras. Such a nice job with the inner sleeves, lyric booklet, OBI style strip, and a bonus print of the cover artwork...this thing is total quality, front to back.

Numbered out of 500 for this limited collectors edition.

Metal Church Live

Hands down, one of my favorite concerts last year was when Metal Church played a small club in Portland. Mike Howe's reunion with the band, had me obsessing over the three albums they did with him back in the late 80's/early 90's. I was listening to those albums like crazy and could not get enough...and on top of that, their newest record was impressive as hell. Having never seen Metal Church live before, I couldn't have been more stoked to see them when they came through town. A smile was permanently fixed on my face as I watched the band tear through some new tunes and a bunch of older classics.

I'm usually not too interested in live albums, but having such great memories of seeing Metal Church last year, I couldn't resist picking up their latest live release as a nice reminder of the show.

As the Classic Live title alludes to, none of the songs from their newest album are included here...only material from the bands original run...and with those last couple of Mike Howe albums feeling a bit under appreciated, it is nice to see songs like Gods Of A Second Chance and No Friend Of Mine falling under that "classic" umbrella. Solid fucking track list.

Only 300 pressed on vinyl, and only available through the band's website.

Going Back To Church

Recently, I've had my attention pulled away from Metal, and have found myself leaning heavily toward early punk. Even newer releases have failed to ignite any excitement. All that goes out with the new Metal Church.

I started looking forward to the new Metal Church album when they announced that they had reunited with singer Mike Howe. I'd always been a fan of Blessing In Disguise, but since I'd started leaving Metal in my rearview mirror around 1990, I'd never bothered with the two Howe-fronted follow up albums, Human Factor and Hanging In The Balance . Sure, I'd downloaded those albums when I started to get back into Metal in the mid-00's, but I'd never really spent any time with them. With the announcement of the Howe reunion, I went back and was surprised to find that I couldn't get enough of those albums. Suddenly, my interest in the new Metal Church album shot through the roof, and it was my most anticipated release of the year.

Disgusted with the music industry, Mike Howe walked away in 1994, shortly after the release of Hanging In The Balance. Here we are, over 20 years later, and Howe's voice still sounds like it did back in the early 90's. I usually make a point of staying away from watching youtube videos prior to an albums release, but in this case I couldn't stay away, and I watched the three Metal Church videos repeatedly. I was hooked. It blows my mind that bands that I loved as a kid, can still release albums like this today.

Limited to 300 on red vinyl.

Giving Praise At The Metal Church

I regularly get distracted on my quest to collect certain records. My latest passion has been to chase the silver label Megaforce pressings, but somewhere along the way I decided that I'd pull off the road and and spend some time at the Metal Church.

An obsession within an obsession. I have been listening to a lot of 80's metal...so much so, that I can almost feel my mullet growing back in. In cruising through my 1985 playlist, I stumbled upon the first Metal Church album. It had been a while since I'd given it a spin, so I figured that I'd check it out. Hot damn! I'd forgotten how great this album was.

After giving it a listen, I soon found myself queuing it up everyday. Fuck. Metal Church was never better than when David Wayne was at the mic. I could not get enough, and soon I was checking eBay for vinyl.

Before signing to Elektra, Metal Church released their first LP on the short lived Ground Zero Records. When I started searching eBay for a copy of the Metal Church LP, I knew that there was no way an Elektra pressing was going to cut it. I needed the original first pressing...and I needed it in excellent condition. When I found what I was looking for, I didn't hesitate to spend a few extra dollars to get what I wanted.

First pressings came with a merchandise insert. Dude, I would totally rock that muscle shirt right now.

Warning: ordering the Metal Church neck brace is only for serious bangers.