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 twelve 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 and social commentary.
Metal Church has had a revolving lineup of vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers throughout its -year career, and Vanderhoof remains the group's sole consistent creative force, despite reducing his role strictly to composition in 1986 after tiring of performing. The "classic" lineup of Vanderhoof, vocalist David Wayne, guitarist Craig Wells, bassist Duke Erickson, and drummer Kirk Arrington recorded the band's first two studio albums, Metal Church (1984) and their major breakthrough The Dark (1986). By the end of the 1980s, Vanderhoof and Wayne had parted ways with the band and were replaced by vocalist Mike Howe and guitarist John Marshall respectively. Metal Church's popularity continued with their third album Blessing in Disguise (1989), which spawned one of their best-known songs "Badlands". After releasing two more studio albums with Howe, The Human Factor (1991) and Hanging in the Balance (1993), the band first called it quits in 1996.
Metal Church reformed in 1998 with most of their "classic" lineup, including Vanderhoof's return to performance, resulting in the Masterpeace album. They endured numerous lineup changes thereafter, releasing three further studio albums while fronted by Ronny Munroe (who replaced Wayne in 2003) before disbanding once again in July 2009. The group reunited for the second time in October 2012, and released their tenth studio album Generation Nothing a year later. Following Munroe's departure in the fall of 2014, Metal Church considered disbanding for the third time before Howe was rehired in April 2015 as the band's lead singer. He recorded two more albums with the group, which enjoyed a renewed popularity in the mid-to-late 2010s, before his death on July 26, 2021. Howe has since been replaced by Marc Lopes, who debuted on the band's thirteenth studio album Congregation of Annihilation (2023).
History
Formative years (1980–1984) Then based in San Francisco, Kurdt Vanderhoof formed the band in 1980 with various musicians. This era included a brief audition period with future Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. The three-song, instrumental Red Skies demo appeared in 1981, featuring Vanderhoof, guitarist Rick Condrin, bassist Steve Hott, and drummer Aaron Zimpel.
Vanderhoof returned to his hometown of Aberdeen in 1981 and began the new group Shrapnel with Craig Wells, Duke Erickson, drummer Tom Weber, and vocalist Mike Murphy. Murphy departed before their next demo, which was recorded without vocals, and Weber departed shortly thereafter. The enlistment of Kirk Arrington and David Wayne completed the group's classic lineup. They released the demo Four Hymns and spent following years touring and accruing material, readopting the Metal Church moniker in 1983. The song "Death Wish" is featured on the compilation album Northwest Metalfest.
First two records and commercial success (1984–1988) In 1984, they released their self-titled debut album, which included three songs from the Four Hymns demo and a cover of Deep Purple's "Highway Star". They sold 70,000 copies of the album independently before signing to Elektra. According to Wayne, Ulrich and Metallica bandmate James Hetfield urged Elektra to sign the band before another label did.
By the time Metal Church released their second studio album, The Dark, in 1986, they were touring with high-profile acts including Metallica. The Dark was a commercial success, helped by the fact that the band's first music video, "Watch the Children Pray", received frequent airplay on MTV. As a result, the album managed to enter the US Billboard 200, and saw Metal Church support the album with a world tour from October 1986 to July 1987, playing with bands such as King Diamond, Celtic Frost, Testament, Overkill, D.R.I., Trouble and, individually, with each of the "big four" of thrash metal (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax).