In 1980 Kurdt Vanderhoof leaves the punk act, The Lewd, and starts a band in San Francisco, that he names Metal Church (named after the commonly used name for his apartment). During a gig Leviathan members Rick Condran and Aaron Zimpel (both guitarists) got into a conversation with Vanderhoof, and discussed the idea of the "ultimate" metal band. Vanderhoof, Condran, bassist Steve Haat and drummer Aaron Winer then forms Anvil Chorus - The Church Of Metal. The rest of Leviathan forms Vienna. An instrumental demo is recorded, comprised of the Leviathan tracks 'Red Skies’, 'Heads Will Roll' and 'Merciless Onslaught’. The formative band went through numerous drummers, including an invitation to pre-Metallica Lars Ulrich. A pair of other local musicians, guitarists Thaen Rasmussen (ex-Vy-King) and Doug Piercy (ex-Cobra, Delta) liked the name Anvil Chorus so much they took it for themselves. They did however offer acknowledgment with the homage to their inspiration with the track 'Bow To The Church Of Metal.’ Vanderhoof trimmed the name of his act down to simply Metal Church. Billy McKay (Sinister Savage) fronted Metal Church for a brief spell prior to founding Griffin. Singer Ed Bull was invited to join the band, but guitarist Condran objected. When the guitarist quit, Bull was on the mike stand the very next day. With the abandonment of Vienna, Zimpel also joined, but now he switch to drums. With this line up Metal Church cut their second demo. This four track affair included a rework of 'Heads Will Roll' titled 'Put The Chains On,’ an Anvil Chorus number called 'Arab Nations’, 'Wake Up And Die' and 'The Trap Is Set.’ The latter track displayed the enmity between Bull and Condran as the singer's chorus of "Die Ricky, Die!" amply illustrated. However, despite intensive tape trading, this early incarnation of the band folded, with Haat going on to a temporary stint with Griffin, and later on Jetboy. Bull founded Control with guitarists Dino Scarposi and Bill Tuder. A later version of Control featured another ex-Anvil Chorus member, guitarist Doug Piercy (later of Heathen). Zimpel meantime joined the ranks of Anvil Chorus. Vanderhoof journeyed back to Seattle to create Schrapnel. In 1983 this act had evolved into the line-up of Kirk Arrington on drums, Mike Murphy doing vocals, and Craig Wells handling guitar. Kirk has a friend by the name of Duke Erickson who plays bass, so he is brought in to complete the line-up. Mike Murphy ends up leaving and joining the band Rogues Gallery, so Craig brings in his friend David Wayne to take over lead singing duties. Shrapnel plays mostly metal cover tunes around their hometown, doing pretty much any gig they can get their hands on. In 1983 the band re-names themselves using Kurdt's San Francisco band name again, and thus the "real" Metal Church is born. The year after they start writing original material, and records and releases a self-titled debut album on the independent label Ground Zero. The album sells well, and a year later Metal Church is picked up by Elektra Records, and the debut album is re-released.

THE SHRAPNEL TAPES 81-84 (2009) WHITE STALLION (Bootleg)

Collecting demo tapes has always been a thing in the metal circuits. It used to be the best way to check out new bands, back in the early '80's. Tape trading did for us then what the internet is providing for music fans nowadays a chance to check out the music, before you buy the album. Today people pay top dollars for demo recordings from known metal bands. So the bootleggers are trying to grab their cut of that market.

Metal Church recorded 3 demos before they were signed to Elektra in 1984. 2 of them were recorded without a singer, thus all of the songs from 'Red Skies' and 'Hitman' (originally an untitled demo, but later nicknamed so because of the first track on the demo ended up as the song "Hitman" for the bands debut album) are instrumentals. And although the sales pitch for this bootleg CD claims that the songs here have been remastered, we're still talking songs recorded on some tape decks during the early '80's! The rehearsal tracks and the live recording is not much to write home about either. So the only semi-interesting thing for Metal Church fans here is the 'Four Hymns' demo. All of the songs were re-recorded for the 'Metal Church' album. "Deathwish" became "Beyond The Black", and a heavily reworked "The Brave" became "In The Blood". This demo has the best sound quality, and might be worth it if you're a die hard fan.

'The Shrapnel Tapes 81-84' is a well made bootleg, with an informative booklet with lots of pictures. But the track list on the back is all wrong, and the sound quality is of course no good. So you'll do just as good downloading all of the songs for free on the official Metal Church website, because that is where I suspect White Stallion got them from in the first place.....

Trivia: Inside the booklet for this bootleg release you'll find a biography on the band, written exactly the way it appears at the top if this page (I even recognized some spelling errors, which I have now removed here).

METAL CHURCH (1985) ELEKTRA

Man, it's nice to finally have this album on CD! I've tried to get a copy through several trades, and finally scored one. This has to be one of the best debut-efforts ever released. It's not my favorite Metal Church album, but it's still a killer disc. The 2 first tracks must be the darkest songs this band ever recorded, and 2 of my favorites. Metal Church really just set a standard here. I'm not quite friends with the Deep Purple cover "Highway Star" though. I used to own a German pressing of this albumon vinyl, with a bonus-track. Too bad it wasn't on this CD. BUY OR REGRET!

Killer tracks: Beyond The Black, Metal Church, (My Favorite) Nightmare

THE DARK (1986) ELEKTRA

Metal Church's second disc is still one of the finest power metal albums ever! Tons of killer riffs, awesome melodies, and David Wayne's raspy voice, a winning combination! When this was new, MTV had still not begun to root out all that was not the latest hype, so I remember coming home from school, and seeing "Watch The Children Pray" being aired on regular MTV-shows! I loved the 80's!!! This was to be the last Metal Church album to feature David Wayne, until the original line-up reunited in 1998. He went on to form Reverend and Wayne.

Killer tracks: Ton Of Bricks, Watch The Children Pray, The Dark, Burial At Sea

BLESSING IN DISGUISE (1989) ELEKTRA

Absolutely the best Metal Church album, and most likely the best power metal album ever to be released!!! New vocalist, ex-Heretic singer Mike Howe, is brilliant, and adds another dimension to the Seattle band. In addition to the riffs, we get emotional songs, and socially conscious lyrics. Not one song on this album is boring. All of them sends shivers down my spine! The song "Rest In Pieces" is about the Titanic, a topic also Artch made a song about (Artch were really influenced by Metal Church, they even used to cover some of their songs live). If you have missed out on this one, start searching for it NOW! It's a masterpiece, and a MUST!!!!

Killer tracks: All of them!

THE HUMAN FACTOR (1991) EPIC

From masterpiece to flop! This is, in my opinion, the most overrated Metal Church album. It totally lacks all the great songs from the previous albums. I am aware of that most Metal Church fans dig this, but I am not one of them. It contains one of my all time favorite Metal Church songs, "In Mourning", but that's about it. Sad really, 'cause Metal Church was on to big things with their 'Blessing In Disguise'-album. "Date With Poverty" got some MTV airplay.

Killer tracks: The Human Factor, In Mourning

HANGING IN THE BALANCE (1993) BLACKHEART/SPV

A tiny step up from 'The Human Factor', but not even close to 'Blessing in Disguise'. This was to be the last record Metal Church released, until the reunion in 1998. It is produced by Paul O'Neill (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra), and that is noticeable. Just listen to "Waiting For A Savior", and you'll know what I mean. The cover-art is dreadful, but it clearly illustrates the album-title. This German release included a bonus-track. There also exists a digi-pack version with 3 live bonus-tracks, but I kept the one with the studio-bonus instead.

Killer tracks: Gods Of Second Chance, Losers In The Game, No Friend Of Mine, Waiting For A Savior.

LIVE (1998) SPV/STEAMHAMMER

Now, this is a cool addition to the collection! Just in time for the reunion, Metal Church (or rather the record-company) release a live-album, recorded with the original line-up on The Dark Tour. And this is one amazing set list! Listening to "Beyond The Black" and "Metal Church", one can only admit that this is one of the best bands in this genre. These songs are classic, and even the less the perfect sound-quality cannot take away the joy of this experience. I never did like the cover of Deep Purple's "Highway Star", though.

MASTERPEACE (1999) NUCLEAR BLAST USA

Now this was a reunion that I had great expectations for. But sadly when this album came, the storm quickly quieted down. Most fans were not pleased with the result. So I never bothered to get this CD. Then a friend across the Atlantic sent me a copy, to finish my collection. And I just have to join the main crowd; this is not the record I was hoping for. I sense no hunger, or will to once more top the power metal elite. The songs are easily forgotten, and I have no urge to hit the play button again when I've finished listening to it. The best thing on it is the return of vocalist David Wayne. But even he doesn't get to show his full range in my opinion. This might all sound a bit too negative, so I will just finish this off by saying that the album isn't all bad, it's just not what I expected from a reformed Metal Church. 'Toys In The Attic' is an Aerosmith cover.

Killer tracks: Sleeps With Thunder, They Signed In Blood

Metal Church anno 2004

Metal Church also appear on:  

V/A - 'Heavy Metal Hits Of The '80s'

Kurdt Vanferhoof guest appearances:

John Marshall guest appearances:

Related Artists:

Vanderhoof, Reverend, Wayne, Heretic, Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Malice, Heathen