Review by Ben for Metal Church - Metal Church (1984)

A classic lightweight thrash metal album that can't quite make good on some impressive early promise.

Metal Church didn’t do things the easy way. As with so many bands back in the days before the Internet made overnight stardom and self-produced money-makers a reality, Metal Church would go through various incarnations and release numerous demos over a four year period before gaining the right to release an album. Originally formed in 1980 in San Francisco (under the name Shrapnel) by guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof and friends, the first year of the band are only notable for the fact that Lars Ulrich (from Metallica) rehearsed with the band a few times before amusingly not making the cut. After a few long lost demos, Kurdt eventually moved to Washington State in 1981 where he joined forces with Craig Wells (guitar), Mike Murphy (vocals), Tom Weber (drums) and Duke Erickson (bass). It wasn’t long however before Tom and Mike were replaced by Kirk Arrington and David Wayne respectively, and this line-up released a demo called Four Hymns around the same time the bandname was changed to Metal Church. This demo included the likes of Gods of Wrath and Battalions and its success was enough to convince the band that they were ready to record a debut full length release. Incredibly, the resulting self titled album would not be picked up by a label until James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich convinced Elektra to do so, after the band had sold 70,000 copies on their own.

It took me a long time to give Metal Church a chance to win me over. Gaining entrance to the world of metal through the likes of Metallica, Slayer, Kreator, Megadeth and Testament, I kind of skipped the heavy metal stepping stone (with the exception of Iron Maiden) that many youngsters took back in the eighties on their way to more extreme forms of music. What I didn’t realise at the time was that Metal Church’s debut album was considered a classic not only in the world of heavy metal, but also amongst the thrash metal crowd that I’d so snobbishly associated myself with. In hindsight, it’s not difficult to figure out why I passed the album over for the likes of Reign in Blood and Pleasure to Kill. The band moniker and album cover, complete with a Gibson Explorer shrouded in neon pinkish backed smoke, screams of more traditional metal at a time when I was busy hunting for the next level of brutality. When I finally bothered to find out what all the fuss was about (around a decade after its release), I was pleasantly surprised by not only by how much thrash Metal Church injected into their debut, but also how damn enjoyable the album turned out to be. That’s not to say that Metal Church sits comfortably alongside the previously mentioned relics of blasphemy, as this is a much more accessible and at times comparatively timid experience, but it’s one I regret disregarding for so long.

That being said, there’s no doubt Metal Church is top heavy, with the first three tracks setting a high standard that the rest of the album can’t quite match. Things get underway with the brilliant Beyond the Black, immediately showcasing an effective Iron Maiden-like gallop combined with more than a tinge of Overkill fashioned thrash. Speaking of Overkill, David Wayne’s high pitched vocals indeed bring to mind Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth, with all the good and bad qualities that suggests. The second track keeps up the excellent work with a hugely memorable chugging rhythm, arguably making the band’s self titled track off their self titled album one of the highlights of their long career. Then there’s the three minute instrumental Merciless Onslaught, which is by far the thrashiest and most exciting effort on the release, successfully completing an early album trilogy of metal goodness. Unfortunately, the rest of the album slides away somewhat, with the lengthy Gods of Wrath ballad losing the momentum before some truly dodgy King Diamond impersonations all but destroying any impetus the likes of Hitman and In the Blood might otherwise have had. (My Favourite) Nightmare and Battalions do their energetic best however to recover lost ground with good success, at least making this renowned debut album a very solid and agreeable effort that should definitely be heard by all heavy metal and thrash fans that aren’t scared off by an amalgamation of the two. I think I initially was, but Metal Church went a long way to changing my mind!