Metal Church "From The Vault"

Metal Church released their first compilation album From the Vault on April 10, 2020. It contains four new studio tracks, five B-side tracks from the Damned If You Do sessions, three song covers and two tracks culled from their performance at Club Citta in Kawasaki, Japan. The band stated on their Facebook page in July 2021 that their thirteenth studio album would be released in 2022.

Tracklist:

1. Dead on the Vine 03:57   
2. For No Reason 04:44   
3. Conductor (redux) 04:09   
4. Above the Madness 05:41  
5. Mind Thief 04:29   
6. Tell Lie Vision 04:13  
7. False Flag 04:28  
8. Insta Mental 04:03  
9. 432hz 03:56   
10. Please Don't Judas Me (Nazareth cover) 06:52  
11. Green Eyed Lady (Sugarloaf cover) 06:41   
12. Black Betty (Lead Belly cover) 03:58   
13. Fake Healer (Duet with Todd la Torre) 05:56  
14. Badlands (2015) 07:22  
15. The Enemy Mind 03:08  
16. The Coward 04:12  

Time:   01:17:49

Tracks 1-4 are new studio tracks.

Tracks 5-9 are b-side tracks from the "Damned If You Do" Sessions.

Tracks 10-12 are "Cover Songs From The Vault".

Tracks 13 is a duet with Todd la Torre (Queensryche)

Tracks 14 is the 2015 version

Tracks 15-16 are US-bonus tracks from the "XI" album

Metal Church "Damned If You Do (Japanese Double CD Edition"

Damned If You Do is the twelfth studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church, released on December 7, 2018, through Rat Pak Records. It is their first release with former W.A.S.P. drummer Stet Howland, who replaced longtime member Jeff Plate in 2017, and their final album to feature vocalist Mike Howe before his suicide in 2021. Music videos were made for the songs "Damned If You Do" and "By the Numbers".

About seven months after the release of XI, frontman Mike Howe was asked if he intended to write another album with Metal Church; his response was, "We have every intention of doing that and that's what it's all about. If you're not putting on new music, then it's time to go away for me. In Metal Church... it's always been like a two-year cycle band, but we put our album out this year in March. So our album is actually only being out for six months. But we have plans on this fall getting back to writing and try to put something out next year. We're also looking at some dates for the spring possibly back in the States and maybe back over here. But our drummer Jeff, he's also on the TSO. He leaves from the end of October through December. So we might take that time to start writing new record."

On March 21, 2017, Plate announced that he had left Metal Church, and was later replaced by Howland. In a May 2017 interview, Vanderhoof stated that Metal Church had begun writing and demoing their next album, which was tentatively due in early 2018.

On October 1, 2018, the band teased an audio sample of a brand new song from the album.

Kurdt Vanderhoof explained the theme behind the album "The cover actually has to do with the era that we are living in currently with all the deception that's going on politically and socially that you have to be extremely careful about who and what you listen to and believe. So the cover is an aspect of it, it's not a bash on the catholic church or anything like that. It basically says that you have to be careful of who you listen to, and just because you're sitting in a church it doesn't mean that you necessarily are hearing the truth. The devil is at work in the church as well and his biggest lie is that he doesn't exist. So that's one aspect of it and then the title also reflects kind of some of the lyrical contents of the record that is somewhat, you know, current event oriented. The same thing replays to not necessarily with the church or spirituality or your faith but it has to do with in an era of fake news and all the deception that's going on. You have to be extremely careful about who and what you believe. Just because it's on the news doesn't mean that it's true. You really have to spend a lot of time searching out the truth and if you don't your damned if you do, if you believe the lies. That's what the cover is about and some of the lyrical contents of the album.

Track listing

1. "Damned If You Do" 4:35
2. "The Black Things" 5:16
3. "By the Numbers" 4:35
4. "Revolution Underway" 5:25
5. "Guillotine" 4:47
6. "Rot Away" 3:26
7. "Into the Fold" 4:20
8. "Monkey Finger" 4:15
9. "Out of Balance" 4:25
10. "The War Electric" 4:09

Total length: 45:13

Disc 2 - Classic Live

1. Beyond the Black (Live 2016)  
2. Date with Poverty (Live 2016)  
3. Gods of a Second Chance (Live 2016)  
4. In Mourning (Live 2016)  
5. Watch the Children Pray (Live 2016)  
6. Start the Fire (Live 2016)  
7. No Friend of Mine (Live 2016)  
8. Badlands (Live 2016)  
9. Human Factor (Live 2016)  
10. Fake Healer (Studio Version)  
11. Badlands (2015 Studio Version) 

The Japanese release by Nexus Records contains a second disc of the 2017 live album Classic Live.

Produced by Kurdt Vanderhoof

Engineered by Kurdt Vanderhoof and Johnny Hyatt

Album artwork by Jean Michel

Metal Church "Generation Nothing"

Generation Nothing is the tenth studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church. It is their first after their late 2012 reunion, and their fourth and last to feature vocalist Ronny Munroe.

In 2009, Vanderhoof disbanded the band following the release of This Present Wasteland and their final performance at Rocklahoma that year. In 2012, it was announced that the band was reuniting for two shows on the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise. Ultimately, the band decided to stay together.

On July 12, 2013 the album title was revealed.

The band entered Kurdt Vanderhoof's English Channel studio in March 2013 to start work on the album. Vanderhoof started mixing the album in mid June 2013. Generation Nothing was released on October 22, 2013 on Vanderhoof's label, Body of Work Recordings.

Singer Ronny Munroe noted: "Generation Nothing is kind of a sad state out there for the youth now that they do not have the things that we used to have when I was growing up."

Generation Nothing received mixed reviews. Ken Morton of Highwire Daze praised the album, opining that it would both "impress the old school fans" and "gain this influential band a whole new set of converts ready to join the congregation." Ray Van Horn Jr. of Blabbermouth described the title track as "a headstrong beast of a cut," adding that much of the album "sticks to a straightforward power metal drive with heaps of resounding guitar intros and dense plods." He also judged the album "an agreeable career extension for Metal Church."

Track listing

All music by Kurdt Vanderhoof, lyrics by Vanderhoof except where indicated.

1. "Bulletproof" 4:08
2. "Dead City" 3:45
3. "Generation Nothing" 5:03
4. "Noises in the Wall" 8:55
5. "Jump the Gun" Vanderhoof, Ronny Munroe 5:35
6. "Suiciety" Vanderhoof, Munroe 5:42
7. "Scream" 4:22
8. "Hits Keep Comin'" Munroe 5:36
9. "Close to the Bone" 4:41
10. "The Media Horse" Munroe 5:07
11. "Remain Silent" (Japan bonus track) 4:20

Tim Harding – engineer

Joao Duarte – art

Kathy Moats – layout

Metal Church "This Present Wasteland"

This Present Wasteland is the ninth studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church. The album was released in the US on September 23, 2008 and in Europe on September 26. This is the first album to feature guitarist Rick Van Zandt.

This Present Wasteland sold about 920 copies in the US in the week following its release. This was their last album before their second breakup from July 2009 to October 2012.

The album cover was chosen from contest entries submitted on Myspace.

AllMusic reviewer Alex Henderson stated that, while the album was not "essential", it was "a solid and well-executed effort" by the band, singling out "Breathe Again", "Monster", "A War Never Won" and "Company of Sorrow" in particular as standout tracks on the album. Metal Storm reviewer found the album solid and "extremely pleasant but not sensational", because Metal Church did not "take any risk with this new release" and kept the songs "really simple and not original." Exclaim! reviewer Keith Carman praised Ronny Munroe's performance which he compared to Bruce Dickinson's, but found the music old-fashioned and "mired in more crooning, stock riffs and mid-tempo beats than anything truly engaging", concluding that "This Present Wasteland is a fitting moniker for a band living off nostalgia more than current ability." Rock Hard reviewer called the current line-up "only a shadow of the aggressive quintet of the past" and remarked the scarce originality of the compositions and the pessimistic mood of the album.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ronny Munroe and Kurdt Vanderhoof, except "Monster" by Vanderhoof.

1. "The Company of Sorrow" 6:37
2. "The Perfect Crime" 4:37
3. "Deeds of a Dead Soul" 8:27
4. "Meet Your Maker" 5:35
5. "Monster" 6:25
6. "Crawling to Extinction" 4:11
7. "A War Never Won" 5:33
8. "Mass Hysteria" 4:41
9. "Breathe Again" 5:23
10. "Congregation" 5:52

Recording information:

Recorded at The English Channel by Kurdt Vanderhoof.