Metal church

The group was formed in 1980 by Kurt Vanderhoof. The name of the Metal Church team received by the nickname of his apartment in San Francisco , in which he and his friends worshiped metal . Kurt wanted to take the group Lars Ulrich (the future drummer from Metallica ), but he left for Los Angeles . They couldn’t do anything special, and Kurt returned to his native Aberdeen . There, in 1981, he formed the band Shrapnel with his high school friends Kirk Arrington on drums, Mike Murphy (vocals) and Craig Wells on guitar. Completed the formation of the composition of the team each Kirk bassist Duke Erickson. Soon, Mike Murphy left Shrapnel and organized his project Rogues Gallery . Duties vocalist Craig laid on his friend David Wayne.

The band performed mainly cover versions of famous metal bands. The guys played in various bars, at weddings and ... school dances. In 1983, Shrapnel was renamed to Metal Church, and from that moment on, the official history of the band began.

Since 1984, the team begins to record their own material. The first performance of the group took place on May 4th in the Aberdeen D & R Theater , where it “warmed up” the Rogues Gallery and Melvins . In the same year, Metal Church released the self-titled debut album on the independent label Ground Zero . The disc was selling well, and Elecktra records took the band under its wing. Inspired by the team went on their first tour.

In 1986, Metal Church released the second album, The Dark, and went on tour with Metallica .

In 1987, Kurt stopped playing and recording with the group, but continued to write songs for her. On the guitar, he was replaced by John Marshall.

In 1989, the band left David Wayne, who founded his solo project Reverend . The new vocalist was Mike Howe. David Wayne died in 2005 at the age of 47.

In such a composition, Metal Church released Blessing in Disguise and went on another tour.

In 1991 , the band continues to tour, and the new disc The Human Factor . Meanwhile, Kurt and Kirk founded the Hall Aflame project and released the album Guaranteed Forever on IRS Records .

In 1993, Metal Church released another Hanging in the Balance CD and went on tour in support of it. However, the musical climate in America changed, suddenly the metal ceased to be in demand, and as a result the group was disbanded. Each member of the team went about his business.

In 1997, Kurt and Kirk jointly build the recording studio The English Channel . A little later, they form a group Vanderhoof , release the eponymous disc and go on a European tour with Savatage .

In 1998, former members of Metal Church, including David Wayne, met again to record Live , which used the newly discovered tapes of the band's heyday in the 80s. While working on the disc, the musicians decided to record also a new studio album. But after the first sessions, Craig Wells left, and John Marshall returned to the team.

In 1999, Metal Church released Masterpeace and went on a European tour for a couple of months. However, Duke and Kirk could not go with the band, and Vanderhoof drummer Jeff Wade and bassist Brian Lake were taken instead.

In 2001, David Wayne leaves the group, citing creative differences with the team. Under the guise of Wayne, he released a solo album, dubbed “Metal Church,” which became the source of the conflict with Kurt Vanderhuf.

In 2004, Metal Church became vocalist Ronnie Munro , with whom the band recorded three albums: The Weight of the World ( 2004 ), A Light in the Dark ( 2006 ), and This Present Wasteland ( 2008 ).

In 2009 the group was disbanded.

In 2012 , a team reunion was held as part of 2009. The group began to actively tour, and also began to record the next album, which was released in October 2013.

Studio Albums

• Metal Church ( 1984 )
• The Dark ( 1986 )
• Blessing in Disguise ( 1989 )
• The Human Factor ( 1991 )
• Hanging in the Balance ( 1993 )
• Masterpeace ( 1999 )
• The Weight of the World ( 2004 )
• A Light in the Dark ( 2006 )
• This Present Wasteland ( 2008 )
• Generation Nothing ( 2013 )
• XI ( 2016 )
• Damned If You Do ( 2018 )

Concert albums

• Live (1998)

Demo

• Four Hymns (1982)
• Hitman (1982)

• The official Metal Church page on the Myspace site
• Metal Church (eng.) On the Allmusic website.
• Metal Church (eng.) On Encyclopaedia Metallum
• Metal Church Profile at Last.fm