★★★★★
"This is one case where stepping away for a bit and returning with a renewed sense of vigor has propelled Kurdt Vanderhoof back into the upper echelon where he and Metal Church belong..." It was October 6th in the year of our metal 1986. After staking a claim less than two years previous with the eponymous classic, Metal Church released "The Dark" - and the band was on its way as one of the fastest rising metal acts alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax...
- www.metalunderground.com
2013-11-01
★★★★★
"In 57 minutes, you get everything from doom to thrash, with superb vocals on par with greats like Dio and Halford." Growing up in the '80s and '90s, Metal Church always seemed to be at the forefront of the second-tier bands that came out of the early 1980s thrash movement...
- www.metalunderground.com
2010-12-21
★★★★★
I can still remember the first time I heard Metal Church. It was late some weekend night and I was listening to one of those radio stations that would play a whole album after the peak hours were over. (This is unheard of these days.) I believe it was their second album, 'The Dark,' released in 1986. I was completely captured by their heavy, yet melodic metal. This was the time when thrash and speed metal was on the rise...
- www.dangerdog.com
2010-12-06
★★★★★
Sound: I have never heard such a complete album in my life and when I say complete, I mean complete. From start to finish, the album has such a flow of beautiful musicianship formed together with amazingly powerful lyrics. The creativity in the guitar riffs are really present, but don't overpower the rest of the instruments. Every song is epic in it's own way. The drumming is simple, but effective...
- www.ultimate-guitar.com
2009-11-15
★★★★★
Sound: This album is the follow-up to the self titled Metal Church but this one is way better. I like the intro riff to the song Psycho which is one of my favorite songs by Metal Church. Another great song on this album is Ton Of Bricks with the cool drum part. This album also has my all time favorite song by Metal Church which is Badlands. Every other song on this album is great to. // 10 Lyrics and Singing: I find the lyrics very interesting...
- www.ultimate-guitar.com
2009-11-15
★★★★★
Sound: Id first like to mention the amazing versatility of David Wayne's voice on this album. For most of the album, he stays with his signature wail, but when he ventures to clean vocals (eg. Gods of Wrath), he can also hold his own. The duel guitar work of Kurdt Vanderhoof and Craig Wells is also worth noting. I love the crisp, almost Megadeth-like distortion used...
- www.ultimate-guitar.com
2009-11-15
★★★★★
Anyone who stillbelieves that heavy metal is the work of the devil should give MetalChurch's The Human Factor a spin. The band's values have a lot more incommon with working-class stiffs than with Satan. The group useschunky riffs and blood-curdling shrieks to slam such earth-boundproblems as out-of-control consumer debt ("Date With Poverty") andflag-burning liberals ("The Final Word"). When it comes to the music,however, this Seattle-based quintet is anything but conservative...
- ew.com
2009-06-12
★★★★★
Much like the English punk movement before it, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal invaded hundreds of American garages in the early '80s and launched countless bands across the nation. It is interesting to note, however, that while in major cities with thriving punk rock this phenomenon manifested itself in the form of thrash metal (for example, L.A.'s Metallica, New York's Anthrax), in secondary capitals, up-and-coming bands generally boasted a more mainstream metal approach...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Ah, Metal Church. Once one of America's most promising heavy metal bands, originally colleagues (rivals, even) of the mighty Metallica -- has any other band's career been as marked by internal chaos, confusion, and, let's face it, commercial indifference, as that of these Seattle natives? The odds are slim, and yet, conversely, has any metal outfit proved as doggone persistent at the same time...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27