Dec
11
10.52am

METAL CHURCH // Living In The Now

Metal Church Hysteria

Few names invoke as much reverence in the world of classic heavy metal than the mighty American band Metal Church.

MORE: DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2019: Drop Second Announcement REVIEW: METAL CHURCH: Damned If You Do

Forming in 1980 and debuting a self titled album in 1984, Metal Church was at the forefront of the growing genre and have continued to be at the cutting edge, through eleven albums and a rollercoaster of navigating the trials of band life. Thirty-four years after their debut album, Metal Church is poised to release its twelfth studio album, Damned If You Do. Having re-joined Metal Church in 2016 after departing in 1994, vocalist Mike Howe is more excited than ever about the new release.

With all the history of Metal Church grounding his perspective, Howe is nonetheless inspired by what is still to come, namely, Damned If You Do. “I try to live in the moment of my life”, Howe explains, “in the now, and into the future. Not too far in the future, but I’m not a very nostalgic person. I appreciate what we have done in the past and I am very proud of it, play the old songs, but I don’t like to look back at that, my main drive is to look forward into what we are going to do next, and we make music that is just as relevant today as in the past. So we approached the album with that philosophy, Kurdt [Vanderhoof, guitarist] and I, that we get together and honestly have fun and enjoy making music together and if it rocks us, and we feel good about it, then, you know, its an honest thing from our hearts, we really hope that the fans connect to that, because if you are honest with who you are, that does translate over. So my excitement comes from the next album … so I’m very excited by what’s happening now and excited to get on the road and playing songs off that and some of our catalogue.”

I know its good when I can listen to our songs over and over through the writing process a hundred times and not just be utterly sick of them. It’s a mark of a good song, to me.
[ Mike Howe ]

Howe’s ‘now’ is a very creatively vibrant place, as he reflects on his musical partnership with Metal Church’s founding guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, “So I just think I owe it all to Mr Vanderhoof, who is an amazing musical talent, He never cease to amaze me with his ability to write heavy metal music that is not repetitive, and has new vibe on it, new ways to excite me … he is one of those rare breeds that just has the ability and the talent to … inject new riffs and new ways of moving things around … I really love that. I feel very grateful to have him as a friend and collaborator in writing heavy metal.”

Damned If You Do sure does embody this creative energy, with some really inventive tracks. “Yeah so that’s what I’m talking about”, Howe agrees, “we put together music that is complex, you don’t listen through it on a first run through and go ‘oh I love these songs!’ the more you listen to it, and that’s what I think makes an album more lasting, the more you listen to it the more complex … it gives you a longer listening period, the longer you can enjoy it. That’s what I’ve always loved about Kurt and his style of writing and our collaborations, that’s what its about for me, I know its good when I can listen to our songs over and over through the writing process a hundred times and not just be utterly sick of them. It’s a mark of a good song, to me.”

Since Howe has re-joined Metal Church, he has recorded on Damned If You Do and 2016’s XI, which followed by a massive touring schedule, including Ozzfest Meets Knotfest, Wacken and numerous big festivals. On what kind of experience this was after nearly twenty five years away from the music scene, Howe can only express his gratitude, “I am very humbled by the reception we have been receiving from the fans on the road, I’m very humbled, and I can’t get enough of it, I go out in my second favourite thing after being on stage and sharing a connection of our music live is to go out and meet and greet and shake hands, take selfies and interact with everyone and anyone, any fan that wants to, because its the least I could do, show my appreciation. So that in itself, is an amazing thing to me, to me it’s a spiritual connection.”

More exciting times lie ahead for Metal Church in the wake of Damned If You Do, including an appearance at the inaugural Megacruise heavy metal cruise in 2019 hosted by Megadeth. As it turns out, playing on cruise ships is familiar to Howe, alongside familiar bands. “Since I’ve been back in the band,” Howe recounts, “Dave [Mustaine] has been a great supporter of Metal Church, and I’m very thankful to them for putting us out on tour and hooking up some other shows in Europe, now we’re going out with them on this boat, but my first experience back with the band was on the Monsters of Rock cruise [2016], and that was the first thing I did back with the band, after some warm up shows in the Seattle area, we got on the Monsters of Rock boat … I enjoyed it immensely, I enjoyed walking around meeting the fans, they were completely respectful, and I had a great time.”

Damned If You Do is out now via Nuclear Blast.


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