It was a long, crazy weekend, yet here we stand, sore, exhausted, and with not much of a voice after the return of the legendary Milwaukee Metal Fest. We’ll have full rundown for you later this week, but until then, it’s time to focus on a band who I can see playing a future edition of MMF, Metal Church. As far as I know, Metal Church never played MMF during its late 80s and 90s heyday, which is rather odd considering nearly all of their peers did. Perhaps it was their affiliation with Elektra that prevented them from playing such an underground event, but I digress.
Those who have been following the Metal Church saga are well aware that these past few years haven’t been the best of the band’s 40+ year history. Their triumphant mid ’10s reunion with Mike Howe was brought to a screeching halt due to that lovely little virus which shall not be named, and ended permanently on July 26, 2021, upon Howe’s unexpected passing. I’ll be the first to admit my skepticism when it was eventually announced that Metal Church would soldier on in Howe’s memory. Without Howe or David Wayne (also R.I.P.) at the forefront, does anyone really care? Fast forward a couple years and it came time to find out with the arrival of Metal Church’s long awaited 13th studio album, Congregation of Annihilation.
Any doubts I had towards new singer, Marc Lopes, have been immediately laid to rest. This guy has the range and grace of Howe, but mixed with the rage and aggression of Wayne, which really adds some piss and vinegar to the thrashier cuts on this release. As he sang, screamed, and snarled his way through this 50 minute offering of classic thrash with traditional metal leanings, I couldn’t help but think in my head, “I can’t wait to hear this guy tackle “Hitman”, “The Dark”, etc.?” In the midst of this dream scenario, I noticed that every song I thought up of was an 80s classic, because unfortunately, the lion’s share of Congregation just doesn’t cut it for me.
As I said, Lopes delivers a grand slam performance, and the rest of the band is rock solid too. What loses me are the songs themselves, especially the thrashers. I was onboard with the opening “Another Judgement Day”. Then the title track and “Pick a God and Prey” followed, and I thought, “Wow, these riffs sound damn near identical.” This became a recurring theme of Congregation that left a sour taste in my mouth: copy/paste riffage set to high speed drumming. I get it. It’s a thrash album, but at least strive for some depth and variety. Unsurprisingly, the strongest cuts on here seem to be the outliers, like the hard rock infused “Say a Prayer with 7 Bullets”, melancholically bleak “Me the Nothing”, and melodically groovy “My Favorite Sin”.
Congregation of Annihilation would be a passable effort from any other 80s underground heavyweights giving it another go some 40 odd years later. For a band whose debut is regarded as one of the greatest in metal history, and rightfully so, it comes off as unfulfilling and dull. It pains me to type this, as Metal Church have seldom disappointed in the past, but perhaps I should give them the benefit of the doubt. They could still be finding their way amidst recent events. If they are, they sure made the right choice in Lopes as their new compass. Perhaps I’ll be hit with a “Ton of Bricks” next time.
5 out of 10
Label: Rat Pak Records
Genre: Thrash Metal
For fans of: Overkill, Flotsam and Jetsam, Vicious Rumors