(Heavy/Power/Thrash Metal) [CD] Metal Church - Metal Church (Japanese Edition) (Remastered 2013) - 1984/2013, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Metal Church. The very name evokes images of darkened cathedral spires and the occult rituals likely held within the structure's expansive architecture. The album that bears the mystical structure's name is far less mysterious, but infinitely legendary, as it is one of the finest dislays of the pure essence of heavy metal in traditional, power, and thrash metal forms. The band's debut integrates elements of all three, resulting in one of the best, most original albums you're ever likely to hear. Suspend your disbelief: this is triumphant and fascinating and remarkable and a thousand other positive adjectives used to describe one's ideal metal album.

Whatever traditional/power metal influences were still retained in the band's sound in 1985 are absent from the album's beginning, as this is pure, untainted thrash metal at it's finest. A brief, creepy spoken-word clean intro leads into the crushing riffage of "Beyond the Black," an unrelenting, undeniably heavy track that's as bleak as it is catchy. David Wayne's vocals are considerably better than on the band's demos: here his shrill, wicked falsetto soars over the guitars like a carpet bombing. This approach continues into the eponymous "Metal Church," a thrasher with a tempo so deliciously sinister that it'd have no trouble dropping the jaws of the uninitiated. Again, Wayne's vocals are over the top and unbelievable, carrying the pace set by the riff-wielding tag team of Kurdt Vanderhoof and Craig Wells and high-speed percussion wunderkind Kirk Arrington. Kirk really gets to strut his stuff on the next track, instrumental pounder "Merciless Onslaught." What about Duke Erickson on bass you might ask? Well if he hasn't had the opportunity to impress thus far (he has, as his bass has a significant presence even among the dueling guitars), he'll do it in the classic power ballad "Gods of Wrath." His fills are almighty, as is David Wayne's ability to alternate between his raspier vocals with a surprisingly clean melodic tone for the verses. Note that at this point in the album, there's already been a ton of sweet guitar solo moments, most notoriously the back-and-forth section in the title track.

Side two begins with the very Iron Maiden-ish "Hitman," with some great harmonies and an unexpectedly brutal riff in the bridge. "In the Blood" keeps this spirit alive, but takes the speed down to a mid-paced stomp, similar to the relationship between the first two tracks. "(My Favorite) Nightmare" is another quick one, with some particularly unique drumming by Mr. Arrington. "Battalions" closes things off in triumphant fashion, with classic power metal riffage, an amazingly catchy chorus, and some of the best lyrics on the album. "We form tonight! We kill tonight!" Headbanging is obligatory here. But the madness doesn't end there. The final track on the album is a cover of the Deep Purple classic "Highway Star," sped up and thrashed out with an insane vocal interpretation by Wayne. Unfortunately, the boys make up their own solos, rather than utilizing the Jon Lord/Ritchie Blackmore ones. Originally, this disappointed me enough to lower the album's score a bit, but I brought it back up after acquiring a version with the rare bonus track "Big Guns." This song fucking rules: too goddamn heavy to be power metal but with vocal melodies too melodic and skyscraping to be typical of thrash. I highly recommend hunting this song down, it's worth it completely.

There's not even the semblance of a weak moment on this masterpiece. This is one of the truly indispensible heavy metal albums, at least needing to be heard if not owned. If one were to truly find fault in it, one would be required to seriously reconsider their entire stance on heavy music. Don't write this off as absent fanboyism: this is legitimately great and I'm trying my best to express it. So check this bad boy out, and save your disappointment for the new Metallica album.

Review written by DawnoftheShred for www.metal-archives.com

Links:
http://metalchurchmusic.com/
http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Metal_Church/371