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METAL CHURCH
Congregation Of Annihilation

Rat Pak / Reaper Entertainment (2023)
Rating: 9/10

After the passing in 2021 of vocalist Mike Howe I wondered if we’d ever hear another opus from Metal Church. Thankfully, the American band has returned from the dark, so to speak, and with a new singer in the form of Marc Lopes (Let Us Prey / Ross The Boss) who brings a whole new energy to what is their 13th full-length album.

After just a few listens I’m of the opinion that Congregation Of Annihilation is probably the most aggressive release of the band’s career. Metal Church has always occupied a musical territory that sits comfortably between powerful heavy metal and thrash, but with this affair there is a lot of material of a thrashier design. The main snap of the album springs from the sneering vocal delivery of Lopes who rants and scowls like a rabid madman and brings to mind some of the Teutonic outbursts from the 80s.

Opener ‘Another Judgement Day’ is such a hostile rant with its speedy guitars and venomous percussion and suggests a band eager to rid itself of ghosts while also paying tribute to Howe but conjuring up a style far removed from the albums he created. And the aggression refuses to let up. The potent zip of the title track is relentless in its savagery where Lopes again spits acidic words but effortlessly shifts into higher pitched yelps of utmost fury.

Hearing Metal Church founder Kurdt Vanderhoof alongside fellow guitarist Rick van Zandt provide great walls of crunch and speed is spellbinding to say the least. The razor sharp ‘Pick A God And Prey’ rattles like Reverend at their most hostile and I’m sure the late Metal Church and Reverend vocalist David Wayne would be proud. But hey, there is still plenty of melody here too for the fans who were so mesmerized by albums such as Blessing In Disguise (1989).

‘Me The Nothing’ glints with a steady menace, ‘Say A Prayer With 7 Bullets’ combines a Megadeth snarl threaded with a wild solo and ‘All That We Destroy’ is a classic mid-tempo chugger. But for the most part this is a monstrously intelligent yet blazing album featuring fine, frenetic soloing, rampant percussion from Stet Howland and blistering bass lines courtesy of Steve Unger who contribute to this onslaught of thrash. Elsewhere, the bass-led ‘Making Monsters’ sizzles like classic Megadeth before its hefty gallop, while ‘These Violent Thrills’ hammers with its percussion and focuses on a scorching groove metal ethos.

Congregation Of Annihilation is an immense opus fuelled by intensity and such aggression which may surprise some, but this is a new phase for Metal Church and those not along for the ride will be laid to waste in one mighty swoop. All hail the congregation.

Neil Arnold

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