Metal Riot

My family always wanted me to attend church a little bit more, so when I saw METAL CHURCH on the Chance website, I knew I had to go. It’s what my family wanted. Probably God too, and who am I to argue?

It’s been said that METAL CHURCH is the only church. Good enough if you ask me.

The date was September 9th, 2017, and the congregation huddled outside in the unseasonably chilly air outside The Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie, NY as we awaited our heroes, METAL CHURCH to arrive for the show, which also doubled as a party for Chris Caffery’s birthday. The cold air, the crack head trying to sell a fake “front row” ticket to the show, and the fact that the venue didn’t let anyone into the building for nearly an hour past the door time wasn’t enough to deter any of us. In fact, the “front row” ticket was the joke of the night for many of us as we yelled out in between songs “I got front row!” (the entire front of the stage is GA).

More BELOW.

I’m not going to go too crazy with a long ass back story here like I normally would. You guys know why you’re here reading this post! The fact that Metal Riot hasn’t asked me to stop writing about my love for METAL CHURCH yet is nothing short of a miracle, which I believe we should be expecting miracles when the METAL CHURCH is involved. If you want the backstory, you can check back with my review of the phenomenal new album, XI. (editor’s note: We love Metal Church and encourage Drew in his allegiance, though we agree that it is a miracle…that Aberdeen produced both Metal Church AND Kurt Cobain).

This posting will be a tale of a dashing young metalhead (Me), a slew of kick-ass bands, and the return of one of metal’s greatest voices.

More below.

For months, we sat and waited. Who was it going to be? Someone known? Someone unknown? Who was going to be the new singer for the legendary METAL CHURCH? Well, after waiting what felt like an eternity, we got an answer that certainly did not disappoint. What we got was former METAL CHURCH singer, Mike Howe making his return. METAL CHURCH was always a favorite of mine growing up. Each singer brought something different to the band.

When the announcement was made, I already had my mind made up to do a Deep Cuts on these guys, but how to do it was hard to grasp. What songs should I pick? What era or eras? As I sit here writing this, my roommate is watching The Incredible Hulk and we are trying to decide who was the better Bruce Banner. Was it Edward Norton or was it Mark Ruffalo? In the standalone Hulk film, Norton was untouchable, Ruffalo wouldn’t have been able to pull it off. However, Norton would have been unlikely to have the comedic side to him to go toe to toe with Tony Stark, which wouldn’t have been nearly as effective as Ruffalo being in the Avengers movies. The point of me bringing up the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Well, I did just see Age Of Ultron twice (wasn’t it awesome??), but most importantly, I had to illustrate the point that all 3 METAL CHURCH singers, like both Hulk actors, were perfect for their eras, and can’t be topped when it came to what they brought to the table during their time. That being said, I can’t single out a single singer for one of my favorite bands, and will be doing one song from each era.

See BELOW.