Live

As a teaser for their forthcoming reunion record with David Wayne, Metal Church and Nuclear Blast (Steamhammer in Europe) dug into the archives to produce one of two live efforts in 1998 (the other was a Japanese release that I've never heard). Live was drawn from recordings of the band's 1986 tour for The Dark, therefor containing all of the band's best songs, at least for one such as myself who didn't get much mileage out of the three Mike Howe fronted albums. So, naturally, I was quite thrilled to listen through it, and damn do they not disappoint, not only because of the actual track selection, but for the production and quality of the performance. The thing might look bland on the surface, but it sounds fantastic.

You're getting 10 tracks, evenly distributed between the first two records, from the classic lineup. The guitar tone is both consistent and aggressive, you might occasionally hear the slight imperfections inherent to any comparison with the respective studio material, but Wells and Vanderhoof sound they like they practiced the shit out of these tunes, consummate professionals who even deliver the leads with skill. The rhythm section also delivers, especially Erickson's bass which sounds good and loud throbbing beneath the riffs. But, as you might expect, David Wayne steals the show away, his voice just as sinister and vitriol dripping as the studio works, especially where he's escalating his melodies like in "Start the Fire" or "Metal Church". Speaking of which, just about all my favorite Metal Church tracks are present in the set list, including those I already named, "Ton of Bricks", "The Dark", and "Beyond the Black".

About the only track I might have left off would be the "Highway Star" cover, but only in favor of another original, not because they make a poor showing of it. That said, I feel like the 46 minutes of the disc is just about right for a band so early on in their career. Not sure why they didn't put this out during their 80s phase, as it might have proven the band's worth and helped draw larger crowds to their gigs, but the very fact that they dropped it as a forerunner to Masterpeace revealed the band's enthusiasm to have Wayne back in the wings, a feeling I happen to share, though the results of the reunion were mixed at best. At any rate, this is well worth hunting down for any fan of the group's 80 phase, since the performances are near flawless.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Ahhhh... Metal Church. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this band never really got its due. Really one of the best thrash bands ever, albeit with a solid touch of power metal, but with more balls than any power metal band can ever aspire to. Case in point: David Wayne. Holy shit this man had THE pipes of doom. I'm a huge Rob Halford fan, but Wayne sounds like King Shit here and this live album is totally killer. His flasetto is pretty much unbeatable here and his vocal presence is off the charts. He leads the show and you can just feel it as you listen.

For one this album sounds live, just like Slayer's Decade of Agression record. You can hear slight fuckups and hesitations, and that's great because it brings the bullshit meter down to zero. The tracklist is also great, solely comprising itself of tracks off their first two records, which are in my opinion the best. The performances are bursting with energy as they are played at a slightly faster pace than their recorded counterparts. The band is tight and rockin', which is just what they are all about.

Particular standouts are "Start the Fire" with its catchy hooks and great riffs, but the real gems are the Holy Trinity of the first record, and I name "Beyond the Black", "Metal Church" and "Gods of Wrath". These three tracks smoke beyond anything. These performances will just own your life. Wayne is of course coming out on top, totally dominating the tracks, with Vanderhoof and Wells supplying the metallic crunch.

This is seriously one of the best live albums I have ever heard. If you can't find it, download it and let the headbanging commence.

Having never been a huge Metal Church fan I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable “Live” was. “Live” has a rawer element missing from most live albums, this is NOT “Kiss – Alive” people. As you open the CD case it clearly states that not to make a “fake” live album, little tweaks where done, nothing more, nothing less. That said there are bum notes, broken strings, dropped sticks and so on, which is actually very refreshing, but would however become annoying if it happened too much.

“Live” isn’t a true concert album, being that the songs have been pulled from various concerts. Also this is from the 1986 tour, which I guess could be considered their heyday. But as indicated by writing in the case a lot was recorded in Dallas.

The song selection is fairly strong, and includes a great cover of “Highway Star”. A few of the other choice cuts are “Start the Fire”, “Ton of Bricks” and “The Dark”. But this is a bit of a ‘best of’ for early Metal Church, so of course there they didn’t include any duds.

Overall, Metal Church’s Live is a solid live album. Anyone who enjoys live albums and hasn’t at least checked this out is really missing out.

This album is not exactly a live album recorded in one sitting, rather it's a collection of live songs Metal Church have played over many gigs in support of their first two albums. That's coming straight from the liner notes.

An amazing live collection indeed. The band goes through all the classics, and their rhythm section is solid on stage. The songs are played a bit faster actually which is pretty cool since you get a taste of the aggressiveness that lies even in the slow numbers. Highlights, Ton of Bricks, Beyond the Black and the namesake, and just about every other song.

Considering these songs were recorded from old tapes, the production is crystal clear and the tone is really heavy.

Cannot go wrong with this album, just like any other Metal Church release.

Yes, repeat after me. EVERY GOOD METAL BAND IS BETTER LIVE. Here's yet another example. This album was released in 1998 but recorded in 1986, on "The Dark" tour in various locations. The only thing that's wrong with this album is that it's only 46 minutes, and usually they played about 13-14 songs for 63-70 minutes on that tour.... they left off "The Brave" and "Burial at Sea", among others which I can't remember right now.

But still, the sound quality is better than you're going to get with most bootlegs. Not great, but definitely more than adequate in conveying the atmosphere correctly. All the songs are done very nicely, and highlights include "Psycho" with that spine-snapping middle riff, and of course "Beyond the Black".

Definitely worth picking up.