Published on Dec 6, 1999
Growing old is a dangerous thing for a metal band, simply
because you’re damned no matter which way you choose to go
musically. If you decide to continue in the same paths that you
tread in the ’80s, people will accuse you of living in the past and
trying to re-capture old glories. If you try to carve a new musical
path, people will say that you’ve “sold out,” or that your new
material just doesn’t live up to the glory days.
With that in mind, consider, if you will,
Masterpeace, the first release from the “classic” line-up of
Metal Church in some time. While the band has tried to maintain
some semblance of balance over the years, they never seemed to
capture the power that their first two releases,
Metal Church and
The Dark, blared forth. (It didn’t hurt matters at the time
that bands like Metallica and Megadeth were bringing thrash metal
to a whole new audience at the time.)
With vocalist David Wayne and guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof back in
the group this time around (though, to be fair, Vanderhoof has kept
somewhat involved in the band most of the time),
Masterpeace shows off one of metal’s veteran groups trying
to please everyone – and, in the end, they put out a listenable, if
not completely satisfying, product.
Oh, sure, hearing Wayne growling out his vocals at high octaves
might have been a bit laughable – yet I’ll admit to being a
hypocrite in saying that I kind of missed hearing them this time
around, instead hearing vocals that were more toned down than I was
prepared for. Likewise, I was kind of expecting to hear Vanderhoof
and John Marshall (who spent some time with Metallica as their
guitar tech – and, after accidents involving James Hetfield,
actually performed onstage) open up the floodgates and let loose
with solos from hell. However, while there were moments that
brought back some memories of the past, this outing was more
subdued in regards to solos.
You can bet there will be scores of critics on both sides of the
fence finding faults with
Masterpeace. On early songs like “Sleeps With Thunder” and
“Into Dust,” you can hear Wayne and crew fighting with the ghosts
of the band’s early days, and sometimes those ghosts poke their
heads through to lead the music. On other songs like “Kiss For The
Dead” and “Lb. Of Cure,” it almost seems like Metal Church is
walking the same type of road that Megadeth did on
Countdown To Extinction – slightly less heavy, more
mainstream-sounding in comparison.
The funny thing is that Metal Church finds its niche by not
merely choosing one of the two factions – instead, they take the
best from both worlds and make it their own. Tracks like “All Your
Sorrows,” “Sand Kings” and “They Signed In Blood” show that the
group still has what it takes to bang the heads of today’s youths.
Unfortunately for them, they find the Rosetta Stone at the end of
the album, rather than at the beginning. (Special mention should
also go to the instrumental title track, which ends way too early
and way too suddenly. When you get a good guitar groove going, even
if it’s an acoustic one, it’s best to let it play out to its own
natural end.)
Don’t consider
Masterpeace a picture of an old, Dorian Grey-like band
trying in vain to recapture the glories of their youths. Also,
don’t consider this album to be a failure in any way. Instead,
consider it the first baby step of a band trying to rediscover
themselves in a musical era flooded with change. While it takes
them the bulk of
Masterpeace to regain their footing, Metal Church does make
steps in the right direction… but the journey has just begun.