Metal Church – The Final Sermon (Live in Japan)

Label: Reaper Entertainment, Release: July 26th, 2024

If it wasn’t such a sad issue, I’d feel tempted to make jokes like “this microphone job is as dangerous as the Spinal Tap drummer position” … The sad fact is that Metal Church has lost two singers way to early to the grim reaper: David Wayne, member of the classic 1981 line-up, turned out to be one of the nicest people ever I had the honor and pleasure to meet, died 2005. From 1988 to 1994 and again from 2015, Mike Howe was the frontman of one of America’s most beloved and cherished metal institutions, an outstanding singer, a charismatic frontman and for many the voice of American heavy metal. On July 26, 2021, Howe died at the age of 55 at his home in Eureka, California.

Therefore my heart always feels a bit heavy when I read or hear the name Metal Church.
On the third anniversary of Mike’s tragic death, RatPak Records and Reaper Entertainment will make its own contribution to the memorial altar of a true icon: a live album titled “The Final Sermon”, recorded during his last performances – on August 24 and 25, 2019 at Club Citta in Kawasaki, Japan.
“The Final Sermon” not only shows Howe at his vocal peak, singing, screaming and belting like there’s literally no tomorrow, but also a band in captivating form. Thrash guitar pioneer and founder Kurdt Vanderhoof, guitarist Rick Van Zandt, bassist Steve Unger, drummer Stet Howland and live bassist Bobby Ferkovich were on top form during those two long nights in Japan, a tight-knit metal machine ready for anything. 14 songs underscore their status as quintessential American metal overlords, a band that pulls out all the stops musically while embodying a political, socially conscious, philosophical mindset. Current bangers like the furious “Damned if you do”, classics like the menacing wall of riffs of “Fake Healer” and early classics like “Beyond the Black” show a band that is aware and proud of their past, but comfortable in the present. This is not a veteran group bragging about past glories, but a band that is still a hungry and dangerous wolfpack four decades into their career.

The reason why this live album is a must-have not just for Metal Church fans – it’s not only a tribute to Mike Howe but also delivers the ultimate selection of Best-Of Metal Church hits!

Tracklist:
1 Damned If You Do
2 Needle and Suture
3 Fake Healer
4 In Mourning
5 Human Factor
6 Date with Poverty
7 The Black Things
8 Gods of A Second Chance
9 Start the Fire
10 Watch the Children Pray
11 Beyond the Black
12 By the Numbers
13 No Friend of Mine