The hype is real. Given the longevity of American metal heavyweights Metal Church – 39 years to be exact – the fact that there’s still firsts to be experienced is pretty mind blowing.
Their latest first is an Australian tour. “For us it is [mind blowing],” agrees guitarist, Kurdt Vanderhoof. “And for me, personally, it really is – I’ve been wanting to come down there since I was a little kid.”
And down here they’ll come. Metal Church will perform four shows in as many days later this month. With an accolade of mega metal melodies including hits ‘Metal Church’ and ‘Start the Fire’, as well as fan favourites ‘Gods of Wrath’, ‘Beyond the Black’, and ‘Watch the Children Pray’, this tour may well go down in history.
Metal Church is straight up heavy metal – no gimmicks, no gizmos; traditional, even, because you don’t want to imply the word “old” on anybody. “We’re not old, we call ourselves veterans,” Vanderhoof says with a gruff laugh.
The fact of the matter is, when Metal Church tour, despite having been around longer than some fans have been alive, worlds will collide. Traditional heavy metal will meet its Australian fans while the band will finally get to see what this scene is like. That’s as much as an exciting prospect for us as it is for Vanderhoof, who gruffly yet warmly, reiterates how excited he is.
“As soon as we found out the Melbourne show sold out, that was like ‘wow’. So we’re just hoping to have a lot of fun in all the places. The sad thing is, we talked about not being able to have time to really do anything. We talked about trying to stay longer, but we can’t. But hey, we’ll make the best of it and enjoy it for what it is.”
That’s the kind of attitude you need to have when you’re pressed for time and having to pump out what you expect will be pretty high energy shows. “Yeah. Not bad for a bunch of veterans,” Vanderhoof teases. But when things start happening like selling out a show on a first-time tour, you have to wonder if Metal Church ever feel a sense of regret that they’ve not made the pilgrimage sooner.
“I don’t know if it’s regret or if it’s that we were never presented with the opportunity to go,” says Vanderhoof. “We just hired a new manager and this last year and a half, I’ve been saying, ‘Hey we need to go to Australia. I’m tired of Europe, we go there twice every summer. I’m done. I’m over it’ We’ve got a lot of great fans but we’ve done that so much it’s like… ‘Let’s go to Australia.’”
Being a band that’s been around since the ‘80s is pretty amazing in itself yet the fact that Metal Church, as traditionalists, have maintained relevance in an age of technology is even more admirable.
“Basically you don’t pay any attention to that shit,” says Vanderhoof. “That’s what I do, I don’t care. I don’t listen to modern metal because there’s no singing in it, because I’m a big fan of music so it’s gotta be musical. The Cookie Monster stuff, I can’t do it.
“We can be loud and powerful and aggressive and everything, but you’ve gotta have a singer, man. As far as Metal Church is concerned, [we] just keep it basic, it’s rock‘n’roll, and we just try to keep it real meat and potatoes. When people buy a Metal Church [record] they know what they’re going to get.” Their latest first is an Australian tour. “For us it is [mind blowing],” agrees guitarist, Kurdt Vanderhoof. “And for me, personally, it really is – I’ve been wanting to come down there since I was a little kid.”
And down here they’ll come. Metal Church will perform four shows in as many days later this month. With an accolade of mega metal melodies including hits ‘Metal Church’ and ‘Start the Fire’, as well as fan favourites ‘Gods of Wrath’, ‘Beyond the Black’, and ‘Watch the Children Pray’, this tour may well go down in history.
Metal Church is straight up heavy metal – no gimmicks, no gizmos; traditional, even, because you don’t want to imply the word “old” on anybody. “We’re not old, we call ourselves veterans,” Vanderhoof says with a gruff laugh.
The fact of the matter is, when Metal Church tour, despite having been around longer than some fans have been alive, worlds will collide. Traditional heavy metal will meet its Australian fans while the band will finally get to see what this scene is like. That’s as much as an exciting prospect for us as it is for Vanderhoof, who gruffly yet warmly, reiterates how excited he is.
“As soon as we found out the Melbourne show sold out, that was like ‘wow’. So we’re just hoping to have a lot of fun in all the places. The sad thing is, we talked about not being able to have time to really do anything. We talked about trying to stay longer, but we can’t. But hey, we’ll make the best of it and enjoy it for what it is.”
That’s the kind of attitude you need to have when you’re pressed for time and having to pump out what you expect will be pretty high energy shows. “Yeah. Not bad for a bunch of veterans,” Vanderhoof teases. But when things start happening like selling out a show on a first-time tour, you have to wonder if Metal Church ever feel a sense of regret that they’ve not made the pilgrimage sooner.
“I don’t know if it’s regret or if it’s that we were never presented with the opportunity to go,” says Vanderhoof. “We just hired a new manager and this last year and a half, I’ve been saying, ‘Hey we need to go to Australia. I’m tired of Europe, we go there twice every summer. I’m done. I’m over it’ We’ve got a lot of great fans but we’ve done that so much it’s like… ‘Let’s go to Australia.’”
Being a band that’s been around since the ‘80s is pretty amazing in itself yet the fact that Metal Church, as traditionalists, have maintained relevance in an age of technology is even more admirable.
“Basically you don’t pay any attention to that shit,” says Vanderhoof. “That’s what I do, I don’t care. I don’t listen to modern metal because there’s no singing in it, because I’m a big fan of music so it’s gotta be musical. The Cookie Monster stuff, I can’t do it.
“We can be loud and powerful and aggressive and everything, but you’ve gotta have a singer, man. As far as Metal Church is concerned, [we] just keep it basic, it’s rock‘n’roll, and we just try to keep it real meat and potatoes. When people buy a Metal Church [record] they know what they’re going to get.”
Their latest first is an Australian tour. “For us it is [mind blowing],” agrees guitarist, Kurdt Vanderhoof. “And for me, personally, it really is – I’ve been wanting to come down there since I was a little kid.”
Metal Church make their Melbourne debut with two shows at Northcote Social Club on Wednesday August 28 and Thursday August 29 (sold out). Head the venue website for tickets.
