METAL CHURCH (The Shrapnel Tapes '81-'84) CD

The first album of METAL CHURCH is definitely a masterpiece and a magnificent connection of classical Heavy Metal and early Thrash Metal as well as David Wayne belongs to one of the best vocalists in this genre and it is really a disgrace that he unexpectedly died in 2005. Apart from the musical class of the first album of METAL CHURCH their version of Deep Purple's ' Highway Star ' is unforgotten and for my taste it excels even the orginal. When I have seen the band in 1986 live for the first time as support for Metallica I was as enthusiastic by their appearance as I was from the first album. Maybe most of you already know that this band was formed in 1981 under the name Shrapnel by Kurt Vanderhoof, who formerly was the guitarist for punk rock band The Lewd. Now this disc, strictly limited to 500 copies, offers an overview about the early four demos of the band plus an additional live song from 1984. Of course the quality is only for fans, but they will be very happy about the fact to hear many of the old classics in their original versions. Former singer Mike Murphy left the band very early so that a few of the songs are instrumental, but despite the rough quality of the recordings one hears very clearly the class of the group in their very early beginning. Informative linernotes and a few rare photo shots are making this booklet complete and I can only praise the work of White Stallions Records, that both put into this release. By the way, White Stallions Records is the label which also released the rare demos of Trouble. If you're a huge fan of this band you should buy the disc as soon as possible.
(KK)
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