''Congregation of Annihilation'' is the thirteenth studio album by American heavy metal band

Metal Church Metal Church is an American heavy metal band. They originally formed in San Francisco, California in 1980 and then relocated to Aberdeen, Washington the following year and briefly using the name Shrapnel. Led by guitarist and songwriter Kurd ...

, released on May 26, 2023 through Rat Pak Records. It is the first album to feature new vocalist Marc Lopes, who joined in the summer of 2022 as the replacement of the late

Mike Howe Mike Howe (August 21, 1965 – July 26, 2021) was an American heavy metal singer who performed with Metal Church, Heretic, and Snair. Career Howe began his career as the singer for a Detroit band called Hellion (later renamed Snair after movi ...

Composition

Metal Church guitarist

Kurdt Vanderhoof Kurdt Vanderhoof (born June 28, 1961) is an American guitarist, best known as the rhythm guitarist and founding member of the American heavy metal band Metal Church. Biography As early as 1976, Vanderhoof was ardently networking with loca ...

described the album as "starting a new chapter in the Metal Church legacy. I really love this album. It's a fresh approach for us in one way, but also a return to the very beginnings of Metal Church as part of the New American Thrash Metal movement. This record contains some of the most aggressive songs we have recorded. I hope the fans will like it as much as we do." Marc Lopes also added that "I am beyond honored to be part of carrying on this legacy into a new era of Metal Church. Working with Kurdt and a band that was a huge influence of mine growing up was a surreal experience, to say the least. For me there was no point in trying to imitate what was already done to perfection. So, with respect to the past, we moved forward to a new chapter and here we are!"

Track listing

Notes

*The limited edition CD release by Reaper Entertainment contains a cassette and features a different bonus track titled "Laughter" *The Japanese release by Rubicon Music features a different bonus track titled "The Dreams (That Don't Come True)"

Personnel

Metal Church * Marc Lopes – vocals * Rick Van Zandt – lead guitar *

– rhythm guitar * Steve Unger – bass *

Stet Howland Stet Howland (born August 14, 1960) is an American drummer. Early life Howland graduated in 1978 from Duxbury High School. He started playing drums at age seven and has been teaching and playing for a living since age 13. His influences are Bud ...

– drums Production * Produced by Kurdt Vanderhoof * Engineered by Kurdt Vanderhoof and Johnny Hyatt * Album artwork by Jean Michel

Charts

References

External links

Metal Church "Pick a God and Prey" official lyric video
on YouTube
Metal Church "Making Monsters" Official Audio
on YouTube {{Metal Church 2023 albums Metal Church albums