''The Dark'' is the second full-length album released 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 Kurdt ...
, released on October 6, 1986. This was the last album featuring the group's "classic" lineup of
David Wayne
David Wayne (born Wayne James McMeekan, January 30, 1914 – February 9, 1995) was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years.
Early life and career
Wayne was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the son of Helen M ...
,
Kurdt Vanderhoof, Kirk Arrington, Duke Erickson, and Craig Wells, until ''
Masterpeace
''Masterpeace'' is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church released on July 22, 1999 via Nuclear Blast. It features the return of vocalist David Wayne, absent since '' The Dark'' (1986), being the band's final studio al ...
'' (1999), which reunited the four-fifths of that lineup, with
John Marshall replacing Wells.
Album information
''The Dark'' talks of somber themes, such as assassination, death, struggle, rituals, and the supernatural: the lyrics from "Line of Death", for example, were based on
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
n hostilities in the
Gulf of Sidra, while the band's title track involves the protagonist attempting to survive the night in an abandoned house with an evil, demonic entity stalking and attempting to drag him to hell. "Watch the Children Pray" became the band's power ballad music video. The album was dedicated to the late
Metallica bassist
Cliff Burton
Clifford Lee Burton (February 10, 1962 – September 27, 1986) was an American musician who was the bassist for heavy metal band Metallica from 1982 until his death in 1986. He performed on ''Kill 'Em All'' (1983), ''Ride the Lightning'' (1984) ...
, who died nine days before its release. In order to promote ''The Dark'', Metal Church supported Metallica and
Anthrax on the
Damage, Inc. Tour. They also opened for
Megadeth, Anthrax and
King Diamond
Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto ...
.
"Ton of Bricks" appears as the opening track in the
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), ''The Thr ...
movie ''
No Man's Land'' (1987).
Anthrax guitarist
Scott Ian
Scott Ian (born Scott Ian Rosenfeld, December 31, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the thrash metal band Anthrax. Ian is the guitarist and a founding member of the crossover thrash band Stormtroo ...
has been quoted as saying that
Mark Dodson
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fin ...
's production work on this album inspired the band to work with him as the producer for their fourth album ''
State of Euphoria
''State of Euphoria'' is the fourth studio album by the American heavy metal band Anthrax. It was released on September 19, 1988, through Megaforce/Island Records.
Album information
''State of Euphoria'' was produced by Anthrax and Mark Dodson, ...
'' (1988).
Critical and commercial reception
Contemporary reviews for ''The Dark'' were mostly positive. Paul Miller of ''
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
'' wrote that the passage to a major label inevitably compromised Metal Church's sound for "mass commercial acceptability", with the result that ''The Dark'' was not "as solidly hefty" as their "monstrously brilliant debut". However, the album was judged "impressive", revealing of a new side of the band in the heavy metal ballad "Watch the Children Pray" and riding "a delicate balance of semi-Speed and lightweight material".
''
Rock Hard'' reviewer suspected that Metal Church had reached the peak of their creativity on their debut album and considered ''The Dark'' a little inferior, criticizing vocalist
David Wayne
David Wayne (born Wayne James McMeekan, January 30, 1914 – February 9, 1995) was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years.
Early life and career
Wayne was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the son of Helen M ...
's performance to the point of wishing that a personnel change would happen.
Modern reviews are more critical.
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
's Eduardo Rivadavia states that the album shows a band "struggling with their direction and wrestling with internal problems" and, although its "first half contained some of the group's best material", its "second half pretty much stalls after the moderately interesting title track."
Canadian journalist
Martin Popoff
Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has additionall ...
describes the album as "one half a very good record, one half filler" and Metal Church as a band "making solid cutting-edge metal that invariably sounded harsh, bitter and self-defetaed". He also reveals in his review that the band now sees the album as "woefully over-produced".
In 2005, the album was ranked number 389 in
''Rock Hard'' magazine's book ''The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time''.
''The Dark'' entered the
''Billboard'' 200 chart on January 24, 1987. The album itself peaked at number 92 (their third-highest chart position as of 2021, behind ''
XI'' and ''
Blessing in Disguise'', which entered at number 57 and number 75, respectively) and remained on the chart for 23 weeks.
Track listing
Personnel
;Metal Church
*
David Wayne
David Wayne (born Wayne James McMeekan, January 30, 1914 – February 9, 1995) was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years.
Early life and career
Wayne was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the son of Helen M ...
– vocals
*Craig Wells – lead guitar
*
Kurdt Vanderhoof – rhythm guitar
*Duke Erickson – bass
*Kirk Arrington – drums
;Production
*
Mark Dodson
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fin ...
– producer, engineer, mixing, arrangements with Metal Church
*
Terry Date
Terry Date (born January 31, 1956) is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in rock genres, especially heavy metal. He is well known for his work with Metal Church, Dream Theater, Soundgarden, Overkill, Pantera, Dark Ang ...
– engineer
*
George Marino
George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s.
Biography
Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...
– mastering at
Sterling Sound, New York
References
External links
https://web.archive.org/web/20071030145144/http://www.metalchurchmusic.com/thedark.asp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dark, The
1986 albums
Metal Church albums
Elektra Records albums
Albums produced by Mark Dodson