Metal Church are back, and ‘Dead To Rights’ hits exactly as hard as the lineup behind it suggests. The West Coast thrash metal legends return with their thirteenth studio album, the first from a rebuilt lineup that pairs founding guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof and longtime guitarist Rick Van Zandt with bass icon David Ellefson, powerhouse drummer Ken Mary, and dynamic new vocalist Brian Allen. On paper it reads like a dream team. On record it delivers.
Vanderhoof is candid about how close this album came to never existing. “The band was over, and I honestly didn’t see it being resurrected,” he says. “But somehow, it brought itself back to life, again.” That second chance energy runs through every track on the record, from the aggressive opening assault of “Brainwash Game” to the riff-driven finale “My Wrath.” Tracks like “Deep Cover Shakedown,” “The Show,” and “Wasted Time” deliver the signature Metal Church sound that has earned the band fans across four decades without sounding like a band coasting on nostalgia.
Lead single “F.A.F.O.,” released last November, already crossed 400,000 views on its accompanying video, a strong signal that the Metal Church faithful are very much paying attention. Produced by Vanderhoof and mixed and mastered by Zeuss at Planet Z, the album has the sonic weight to match its lineup’s collective pedigree. Ellefson and Mary form a rhythm section that gives Vanderhoof’s riffs exactly the foundation they need, and Allen brings the classic Metal Church vocal character without simply imitating what came before.
“I’m incredibly proud of these new songs; they hit hard,” Vanderhoof says. “If you enjoy classic Metal Church, you’re going to love this record.” Forty-plus years into a career that refused to stay dead, ‘Dead To Rights’ is proof that the drive is still there, and it’s still relentless.