Metal Church-Generation Nothing

Rat Pak Records
2013

Try not to be dismayed by the less than inspiring image that is supposed to pass for "artwork" on Metal Church's upcoming new album. For you see that image, which is honestly more then a bit on the grey and dull side, can in no way, shape or form fully prepare you for what is waiting just outside the door. Should you you decide to step forward and turn that door knob for Metal Church's 10th full-length studio album then it's all over man. Once the album's opening track, "Bullet Proof", crosses that threshold then it's game on and there is no turning back from the epic power metal assault that is "Generation Nothing"! With lead vocalist Ronny Munroe not only back for album number four, but sounding better then ever!, this is the album that many of us have been waiting a long time for! After the mixed result that was "This Present Wasteland" the band, which sounds as if it is is firing on all cylinders, obviously took the time to step back and take stock of who they were and where they wanted to go. The time off has worked wonders as guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof and his band-mates have recorded  an album that pays homage to their past, on more specifically their first two albums, while seamlessly adapting to the current state of power metal and thrash. Unlike some of their contemporaries though (and I'm talking to you Flotsam and Jetsam) the guys in Metal Church have not abandoned their core roots just so they can appeal to some of today's younger metal fans who worship at the altar of "modern metal". No, Kurt and company (Munroe, guitarist Rick Van Zandt bassist Steve Unger and drummer Jeff Plate) opted instead to bring/kidnap "modern metal" to their side of town and indoctrinate it is the fine art of Metal Church worship! So yes, this is the same band that tore shit up on their self-titled 1984 album and it's classic follow-up, and my personal fave Metal Church album, 1986's "The Dark". Only now the band has realized that being older doesn't mean you have to fake it 'till make it or pull a total sell out (cough, cough, Metallica). And it sure as hell doesn't mean that you have to fade off into the sunset without putting up a hell of a fight or two! What I'm talking about is moments like the title track and "Suiciety" where Metal Church has clearly not gotten the notice that some people thought they were dead. I mean crap, listen to cuts like "Jump The Gun" and "Close To The Bone" (where Ronny Munroe pulls of his best David Wayne impersonation) and then try to tell me that Metal Church can't compete! The same goes for the (slow build-up before massive payoff!) track "Noises In The Wall". Bands like Metallica and Megadeth have nothing on these guys! By the time "The Media Horse" closes the gate on "Generation Nothing" I felt spent! For a group that has now been going at it since what, 1980 or something, it's enough that they can still pick up their guitars and play yet alone craft an album so worthy of the Metal church title! Album number ten may not be enough to suddenly shake off the bounds that hold teens captive to modern metal, but it's most definitely an album that will make Metal Church fans remember why they fell in love with this bunch in the first place and serve notice that U.S. power metal like this isn't going anywhere anytime soon!