Review | Metal Church – The Final Sermon – Live In Japan 2019

Reaper Entertainment

On July 26, 2021 Metal Church singer Mike Howe stepped out of this earth at the age of 55. Howe had been suffering badly from depression and took his own life leaving fans and his musical friends of Metal Church behind in despair. We know that Metal Church after dealing with the loss of Howe went on with their musical journey, recruiting singer Marc Lopes and releasing the album ‘Congregation Of Annihilation’, where leader/founding member and guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof took the band music wise back to their early days when albums like ‘The Dark’ were hailed like the next best thing.

TRIBUTE

On July 26 this year it will be three years ago since Mike Howe passed and to remember and to pay tribute to him Vanderhoof and the other musicians of the group thought it would be a good idea to launch a live-album on this particular date, recorded in Japan in August 2019 during two shows with Mike Howe at the helm. The man with the high pitched yet powerful voice can be heard one more time in an environment that is fitting to him and the band. A rocking stage and a hall filled with enthusiastic metal fans getting their rocks off with some classic heavy metal like only Metal Church can produce.

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

‘The Final Sermon’ is truly a trip down memory lane. With a 14-song well-balanced set that has room for some oldies as well as more recent stuff the band recorded with Howe after he made a triumphant return in 2015 after being away for some 20 years. What I always liked about this band is the fact that they followed their own set of rules, set in an early stage of their career. Kurdt Vanderhoof has never allowed his band to give in to a more commercial sound. Metal Church stood and always will stand for honest, bone crushing and straight in your face heavy metal. That was the case with all the singers they had (David Wayne-RIP, Ronnie Munroe, Mike Howe and now Marc Lopes) and all the albums they made.

METAL CHURCH – THE CONCLUSION

When you hear tracks such as ,,Fake Healer’’, ,,Start The Fire’’, ,,By The Numbers’’ or their super  ballad ,,Watch The Children Pray’’ (hear that grit in Howe’s voice), you can only appreciate the musical honesty of Metal Church and the relentless execution of the songs. Super tight as a nit’s arse it is a joy to hear these recordings. Sure, there is also a tear of sadness to be shed as we will never hear Metal Church and Mike Howe perform together again. It is a bittersweet emotion that surrounds this album. But it is a justified and beautiful end to a liaison between Mike Howe and Metal Church. Enjoy it one more time and at the same time let us think about all these people in the world suffering from depression who sometimes see no other way out then to end it all. Spare a thought for them….