Metal Church - Generation Nothing

Metal Church Generation Nothing cover
Metal Church
Generation Nothing
Rat Pak Records
2013
8.5
Metal Church were and are a pretty cool band with a few distinct periods mostly defined by who was the singer behind the mic. We have the classic Wayne period, the more commercial Howe mid era and later the current… period, that saw the band face some ups and downs, but was mostly a positive time. Led by Kurt Vanderhoof, whose a quite damn good guitarist the band has rarely faltered (maybe “Masterpeace” was not that much of a good album) but no one can really blame band for a weak album if most of it albums turn out pretty solid, after all, most of the old glories (ie Metallica, Megadeth, etc. have made it a bit of a tradition to release shitty albums lately) leaving it to the other old militia bands like Anthrax, Testament and Metal Church and so on, to keep the metal flowing… the way it SHOULD.
 
For reasons unbeknown to the general public the band did “give up” in 2009 only to “re-unite” a few years later, I think last year (?) releasing their products from their own company no less, so maybe the whole thing, could have something to do with some dodgy contract they wanted to get out of, or something of the like… or maybe by public demand. (who knows, who cares as long as they come up with albums as good as GZ)
 
Style-wise, the band keeps on pumping out some two fisted heavy metal, unapologetically, that might not be as heavy as it earliest albums, but then again, it’s by no means lame, it’s maybe a little more tipped towards the mid era Howe Albums, maybe musically one could say like the best of both worlds and vocally Ronny Munroe, well is himself, although he tries to channel a bit of Wayne and he end up sounding a bit like Udo Dirksnieder in places, which ain’t bad at all... as he sounds like UDO from back in the day.
 
Bulletproof” smashes through like a ton of bricks, landing on your face, with a nice barrage of riffs and some really commanding vocals that brim with attitude. The solo is also is also spot on, right on the money. This is old school money done just right. Accept, should, sell their right kidney to write a song like this, instead of recycling their “own riffs” from older songs and passing them off as new songs (ie “Teutonic Terror” ~ “Protectors of Terror”)…
 
Dead City” is an up-tempo, relentless, hard hitting plunger, which just won’t quit, once it’s started. Mysteriously enough, it’s pre-chorus, manages to infuse just enough melody to become really really enjoyable. Really good, even if it’s a little “simple”. Well no-one said that songs had to be god-damn complex to be good... oh I suppose, Dream Theater may have subscribed to that school of thought, before they started jamming songs away instead of composing them, resulting in them, releasing “good” songs every once in a blue moon, that is just when it happens that their jams turn out “tasty” enough.
 
The albums namesake “Generation Nothing” is a biting song that condemns people about the apathy they display, towards the plagues that befall modern society. It’s could have easily been in “Russian Roulette”!!! Gosh. Honestly, this is really the album that Accept, didn’t release, both times with Tornilo, because the songs weren’t all THAT good. Obviously, Metal Church hasn’t become Accept, hasn’t started copying Accept, on purpose, it’s just that by doing a little throwback on their own legacy, to sort of shuffle the cards a bit I guess they’ve come a little closer to that classic style that Accept, had in the 80s... and they are representing it almost down to the T, obviously through their own “Prism”.
 
Noises in the Wall” @ 9 minutes is a bit of an overkill, and sort of kills the “flow” a little bit. It tries to be an atmospheric, mid-tempo number, with a creepy, heavy claustophobic atmosphere and while for the most part it succeeds in doing so, it’s just too long and not that interesting to keep the listener interested for the entire duration... a bit of a mistake I guess, but not a fatal one.
 
Jump the Gun” seems to put things back in place, rectifying the relative jaundiced gazes and blurry eyes with its up-tempo rhythm and catchy if not a little too simple chorus.
 
Suiciety” manages to keep things flowing, with its mid-tempo, heavy hitting style and frantic sections only being compromised by a short slower one somewhere in the middle, which however causes quite an effect of antithesis.
 
Scream” is totally crazy and demented and its title is really representative of its content, it’s a lot faster and more aggressive and it simply rocks. Just band the head that doesn’t bang as Metallica ‘d say at the back of “Kill em All”, mutha! Hahaha! Did they mean the upper one, since you bang, chicks, with the dick?! Hahahaha!? This just occurred to me now! WTF!
 
Hits Keep Coming” probably is not referring to the Top40 variety, because those probably never did come, but it’s a more “emotional” song, without being a ballad. It’s a heavy song, that has a lot of acoustic sections that however are very dark and are followed up by some pretty heavy and metallic ones, creating a really dark and ominous song in the process.
 
Close to the Bone” is another heavy as hell number, with some really thoughtful lyrics that somehow, unfortunately feel too close “to truth” (for the common Joe) for comfort. It’s a pretty pissed off song, based on a simple riff with a nice couple of leads but it works miracles!
 
The Media Horse” rounds of the album, and I suppose, in Greece, this song could easily be renamed to the “Media Whores”... judging by the quality of our journalists and the way they act to fill their pockets, well, the message, is pretty much the same, but MC, are just being a little more polite I guess...
 
This song is ironic and sour as it can be, and it changes from rather placid to pretty heavy within every verse. Pain and Suffering seems to be a cheap way to make people watch TV and some people are happy to sell that for a buck, that cheap ass practice gets condemned here and rightly so. Oh the un-reality of it….
 
Well Metal Church is back and as a bit of an Atheist, I have to say that this is the only damn Church I could be bothered attending! Hahaha! Really cool new album, well worth checking out!