Sadly we lost the great Mike Howe on July 26, 2021, a tremendous talent as lead vocalist for Metal Church during two eras of the group from 1988-1995 and 2015 to 2021, a part of five studio albums in that time period. Captured live in support of his final studio record for the group Damned If You Do, The Final Sermon comes from the land of the rising sun Japan, a 14-track headlining set that contains almost 80 minutes of music. You can expect an interesting cross-section of material that weighs heavily on the Mike Howe-period, along with some key early David Wayne selections to showcase this veteran outfit still very much at the top of their game.
Properly peppering the classics with a few recent offerings allows the audience to appreciate the wide array of melodic power/thrash on display from the quintet. Mike’s voice, delivery, and consistent engagement never wavers – his work for “Fake Healer”, “Dave With Poverty” as well as the outstanding finale “Badlands” a treasure chest for students of the metal genre to enjoy. The little injection of ‘meditation’-like chants in “Damned If You Do” as well as the sensitivity to the lower register power in the highlight ballad “Watch the Children Pray” illustrate the diverse, dynamic abilities to keep things engaging – including audience participation singalong action for the latter. Rhythm guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof along with fellow axe man Rick van Zandt peel off hefty riffs of steel beyond some killer lick/lead break passages – tracks like “Human Factor” and “Beyond the Black” still standing tall decades after their original appearances on record. Top notch performances, tight musical chemistry, tremendous support from a fervent fanbase – all these aspects make for a magical show, and the fact that the band were able to pull from two shows at Club Citta in Kawasaki ensured the best versions made the grade.
While taking this year off to recover from Kurdt’s significant back injury, The Final Sermon is a nice document to remind all of us that Metal Church still has lots of gas left in their proverbial tanks when it comes to professional heavy, power/thrash material.