Metal Church

1 upcoming festival

American metal institution going since 1980, bridging traditional heavy metal and the speed of early thrash — riff-driven, high-register, and remarkably durable.

Metal Church formed in 1980, originally in Aberdeen, Washington, around guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, and became part of the wave of American bands sitting between traditional heavy metal and emerging thrash. Their self-titled debut and The Dark, both released in the mid-1980s, pair fast, technical riffing with high, clean vocals — a combination that has kept them associated with both thrash and US power metal.

The band has had several line-up changes and periods of inactivity across its history, with vocalists including David Wayne and Mike Howe, and has continued to record and tour into recent decades.