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I am really not the guy to review the new
Metal Church album, This Present Wasteland. For one,
the band’s name inspires giggles from me, mostly as
an inside joke between the Live-Metal crew. Second, it’s
not the kind of metal I, personally, am into: that Queensryche/Iced
Earth school of power metal that emphasizes sounding as massive
as a fleet of Hummer H2’s and vocals about a dystopian
future.
But I am not here to complain about my assignment, merely
to do it. So This Present Wasteland is about what
you’d expect from a Metal Church album. Massive power
chords, massive guitar solos, massive drums and massive vocals.
The approach has a way of sounding good on some songs and
dated on others. “Deeds of a Dead Soul” is an
example of the band’s style clicking. A slow moving,
yet sinister sounding track, the song clocks in at more than
eight minutes but has a grinding intensity. And yet, the band
follows that with the silly “Meet Your Maker,”
which sounds like either an Iron Maiden tribute or parody
—I can’t decide which. The song is only saved
by its midpoint, a solo/acoustic guitar duel between axmen
Kurdt Vanderhoof and Rick Van Zandt. Another track, “Monster,”
sounds like Steel Dragon, the fake band from the movie Rock
Star. “Crawling to Extinction” suffers the
same fate.
Despite my snark-laden criticism, there are some decent songs
here. “War Never Won” might be the top song on
the album. It starts as a slow dirge and then goes up-tempo
at the end. The feel is reminiscent of Maiden’s “Hallowed
Be Thy Name.” “Mass Hysteria” has lyrics
that leave something to be desired, but the riffs are kick-ass,
top-notch power metal.
So what do I actually think of This Present Wasteland?
It’s not bad. It’s good if you like this sort
of metal. But if you’re like me, it’s not enough
to make you a believer.
®2009 Live-Metal.net
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