Metal Church is an American heavy metal band. They originally formed in San… Read Full Bio ↴Metal Church is an American heavy metal band. They originally formed in San Francisco, California in 1980 and then relocated to Aberdeen, Washington the following year and briefly using the name Shrapnel. Led by guitarist and songwriter Kurdt Vanderhoof, the band has released twelve studio albums, and is often credited as a formative influence on the thrash metal subgenre, melding the aesthetics of the new wave of British heavy metal and American hard rock with "incredibly tight musicianship" and "piercingly screeched" vocals. They are also considered to be an integral part of the Seattle heavy metal music scene of the 1980s, and achieved considerable popularity that decade, with two of their first three albums entering the Top 100 on the Billboard 200 chart. The band's early lyrical topics such as conflict and paranoia later expanded into philosophical and social commentary.

Metal Church has had a revolving door of vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers throughout its 42-year career, and Vanderhoof remains the group's sole consistent creative, despite reducing his role strictly to composition in 1986 after tiring of performing. The "classic" lineup of Vanderhoof, vocalist David Wayne, guitarist Craig Wells, bassist Duke Erickson, and drummer Kirk Arrington recorded the band's first two studio albums, Metal Church (1984) and their major breakthrough The Dark (1986). By the end of the 1980s, Vandehoof and Wayne had parted ways with the band and were replaced by vocalist Mike Howe and guitarist John Marshall respectively. Metal Church's popularity continued with their third album Blessing in Disguise (1989), which spawned one of their best-known songs "Badlands". After releasing two more studio albums with Howe, the band called it quits in 1996.

Metal Church reformed in 1998 with most of their "classic" lineup, including Vanderhoof's return to performance, resulting in the Masterpeace album. They endured numerous lineup changes thereafter, releasing three further studio albums while fronted by Ronny Munroe before disbanding once again in July 2009. The group reunited for the second time in October 2012, and released their tenth studio album Generation Nothing a year later. Following Munroe's departure in the fall of 2014, Metal Church considered disbanding for the third time before Howe was rehired in April 2015 as the band's lead singer. He recorded two more albums with the group, which enjoyed a renewed popularity in the mid-to-late 2010s, before his death.

On July 26, 2021, Metal Church announced that Howe had died that morning at his home in Eureka, California, at the age of 55. In October 2021, after announcing the return of his short-lived early 1990s band Hall Aflame, Vanderhoof hinted that Metal Church would continue on with a replacement for Howe. By mid-2022, rumors suggested that Ronny Munroe would rejoin the band, but resulted in him joining Vicious Rumors.

On February 2, 2023, Metal Church announced Marc Lopes as their new lead vocalist. A month later, the band announced their upcoming album, Congregation of Annihilation, would be released on May 26.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Church

Discography
Metal Church (1984)
The Dark (1986)
Blessing in Disguise (1989)
The Human Factor (1991)
Hanging in the Balance (1993)
Masterpeace (1999)
The Weight of the World (2004)
A Light in the Dark (2006)
This Present Wasteland (2008)
Generation Nothing (2013)
XI (2016)
Damned If You Do (2018)
Congregation of Annihilation (2023)

The Believer
Metal Church Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

A taste of fear in the recipe as he stirs the potion up
Flirting with the other side enough to call his bluff
As the flames and the smoke grow thick a figure begins to rise
Looking up it says to him, "Son you must decide"

Caught up in evil 'cause he's too blind to see
Now he's the believer and the believer deceives

Into the void of his memories lie the answers
Why he finds a friend in the need to sin
It makes him feel alive but the path he's on
Will lead to hell for that he must repent but after all
The damage done the devil's new servant

He don't know what he believes

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Metal Church's song, The Believer, depict a man who is dabbling in the side of evil, which eventually turns him into a believer who deceives others. This man is brewing a potion in which he adds a "taste of fear," signifying his sense of danger as he experiments with evil. He continues to flirt with the dark side, unaware that this will lead to his downfall. The figure that arises from the flames and smoke is possibly the devil or a demon, and it warns the man to choose between good and evil. However, the man is too blinded by the thrill of sinning and becomes the believer who deceives others.

The song portrays the theme of temptation and the consequences of giving in to our desires. The man in the song finds solace in his sinful ways, believing that it is the path to feeling alive. However, he fails to realize that his actions will lead to eternal damnation, and it is essential to repent before his fate is sealed. The song warns the listener about the dangers of temptation and how it can lead us to become servants of the devil, pushing us away from salvation.

Line by Line Meaning

A taste of fear in the recipe as he stirs the potion up
The man is feeling scared while making some kind of concoction, indicating that he may be up to something nefarious.

Flirting with the other side enough to call his bluff
He is playing with danger, trying to see if he can handle the risks associated with his actions.

As the flames and the smoke grow thick a figure begins to rise
The smoke and fire from his concoction has summoned some kind of spirit or demon.

Looking up it says to him, 'Son you must decide'
The spirit or demon is confronting the man, telling him he needs to make a choice.

Caught up in evil 'cause he's too blind to see
The man is so far gone in his pursuit of power that he doesn't realize he is dabbling in evil.

Now he's the believer and the believer deceives
He has become a true believer in his cause, even if it means deceiving others or himself in the process.

Into the void of his memories lie the answers
He is searching within himself for answers to why he is so drawn to sin despite its consequences.

Why he finds a friend in the need to sin
He feels comforted by behaving badly and finds solace in breaking the rules.

It makes him feel alive but the path he's on
Although he enjoys his behavior, he senses that it is ultimately harmful and could lead to his downfall.

Will lead to hell for that he must repent but after all
He knows that his actions will have consequences and he needs to make amends, but he also feels like it's too late for him to change now.

The damage done the devil's new servant
He has already made his bed and there's not much he can do to reverse the damage he has already caused. He feels like he has become a pawn of evil forces.

He don't know what he believes
Despite his conviction in his behavior, he is unsure of his own beliefs and struggles to reconcile his actions with his conscience.

Contributed by Eliana T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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