MARC LOPES Has No Regrets About His Time In METAL CHURCH, But Still Harbors 'Animosity' Over The Way His Exit Was Handled

In a new interview with Scott Davidson of Chicago's Rebel Radio, singer Marc Lopes once again opened up about his departure from METAL CHURCH after recording just one album with the veteran metal band, 2023's "Congregation Of Annihilation".

Lopes joined METAL CHURCH in the summer of 2022 as the replacement for Mike Howe, who tragically passed away in July of 2021. The band's lineup on "Congregation Of Annihilation" was rounded out by founding guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, longtime guitarist Rick Van Zandt, bassist Steve Unger and drummer Stet Howland.

Last November, it was announced that METAL CHURCH was returning with a "revitalized" lineup consisting of Vanderhoof alongside Van Zandt, bass icon David Ellefson (MEGADETH),powerhouse drummer Ken Mary (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, FIFTH ANGEL, ALICE COOPER, HOUSE OF LORDS, TKO, CHASTAIN) and new vocalist Brian Allen (VICIOUS RUMORS). The announcement came nearly two years after METAL CHURCH canceled its 2024 tour dates due to "an ongoing back issue" suffered by Vanderhoof.

Reflecting on how he found out he was no longer a member of METAL CHURCH, Lopes told Rebel Radio (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, we basically found out on the Internet, pretty much… When they announced that they had a new lineup and a new tune [was released], that was [when we first found out]."

Asked if he thought METAL CHURCH was broken up at that point, Marc said: "It's interesting. It depends on who you ask. My interpretation of it was there were definitely some issues going on business-wise that needed to be discussed. Certain people reacted in a certain way. At the time, it was just kind of, like, 'All right, let this thing simmer down and then have a conversation.' That was my take on it. And then when Kurdt canceled the tour, we went along with it, the reasonings that were said to the public, we went along with it in hopes of having conversations down the road — because [we] needed to. Anytime there's some kind of misunderstanding of something, you should have a conversation — whether things are gonna work or not, there needs to be some kind of finality to it. At the time, [Kurdt] was, like, I'm gonna put METAL CHURCH on [pause]… I'm just gonna stop doing this for right now,' or whatever the case may be. And believe me, when I was in the band, I heard threatening to fold the band about six times. Anytime there was a disagreement, it was, like, 'Let me take my ball and run.' It got a little annoying, so no one ever took it serious, because it never was. So when that was said, it was, like, 'All right, well, whatever. You guys can do whatever you need to do, and we'll talk.' But those talks never happened. And I constantly was always trying to reach out to find out — that was just from me. I mean, the other two guys, I don't speak to them, but I was just, like, 'What are we doing here? What's going on?' And no one would ever answer. And I was just, like, 'Well, that's kind of messed up. Why are we not having any kind of conversation?' So one year goes by and still nothing. And I'm, like, 'Wow, that's really weird.' I mean, I don't understand. At least go, 'Hey, you know what?! We're not doing this no more. We're gonna go in a different direction' or whatever. But not even that. So, I kept going on, and that was it. We just never had any kind of conversation. And about the two-year mark, when the album was at the two-year anniversary. I finally got a message back and it was, like, 'Yeah, you know…' I'm not gonna say what was said, but it was kind of, like, 'Good luck with everything,' or whatever. And I was, like, 'What?' There was no explanation for what was said. I was kind of, like, 'Well, what do you mean?' And I got no answer. [Laughs] So I was, like, 'Okay, this is kind of weird.' So I'm trying to get what's going on, and I was not getting any return calls, which — I'll be 100% honest — was super disrespectful, and that don't fly with me, man."

Lopes continued: "You know what?! If you don't wanna do it, that's cool. Whatever, man. You wanna be that way and take your ball and run into your little corner, that's cool, dude. But at least be man enough to say it. Let's have a man-to-man conversation. That's all I wanted. And I never got it. And I have every right to be annoyed by that. And that's what annoys me. And to have that all come out on the Internet, and then them B.S.ing in these interviews, it's just not cool, man. But it is what it is. It is what it is."

Marc went on to say that he doesn't "regret anything" about the time he spent as the frontman of METAL CHURCH. "It was awesome," he said. "We did a lot of cool stuff. We did more in seven months on the road than that band had done in years. And we were doing things different. Business was good. A lot of people didn't see the same way of things, and that's kind of where it fell apart.

"I think one of the things that really was most disrespectful was you have someone like Steve who was in the band for 22 years," Lopes added. "And he never got a phone call [letting him know he was no longer in the band]. That is not cool… Definitely some serious lack of communication, for sure. So that kind of thing, I just don't really think a lot about a person that does stuff like that. It's just not an honorable thing to do. And that's not how I function as a human. And I feel everyone deserves respect, whether you agree or not. So that's where any kind of animosity comes from, is that."

Last month, Kurdt told Pete Pardo and Lynne Versaci of Sea Of Tranquility about the dissolution of the METAL CHURCH lineup that recorded "Congregation Of Annihilation": "Well, about two years ago, maybe a little over two years ago now, we did a Australia run. And the shows were fine, but we got back. Things got ugly, and the whole thing was just turned into a mess. And then [there was] a whole bunch of stuff flying around. Stet didn't like the way business was going, so he left. And the other guys didn't like it either. I didn't like the way things were going at all. It just wasn't any fun anymore. And a band at our level, if you're not having any fun — that's part of the pay. And if you're not having any fun anymore… Nobody makes a lot of money anymore, so you gotta be able to afford to do what you're doing and enjoy it… So I shut the band down, I was, like, 'This isn't worth it anymore.' The record company lost interest in us; [they] didn't wanna work with us anymore. Both European and American labels, they were just, like, 'They're done.' And I'm, like, 'Okay, there's no reason to go on.' So I shut the band down. And I made a point of saying, 'Look, I'm not gonna say anything derogatory about anybody in the press or anything like that, and I hope you would do the same.' But apparently some people decided not to do that. So, that's on them, not me."

Asked if he was happy with "Congregation Of Annihilation", which came out in May 2023 via Rat Pak Records (America) and Reaper Entertainment (Europe),Kurdt said: "Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's a fine album. It's good. Yeah, it had some great moments, and it was fine. It was just a bunch of business stuff and a bunch of things like that just wasn't working for anybody, myself included. And so it was, like, 'Eh.' And then when labels and people like that aren't really [into it, I was], like, 'Okay, I don't think I wanna do this anymore either. There's no point.' So I shut the band down, and I thought it was done — again… And I keep trying to kill it. It's like the band that won't die… So, again, I had no intention of doing it anymore. I was done. I was, like, 'All right. We did that. We're not getting along. Okay, I'm done.' And then not having interest [from] the label, there was just no point. So I shut it down. I was still working with Rat Pak with PRESTO BALLET and HALL AFLAME and a couple of other things. So I still had my deals with them on my other projects. And so I was working with them. And then just out of the blue one day, Joe [O'Brien] at Rat Pak sent me a couple of files from this guy doing METAL CHURCH songs… Well, he did 'Start The Fire' and 'Date With Poverty', I believe. And Joe just said, 'Hey, listen to these.' And I did. And it was, like, 'Is this like an unreleased track of [late METAL CHURCH singer] David Wayne?' kind of thing. When I heard 'Start The Fire', I was, like, 'Wow, who is this?' Anyway, so that turned out to be Brian Allen, who, I didn't know at the time, was a guy I knew from Portland. I didn't know him, but we knew him from Portland when he was in a JUDAS PRIEST tribute band, and we did some shows with him back over the last 10, 15 years. So I was, like, 'Wow. I had no idea.' And he did such a great job with it, I was, like, 'Well, if we ever decide to put the band back together, there's our singer,' 'cause he can do the David Wayne and Mike Howe [late METAL CHURCH singer] stuff. And so he said, 'Great. Okay. Isn't that nice?' And it was completely unsolicited. It was Todd La Torre who told Brian to send [Joe the files]. And I'm, like, 'Okay, cool. That was quite impressive, to say the least. So a little time goes by and then Rat Pak's working with ELLEFSON-SOTO. So he put out their record, and so he's in contact with Dave Ellefson and working with him. And as that comes up, Dave offered his services: 'Oh, well, if METAL CHURCH ever wants to get back together. I'd love to be involved. I'd love to play bass.' … And it was, like, 'Wait, what? Wait, Dave Ellefson would wanna… Really? Okay.' Well, then it was starting to get interesting. And soon after that, or right about the same time, Jeff Plate said, 'Well, yeah, if you ever wanna do that, yeah, I'd love to get re-involved again. Sure. That'd be great.' I'm, like, 'Okay. Again, here I am saying this is the final tour. We're not doing anything, the farewell tour or whatever.' … So long story endless, suddenly there's Brian Allen, the singer, which would be the most important part of that. Then Dave bringing a certain credibility to it. And then Jeff coming back. I was, like, 'Okay.' So I kind of started putting some songs together, songs started happening. But then the SAVATAGE thing took off, which I couldn't be happier for [Jeff] and all of those guys… So [Jeff] couldn't continue [with METAL CHURCH]. Lo and behold, Ken Mary, an old friend of ours from Seattle, who is a transplant down here as well, reaches out to me for some other complete other reason, and I'm, like, 'Are you still in FLOTSAM?' He goes, 'Yeah, yeah. But we don't work on all that much.' 'Hey, well, [I'm] kind of thinking about maybe seeing if I… I kind of started putting METAL CHURCH back together, but Jeff is really busy with the SAVATAGE reunion.' And he's, like, 'Yeah. Oh, I'd love to do that.' I'm, like, 'Okay.' So it was kind of a no-brainer at that point. So there you have it."

Kurdt went on to say that the first two songs that were released from METAL CHURCH's upcoming "Dead To Rights" album, "Brainwash Game" and "F.A.F.O.", were "getting a great response, and people seem to like" it. "But it's a really good bunch of guys [we have in the band now]," he explained. "And again, I had no intention of doing it. And so we made a record. We're really happy with the record. And so I guess we're back at it. It was kind of unplanned. It was resurrected by itself. So, yeah, I'm really happy. I'm still a little bit surprised of how it came together 'cause it wasn't on my radar. So that's basically, a very Reader's Digest, condensed version of how it happened. But that's basically it. And I know a lot of people, they want a lot of the dirt and stuff like that, and a couple of the other guys like to talk smack about what happened. Whatever. That's fine. I'm gonna keep to my promise, and if you guys wanna [talk smack], that's on you guys. That's fine. 'Cause I can't stand those Internet fights when this guy, formerly of this band, and this guy [says], 'He did this' and 'he did that'. I'm not doing that. No, I'm not doing that. If they have an issue, that's fine. They have their opinion, I have mine. But I'm not airing my stuff in public."

"Dead To Rights" will be released on April 10 via Rat Pak Records. The LP was produced by Vanderhoof and mixed and mastered by Chris "Zeuss" Harris at Planet Z.

METAL CHURCH plans to hit the road extensively this year on the "Dead To Rights" tour.

METAL CHURCH made its live debut with Lopes on June 3, 2023 at the Legions Of Metal festival at Reggies in Chicago, Illinois.

This past January, Lopes described METAL CHURCH as "a shit show" and blasted Vanderhoof over the way the band's recent lineup changes were handled. He went on to say that Kurdt had "no integrity" and accused the guitarist of displaying "cowardice" by "not confronting any of the issues, whether good or bad." He added that he had "to find out everything on the Internet" about what was actually going on with METAL CHURCH. "That was the ultimate 'fuck you'. And that does not bide well with me personally, which will be addressed in another time," he added.

Stet, an in-demand metal drummer who has also pounded the skins for W.A.S.P., BLACKFOOT and Lita Ford, briefly addressed his eight-year stint with METAL CHURCH in a social media post. He wrote in part: "After seeing recent [METAL CHURCH] interviews, Marc's statement, and Kurdt's response. There's clearly MANY things that need to be said. But in short, Marc was 100% accurate. Tho[ugh] he barely shared the tip of the iceberg of the bullshit, and he was much more kind than I'm going to be. There's truths that need to be told and facts that need to be shared. I'll be as kind as I can, but I'll be dissecting and explaining a shitshow."

Stet later opened up about his departure from METAL CHURCH in more detail, writing in a social media post in part: "[Kurdt is a] great riff writer, good hearted guy, total business disaster… And honestly, as amazing as the music was, business wise the whole thing was kind of a clown show behind the scenes. Not an ounce of good sense in play when I joined. I had to literally rebuild the entire business model. And now, with nobody to handle things, I can't wait to watch all this unfold. On the upside, there's lots of amazing talent in the new lineup. New stuff sounds great to me. Ken and Brian did a fantastic job, always loved Ken's work.

"I've always been a fan of the music, I wholeheartedly support these guys perpetuating the brand. And as disgusted as I am with the way things were handled business-wise.

"I've said this before. METAL CHURCH is about the music, not the faces. The faces will continue to change, that I assure you.

"I'm sad to say that the honor and integrity of the band was buried with Mike Howe. What remains today, now matter how wonderful it looks from the outside, is a rudderless mess."