METAL CHURCH Might Release Something 'Really Cool' Before March 2024 Tour: 'It'd Be A Lot Of Fun', Says MARC LOPES

On a recent episode of the "Talk Louder" podcast, hosted by veteran music journalist "Metal Dave" Glessner and lifelong hard rock/metal vocalist Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS),METAL CHURCH singer Marc Lopes spoke about the band's plans for the coming months. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "December 8th, we are playing in Santa Ana. We're doing a warmup show, and then we're going to Australia. And then we're taking January and February off, and then in March, we're gonna start the whole next year of things."

He continued: "As far as the next record, we've been talking a lot about it. I've got about a list this long of idea ideas. We might be doing something to release before the March tour for fun that's really fricking cool that we came up with on the bus a couple of weeks ago by accident. I'm, like, 'Dude.' And Kurdt's [Vanderhoof, METAL CHURCH guitarist], like, 'Dude.' And I'm, like, 'Let's do it.' [Laughs] So we might do this one fun thing. I'm gonna say, yeah, we're gonna make it happen. It's too easy not to do and it'd be a lot of fun and it'd be cool."

Asked if the 2024 tour will cover the U.S., Marc said: "It's gonna be all over. The March stuff is looking like it's gonna be a U.S., and then we'll go to Europe. And there's talk of Canada or Mexico. We're just gonna go wild. We're gonna do as much, as much, as much as possible. And probably looking like we'll go into the end of the year, go and start to do another record. The fires are hot and we're just gonna keep it burning."

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

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 current lineup is rounded out by founding guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, guitarist Rick Van Zandt, bassist Steve Unger and drummer Stet Howland.

Lopes's first studio album with METAL CHURCH, "Congregation Of Annihilation" came out on May 26 via Rat Pak Records (America) and Reaper Entertainment (Europe). The LP was produced by Vanderhoof.

When Lopes's addition to METAL CHURCH was first announced in early February, Vanderhoof wrote in a social media post: "We auditioned a handful of vocalists and while they were all great, Marc quickly became the clear choice.

"Both David Wayne and Mike Howe had a very unique, irreplaceable quality to their voices, so we were not looking for a clone of either. We wanted someone new, who could embrace the past, and also bring something fresh and exciting to the mix.

"Marc brings a very classic yet modern feel to the songs."

Image credit: Hadesmetal