METAL CHURCH's KURDT VANDERHOOF Says He 'Hates' Black Metal: 'It's Garbage To Me'

September 1, 2023

In a new interview with Ruben Mosqueda of We Go To 11, METAL CHURCH guitarist and founding member Kurdt Vanderhoof spoke about his disdain for a lot of the newer extreme metal bands, particularly groups of the "darker metal" variety. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I hate it. I hate that black metal, Satanic, screamo stuff. It's garbage to me… I don't like black metal. I don't like any of that kind of stuff. I like the stuff that I initially liked. The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal stuff — I love that stuff. I don't listen to the new Satanic stuff at all."

When Mosqueda brought up British black metal pioneers VENOM as a band that had Satanic lyrics but that was "almost cartoony" in its delivery, Kurdt said: "They were awful. But they were funny. They made you laugh. You listen to the lyrics and you're, like, 'Yeah, right.' … It's not my bag — never has been."

METAL CHURCH made its live debut with the band's new vocalist Marc Lopes (ROSS THE BOSS, LET US PREY) 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 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.

Howe was found dead at his home in Eureka, California in July 2021. According to TMZ, Howe's official cause of death was determined to be asphyxia due to hanging. A spokesperson for the Humboldt County Sheriff's Dept. told the site authorities are calling it a suicide. He was only 55 years old.

According to police, drugs and alcohol are not believed to be factors in the death and no controlled substances or paraphernalia were located at the scene.

Howe, who fronted METAL CHURCH from 1988 until 1994, officially rejoined the band in April 2015.

Howe is not the first singer of METAL CHURCH to die. David Wayne passed away in May 2005 from complications following a car crash. He was 47 years old.

Wayne sang on METAL CHURCH's first two classic offerings (1984's "Metal Church" and 1986's "The Dark") before leaving the group and being replaced by Howe.

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