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THE ARCHIVES
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Morrigan's Pit has closed down as of November 2006. The site and its articles will stay online as an archive until September at least, but probably longer.
The Archives
2002-2006
» CD REVIEWS
» INTERVIEWS
» LIVE REVIEWS
» SPECIALS
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METAL CHURCH - AFTER ALL - PERZONAL WAR
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Plato, Helmond (NL)
June 3rd 2005
http://www.metalchurch.com
http://www.afterall.be
http://www.perzonalwar.de
The turnout for this gig wasn't very high and we could only speculate why. Lack of promotion? The Megadeth gig in Amsterdam? People already on their way to the Waldrock festival in the north of Holland? The bands deserved better, but when Metal Church played the crowd sure went crazy enough! Since I had recently hurt my back a little bit, I didn't risk standing around the whole evening and spend some of the time sitting down in the bar, not able to see the complete gigs of the support acts.
Especially with PERZONAL WAR I regretted this, I really like this band. Their Metallica influences have become less prominent and they're creating their own style more and more, as you can hear on their latest CD "Faces". I only wrote two titles down, the powerful "Born" from "Different But The Same" and the single "My Secret" from "Faces", I'm not sure anymore what else they played, sorry. A very tight band, but unfortunately the audience that was present so far, didn't warm up a whole lot to them, so that was a little frustrating. Metti and his gang kept trying though and didn't let it interfere with their own enthusiasm.
Second act AFTER ALL deserved better as well, these Belgians have been touring regularly and have also become a strong, tight and lively thrash act. Piet Focroul has become a good frontman and guitarists Dries Van Damme and Christophe Dupree stole the show as well. Despite the still not so willing small audience, they put up a good and dedicated show. Again I didn't see all of it and the only songs I wrote down were "Maze Of Being" from "The Vermin Breed" and the older song "Selfdestruct" from "Transcendent". The people still held back, but I heard several satisfied and positive comments from visitors afterwards.
And then it was time for the metal legends METAL CHURCH! It became clear who everybody was here for, because suddenly they all moved forward and became a (quote Ronny Munroe) "small but crazy" crowd! We already saw them blow everyone away at last year's Rock Hard festival, so we knew what was coming at us. Malice-guitarist Jay Reynolds and bassist Steve Unger fit perfectly in this band (featuring old members Kirk Arrington on drums and of course Kurdt Vanderhoof on guitars) - Ronny Munroe's amazing vocals and performance are a great addition as well. He has his own sound, but gives the old songs their original feel, no David Wayne fan will be disappointed! Munroe convinced everyone I'm sure, he's just phenomenal!! I held back in the beginning (because of my back), but couldn't hold out much longer and when "Watch The Children Pray" started I just had to rush to the front to headbang (luckily that went very well)! Nico was also spinning his long, thick, grey hair around in the front row :)
The setlist contained the same songs as we had heard in Gelsenkirchen last year, plus three more songs (one new, one old and one Mike Howe song this time ("Date With Poverty")! "Watch The Children Pray" was dedicated to the recently deceased David Wayne, RIP. Towards the end of the show, I (jokingly of course) started to shout for "Gods Of Thunder", my favorite Malice song, but even though they did play a cover tune for the encore, it was "Highway Star"!
After the show the guys came in the bar to meet the fans and that was a lot of fun, you can see our off-stage shots HERE. A perfect ending of an awesome show that made a lot of people very happy!
setlist Metal Church:
Ton Of Bricks
Start The Fire
Leave Them Behind
Watch The Children Pray
Battalions
The Dark
Cradle To Grave
Date With Poverty
Madman's Overture
Gods Of Wrath
Beyond The Black
Metal Church
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Highway Star
submitted by Marlies 12.06.2005
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