West Coast metal veterans METAL CHURCH have released a music video for "Dead To Rights", the title track of their thirteenth studio album, which came out in April via Rat Pak Records. Rather than a staged clip, the video is built from footage of the band's set at Alcatraz festival in Kortrijk, Belgium, this past August.
The clip is a showcase for the band's rebuilt lineup: founding guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, longtime guitarist Rick Van Zandt, bassist David Ellefson (MEGADETH), drummer Ken Mary (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, FIFTH ANGEL) and vocalist Brian Allen (VICIOUS RUMORS). This version of METAL CHURCH played its first show on May 17 at San Luis Metal Fest in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, before heading out on a North American run in July.
Ken Mary says a festival stage leaves no room for faking it: either you rise to the crowd or you don't. Alcatraz, he says, was one of those days when everything clicked, and the band wanted fans to feel what they felt up there — "Dead To Rights" was built to be played loud and live.
Vanderhoof says he knew "Dead To Rights" would be a live song as soon as he wrote it, and a field of headbanging fans in Belgium shouting it back confirmed it. He calls the video a snapshot of where METAL CHURCH is now: "heavy, hungry and having the time of our lives."
The new lineup was assembled after Vanderhoof shut the band down: the previous lineup fell apart, and a back problem forced METAL CHURCH to cancel its 2024 tour dates. Allen came to his attention through QUEENSRŸCHE singer Todd La Torre, and early demos of Allen singing METAL CHURCH classics convinced Vanderhoof to bring the band back.
Dead To Rights was produced by Vanderhoof and mixed and mastered by Chris "Zeuss" Harris at Planet Z.
Next week METAL CHURCH hit the road with ARMORED SAINT for the co-headlining "Metal Saint Tour", supported by LIVEKILL — 16 shows across the western United States and Canada, opening on November 2 at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, California, and closing on November 21 at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California. A spring 2027 leg has already been announced.
We've followed the band for a long time — back in 2004 we gave The Weight Of The World a 6/10 in our review.