Metal Church – Congregation of Annihilation Review

Is this brick-walled, overdone record really Metal Church?

With songs that go from thrash to rock n roll, the Americans new work sounds almost like a different band. There’s a hint of the band’s 80s albums here but that’s it. Comparing to their later work, this is different but bland, and its no improvement from Damned If You Do (2018) and the superior XI (2016), both with Mike Howe (RIP) at the mic.

Newcomer Mark Lopes vocals sound amazing at first only to notice after a few tracks that he is trying too hard, overdoing every single verse in too many fillers. A shame because after the first singles, specially “Pick a God and Prey”.

Congregation of Annihilation is not a bad album, but the production and mastering is. Completely flat brickwalled, there’s no track without distortion.