The high priests of American metal are back. Twenty years after their cult album, The Dark, Metal Church are ready to present their brand-new recording, A Light In The Dark, forging a creative arch that skilfully links the band's past with the present. Ten awesome new tracks plus - as a special bonus - a new version of the classic, 'Watch The Children Pray', document the development of a band that despite all innovation has never denied its typical trademarks. "Compared to our previous albums, A Light In The Dark has purposely turned into a slightly unusual offering," band leader Kurdt Vanderhoof explains. "Metal Church 2006 have a different face compared to a few years ago, a fact we wanted to substantiate with our new songs." The current line-up consists of Kurdt Vanderhoof (guitar), Ronny Munroe (vocals), Jay Reynolds (guitars), Steve Unger (bass), and new addition Jeff Plate (drums; TSO, ex-Savatage), who met the Metal Church mastermind during his solo tour with Savatage. "Jeff is an incredibly dynamic and professional drummer," Vanderhoof points out. "He has propelled us to a musical level that surprised even ourselves." Plate has replaced Kirk Arrington, who left the group for health reasons, and proves a real stroke of luck on A Light In The Dark.

A series of songs were written and recorded in spring 2006 under Vanderhoof's direction, combining all the band's strengths. The title track and the subsequent 'Beyond All Reason' are certainly among the strongest tracks that Metal Church have produced in their career to date, immediately indicating the album's direction. Similar parameters apply to 'Pill For The Kill', a number full of energy and enthusiasm, typical for Vanderhoof & Co. Unusual, on the other hand, the song, 'Temples Of The Sea', which presents Metal Church in a surprisingly progressive style: "We've never written this kind of diverse song before," Vanderhoof offers. "The track goes through different atmospheres and will surprise the fans with its atypical arrangement. Never before have we experimented with such versatile moods." But not to worry: A Light In The Dark still sounds like a unified whole.

A number of technical difficulties had to be overcome at the studio before the complete production was ready by the end of April: a tape machine had given up the ghost, and Vanderhoof's guitar amp also packed up during the recordings, causing the mastering date to be postponed. All this couldn't deter ambitious standards: "It's almost precisely twenty years ago that we shook up the international metal scene with Metal Church and The Dark," Vanderhoof remembers. "Just the right time to bring to mind that era with a brand-new recording and the same sort of energy that we had back then, transporting our sound to the present at the same time." Metal Church's new version of the classic, 'Watch The Children Pray', is a tribute to their former vocalist David Wayne, who passed away in May 2005, and also the culmination of A Light In The Dark.

Metal Church were founded in the early Eighties in Seattle. Celebrated as outstanding talents, the band signed a recording deal in the very early stages of their career and released their debut, Metal Church in 1984, an offering praised to the skies by the press. "The band's amazing musicality is an absolute highlight in itself. This album will always be a classic of American straight-ahead heavy metal." Even more enthusiastic were the hymns of praise reaped by The Dark, out two years later, which kicked off one of the best metal releases of the decade with the breathtaking 'Ton of Bricks'. Subsequently, Metal Church underwent the first of several line-up changes. Frontman David Wayne left the group and was replaced by former Heretic vocalist, Mike Howe. Reinforced by Howe and also John Marshall (guitar), the riffs became heavier and the lyrics more ambitioned, a number of songs on Blessing In Disguise and The Human Factor dealing with burning political and social questions. The Nineties saw the Metal Church members pursue different and more personal directions. Kurdt Vanderhoof continued to work under his own name, while Arrington played at various sessions and cut an album with Sir Mix-A-Lot. 1999 came the much-noticed reunification of the original Metal Church line-up, as well as the release of the album, Masterpeace. Masterpeace marked the band's return to their classic sound and was followed by appearances at numerous festivals all over Europe. The brilliant The Weight Of The World arrived in 2004, Metal Church introducing their new vocalist Ronny Munroe to the public. Respectfully characterized by the music press as "Rob Halford meets Dio", he immediately catapulted the band to a new level in terms of vocals and content. With the exception of 'Temples Of The Sea', all lyrics on A Light In The Dark were penned by Munroe - typical metal prose that, according to Vanderhoof, has little in common with overly sinister or indeed satanic subjects. "We are and will continue to be a thoroughly positive band, which you can hear on the new songs," he clarifies - something that he is planning to prove together with his band during their European tour at the end of May.