Elliott Fullam of Little Punk People recently conducted a Zoom interview with singer Mike Howe of METAL CHURCH. When the chat turned to the subject of the current stay-at-home order during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mike expressed his empathy for his fellow musicians out there who are struggling due to the inability to tour. "I feel very bad for all the other musicians out there that had their tours canceled, because it's their livelihood, as you probably know," he said (see video below). "Touring is one of the main ways that bands can make money nowadays. And so without that, it's devastating, I'm sure. I feel for all my fellow musicians out there who can't make that money." When asked if he preferred touring or recording, Mike said: "Touring. But the only reason I'm touring is because I'm recording. I wouldn't tour if I couldn't record. But if I have to pick one, like you said, I guess I'd have to say touring, because then I get to meet the fans, and that's my favorite thing." METAL CHURCH's "From The Vault" collection arrived on April 10 via Rat Pak Records. This latest release is a special edition compilation album that features 14 previously unreleased songs from the Howe era, including four newly recorded studio tracks including a redux of the band's fan favorite classic "Conductor", The remaining tracks are compiled from various recordings in the band's history and include five tracks from 2018's "Damned If You Do" recording sessions, three cover songs and two live tracks, "Agent Green" and "Anthem To The Estranged", which was recorded at the famous Club Citta, Kawasaki, Japan on the "Damned If You Do" world tour. Tracks 1 through 4 were mixed and mastered by Chris "The Wizard" Collier (KXM, WHITESNAKE, PRONG, KORN) and tracks 5 through 14 were mixed and mastered by guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof. Howe, who fronted METAL CHURCH from 1988 until 1994, officially rejoined the band in April 2015. In the summer of 2014, METAL CHURCH suddenly found themselves in need of a new singer. As fate would have it, Vanderhoof was already in talks with Mike for another project that he was working on with SAXON drummer Nigel Glockler, so he decided to ask Mike to rejoin METAL CHURCH. Mike agreed, but true to form, didn't want to make it official until he knew for sure that the integrity of the new material was there.
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