This Present Wasteland : Reception, Track listing, Personnel Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This Present Wasteland

2008 studio album by Metal Church

This Present Wasteland

Studio album by

Metal Church

Released

September 23, 2008^[1]

Studio

The English Channel Studio (Olympia, Washington)

Genre

Heavy metal
thrash metal

Length

57:21

Label

SPV/Steamhammer

Producer

Kurdt Vanderhoof

Metal Church chronology

A Light in the Dark
(2006)

This Present Wasteland
(2008)

Generation Nothing
(2013)

This Present Wasteland is the ninth studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church. The album was released in the US on September 23, 2008, and in Europe on September 26.^[2] This is the first album to feature guitarist Rick Van Zandt.

This Present Wasteland sold about 920 copies in the US in the week following its release.^[3] This was their last album before their second breakup from July 2009 to October 2012.

The album cover was chosen from contest entries submitted on Myspace.^[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Metal Storm	7.5/10^[5]
Rock Hard	6/10^[6]

AllMusic reviewer Alex Henderson stated that, while the album was not "essential", it was "a solid and well-executed effort" by the band, singling out "Breathe Again", "Monster", "A War Never Won" and "Company of Sorrow" in particular as standout tracks on the album.^[1] Metal Storm reviewer found the album solid and "extremely pleasant but not sensational", because Metal Church did not "take any risk with this new release" and kept the songs "really simple and not original."^[5] Exclaim! reviewer Keith Carman praised Ronny Munroe's performance which he compared to Bruce Dickinson's, but found the music old-fashioned and "mired in more crooning, stock riffs and mid-tempo beats than anything truly engaging", concluding that "This Present Wasteland is a fitting moniker for a band living off nostalgia more than current ability."^[7] Rock Hard reviewer called the current line-up "only a shadow of the aggressive quintet of the past" and remarked the scarce originality of the compositions and the pessimistic mood of the album.^[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ronny Munroe and Kurdt Vanderhoof, except "Monster" by Vanderhoof

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Company of Sorrow"	6:37
2.	"The Perfect Crime"	4:37
3.	"Deeds of a Dead Soul"	8:27
4.	"Meet Your Maker"	5:35
5.	"Monster"	6:25
6.	"Crawling to Extinction"	4:11
7.	"A War Never Won"	5:33
8.	"Mass Hysteria"	4:41
9.	"Breathe Again"	5:23
10.	"Congregation"	5:52

Personnel

Metal Church

Ronny Munroe – lead vocals
Rick Van Zandt – lead guitar
Kurdt Vanderhoof – rhythm guitar, Mellotron, synthesizer, producer, engineer, mixing
Steve Unger – bass, backing vocals
Jeff Plate – drums

Guest musicians

Angus Clark – guitar solo on "Monster"
Chris Caffery – guitar solo on "Mass Hysteria"
Matt Leff – guitar solo on "Congregation"

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Henderson, Alex. "Metal Church - This Present Wasteland review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
^ "Metal Church: New Album Track Listing, Release Date Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. June 19, 2008. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
^ "Metal Church: 'This Present Wasteland' First-Week Sales Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. October 3, 2008. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
^ "Video: Reunited Metal Church Performs On '70000 Tons Of Metal' - Feb. 3, 2013". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Metal Church - This Present Wasteland". Metal Storm. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
^ ^a ^b Jaschinski, Björn Thorsten (2008). "Review Album: Metal Church - This Present wasteland". Rock Hard (in German). No. 257. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
^ Carman, Keith (September 22, 2008). "Metal Church - This Present Wasteland". Exclaim!. Retrieved September 21, 2017.