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Rat Pak Records Set to release Hall Aflame “Amplifire” Featuring Kurdt Vanderhoof

Posted in classic rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Music, music news with tags , , , , , on April 7, 2024 by Metal Odyssey

From Rat Pak Records:

Hall Aflame, the rock band which features Metal Church founding guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, will release their long-awaited sophomore album “Amplifire” on May 3, 2024 via Rat Pak Records. Originally formed in 1989, the band garnered commercial success with their debut album “Guaranteed Forever”, which was well received by fans and industry peers alike and quickly found themselves opening for ZZ Top on their 1991 “Recycler” tour for a number of dates. As with many bands from that era, facing a decline in interest for AOR rock due to the onslaught of the “grunge” scene, the band went on a lengthy hiatus and reunited again in late 2023 to begin working on a handful of songs. 

Amplifier offers 12 new studio tracks and reunites Kurdt with original bassist Brian Smith, along with drummer Bill Raymond and front-man Scott Nutter. Regarding the album, Kurdt Vanderhoof comments, “This album came about as a project to document all the songs that we had written for the second album that never came to be. We revisited the songs and realized they had to be recorded properly. Then it blossomed into something much better than we had even hoped! So that led us into reforming the band instead of just having it be a project.”

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER

Bassist Brian Smith adds, “I think anyone that is a fan of “Guaranteed Forever” will see this record as a new and improved “Part II” of Hall Aflame. Great songs, great production and we had a ton of fun putting this together!” Scott Nutter adds, “A good hard rock album should lift you, make you want to sing along and rock out! That’s what this album does for me!”

From the driving album opener “Helltown” to the powerhouse outro track “Keeping Them All Away”, Hall Aflame shines with their signature brand of rock-n-roll. Tracks like “Ripcord”, “In The Same Gutter”, “It Ain’t Enough” and “Gunnin’” are filled with memorable hooks and melodies, while songs like “Pullin Me Apart” and “1974” showcase their unique, classic rock songwriting abilities. With influences that range from Bad Company to Thin Lizzy, “Amplifire” is best described as the perfect blend of classic rock with a modern-day edge!

Track listing:
01 Helltown
02 Ripcord
03 1974
04 This Ain’t Love
05 The Same Gutter
06 It Ain’t Enough
07 Gunnin’
08 Pullin’ Me Apart
09 Long Way Down
10 Keeping Them All Away
11 Cowboy (bonus track) [CD & Digital]
12 Paradise on Ice (bonus track) [CD & Digital]

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER

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Metal Church – Heavy Metal to the core

Posted in 1980's heavy metal music, 1990's heavy metal music, Album Review, classic rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, heavy metal album review, heavy metal albums, heavy metal guitarists, heavy metal music, Heavy Metal Reviews, heavy metal vocalists, Metal, Metal Church, metal music, Metal Reviews, rainbow heavy metal band, rock music with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 13, 2009 by Metal Odyssey

I have a long list of Metal bands that I simply cannot get enough of. Metal Church is on this list. Actually, Metal Church is at the very top of this list. The reasons are many: the musicianship (first & foremost), the lead vocalists throughout this bands career  (the late David Wayne), Mike Howe and current lead vocalist Ronny Munroe. The music of Metal Church has always been heavy, they have never tried to sign on to the flavor of the month when it comes to Heavy Metal. Metal Church has always been as great of a representation of Heavy Metal music, as you can possibly get. (In my Metal opinion). I will say this now, Ronny Munroe for me, is what I consider the most underrated lead singer in all of Heavy Metal music today. I definitely feel Ronny is a Heavy Metal flashback, old school if you will. That is a compliment, for Ronny does not over reach vocally nor does he try to. Ronny Munroe is the only lead vocalist today, that reminds me of the legendary Ronnie James Dio. Sometimes comparisons are cool, especially when you get compared to DIO. *Ronny Munroe has his brand new solo album out now titled “The Fire Within”… with Kurdt Vanderhoof and Ronny producing it. Ronny does a cover of the Rainbow – Ronnie James Dio classic – “Man On The Silver Mountain” – I ordered my copy today, man, I cannot wait to get it. Michael Wilton from Queensryche and Rick Van Zandt from Metal Church both play guitar on Ronny’s solo album too. 

Kurdt Vanderhoof, the founder, guitarist and leader of Metal Church, along with all the musicians that have been part of Metal Church, both past and present, have proven to me that perseverance with musical integrity can bring about incredible Metal music. The proof of this belief are the catalog of albums from Metal Church. Plus, Kurdt Vanderhoof has a pretty darn good side project of a band called Presto Ballet as well. (I will save Presto Ballet for another future post). Going back to October 27th of 2008, a statement on the Metal Church website informed fans that Kurdt Vanderhoof was going to correct/rehabilitate bulging discs in his lower back. The statement went on to say this situation could take up to 6 months for Kurdt Vanderhoof. Man, I truly hope and pray that Kurdt Vanderhoof does rid his body of all the pain these bulging discs have caused. I am hopeful that everything goes well for Kurdt. 

During this past year, (September 23, 2008), Metal Church released their new album “This Present Wasteland” – one rock solid chunk of Heavy Metal that every fan of quality Metal music should own. It is an album that I consider to be one of the very best in Heavy Metal releases from 2008. I personally feel every tune on this album is heavy and of equal worthiness. “Monster” is a great track, lyrically taking on the dark side of cyberspace addiction. My favorite tune on this album is without a doubt, “Crawling To Extinction”, this song has all the old school, Heavy Metal flare, musically happening. If you are even remotely interested in checking out what Metal Church is all about, buy any album/CD of theirs and become an instant fan. The debut album of Metal Church is heavier, faster, more of a Thrash Metal work, in my Metal opinion. Comparing one Metal Church album to another is ridiculous, based on there being 3 different lead vocalists over the years. Besides, my being a gigantic advocate for Metal Church will not allow me to nit pick any of their music they have ever created. Check out Metal Church at http://www.metalchurchmusic.com

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