This Present Wasteland

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
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 sold about 920 copies in the U.S. 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	6.0/10[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
• Kurdt Vanderhoof - guitar, Mellotron, synthesizer, producer, engineer, mixing
• Rick Van Zandt - guitar
• 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

1. Henderson, Alex. "Metal Church - This Present Wasteland review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
2. "Metal Church: New Album Track Listing, Release Date Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 19 June 2008. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
3. "Metal Church: 'This Present Wasteland' First-Week Sales Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
4. "Video: Reunited Metal Church Performs On '70000 Tons Of Metal' - Feb. 3, 2013". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
5. "Metal Church - This Present Wasteland". Metal Storm. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
6. Jaschinski, Björn Thorsten (2008). "Review Album: Metal Church - This Present wasteland". Rock Hard (in German). No. 257. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
7. Carman, Keith (22 September 2008). "Metal Church - This Present Wasteland". Exclaim!. Retrieved 2017-09-21.