Single Slam – Out of Balance by Metal Church (Damned If You Do)

American thrash metallers, Metal Church, have released a brand new single called Out of Balance. The new song will feature on the band’s upcoming album, Damned If You Do which will be released on the 7th of December via Nuclear Blast.

Damned If You Do will be the veteran metallers 12th release and follows 2016’s album, XI. XI was the first album to feature iconic vocalist Mike Howe again. He had originally been in Metal Church in the late 80’s and early 90’s before they disbanded. Damned If You Do will be his 2nd album since returning and his 5th overall.

Alongside Mike Howe, is original founding member Kurdt Vanderhoof and Rick Van Zandt on guitars. On bass and backing vocals it’s Steve Unger and finally, on drums it’s Stet Howland. Stet joined in 2017, replacing Jeff Plate.

Speaking about Out of Balance, guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof states: “The song is about finding your place in your life and making peace with it. Realising that your life is a series of choices and at the end of the day being able to accept that fact. I feel this album is a very powerful statement to what Metal Church has always been about. A tough and aggressive old-school metal album while maintaining a level of musicality and melodic sensibilities.”

Out of Balance is 4 and a half minutes long and is fast and catchy affair that brings you on a trip down memory lane. There is a decent riff to start the track off. Nothing mind blowing, but decent. The drums join in, banging out a steady beat as instruments are layered up. Howe’s high pitched vocals jump in and take over the song. They sound fine but a little restrained, but with a little growl to them. The chorus is pretty catchy though the lyrics are pretty tame seeing “Out of Balance” repeated a couple times after each line. It’s fine, just not fresh or inspirational. I do like how the guitar line and vocals match each other though.

The second verse and chorus are repeats of the first lot before we head into a pretty decent solo. It is split into two sections with the 2nd part being the bit I like the best. The guitars basically match the tune of the chorus and you get quite a bit of harmonising too. Something I am a huge fan of. When the solo goes we jump back into the chorus again, for a few repeats until the end.

Out of Balance is a decent enough track. There is a really good solo, a catchy chorus and a strong enough main riff. The vocals are fine though the lyrics, especially in the chorus, are just about okay. Nothing to inspirational or mind blowingly fresh about them. That is probably the issue with most of the song really. It is just about as stereotypical a song as you are gonna get. In regards to new ideas, creativity or the like, there is very little here. It is just a pretty decent little retro thrash song.

Youi can watch the video for Out of Balance on Nuclear Blast’s YouTube channel, here. The single is out now on all the usual streaming platforms. You can preorder a copy of Damned If You Do from Nuclear Blast, here. Keep up to date on Metal Church news at the band’s website, Facebook and Twitter.