Metal Church

Metal Church is the self-titled debut from the American heavy metal band, released in 1984. It first appeared on the independent label Ground Zero, and its success was enough to bring the band a recording contract with Elektra Records, who reissued it in 1985. The sleeve is worth a look in itself: a cruciform Gibson Explorer half-hidden in shadow and smoke.

For anyone tracing the group's story, this is where it all begins, the first of a run of studio albums that stretches from here through The Dark in 1986 and on into the 2020s. The record sits across heavy metal, speed metal and thrash metal, which makes it a good place to hear the genres still overlapping before they settled into separate camps. It's an essential first stop for anyone exploring the band's catalogue.