Metal Church Proves the Fire Still Burns at The Token Lounge

Metal Church

Westland, Michigan, September 18, 2026 – Metal Church rolled into The Token Lounge on Friday night supporting their new album, Dead to Rights, with a new lineup and a set full of classics. After more than four decades, the band is still going strong.

Charlie Bonnet and the Gasholes

The night got started with Columbus, Ohio’s Charlie Bonnet and the Gasholes, who brought their kick-ass brand of Hillbilly Rock to the Token stage. Bonnet has been kicking around the music world for years, with roots that run through heavy metal, Southern rock, country and roots music. He first gained national attention with the metal band Disarray before eventually taking his music in a more Southern direction, and you can still hear pieces of both worlds in what he does with the Gasholes today.

Daktal

Michigan’s Daktal followed and kept the energy up. The four-piece plays heavy metal built on big riffs, and having shared bills with Blue Öyster Cult and Molly Hatchet, they looked right at home on a stage like this. Their motto, “Remember the Fallen!”, speaks to the brotherhood behind the band. Ypsilanti’s Life Has Taught, a metal/thrash band that has been a fixture of the local scene for more than a decade, handled direct support. Plenty of people in the room already knew them, and their heavy set left the crowd ready for the headliner.

Metal Church

Metal Church wasted no time in bringing their merciless onslaught, opening with “Ton of Bricks,” followed by “Start the Fire” and “Gods of Wrath,” leaning on the back catalog before playing the first new song, “F.A.F.O.”

New vocalist Brian Allen sounded at home from the first song, bringing power and personality to the older material without trying to copy what came before. His voice suits the heavy, aggressive sound the band is known for, and that was even clearer on the new songs, “F.A.F.O.” and later the title track, “Dead to Rights.” Both fit comfortably between songs that have been in the catalog for decades, which isn’t a given for a veteran band. Metal Church didn’t look like they were going through the motions.

Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson looked like he’d been in the band for years. He locked in with drummer Ken Mary from the start, gave the band a huge low end and added backing vocals throughout. Mary’s drumming wasn’t flashy for its own sake. He gave the songs what they needed and drove them forward.

Founder Kurdt Vanderhoof remains the heart of the band. He and lead guitarist Rick Van Zandt delivered the twin-guitar attack that has always defined the Metal Church sound, with Vanderhoof holding down the heavy rhythm parts while Van Zandt handled the leads. “Badlands,” “Date With Poverty” and “Human Factor” still hit hard.

The crowd was as good a story as the band. Longtime fans who likely bought these albums when they came out stood next to younger fans who found Metal Church decades later. When the band played “Watch the Children Pray,” people all over the room sang every word, and it happened again through “No Friend of Mine,” “Human Factor” and “Beyond the Black.” Plenty of bands can draw people who remember a record from 35 or 40 years ago. Fewer have songs that a second generation knows just as well.

After “Beyond the Black,” only one song could close the night which of course is the eponymous track “Metal Church.” The crowd gave whatever voice they had left, throwing horns until the end, the band truly feeding off the energy of the tightly packed club.

This version of Metal Church has been through plenty of changes, but the chemistry was there on Friday. The classics carried their weight, the new songs held their own, and the band sounded eager to keep moving forward.