Metal Church is the self-titled debut album of the heavy metal bandofthesamename. Thealbumwasoriginallyreleased independently in1984.Basedonthesuccess ofthealbum,the bandwassignedtoarecordingcontractbyElektra,whoreissued MetalChurchin1985. ThecoverartdepictsacruciformGibson Explorer hidden in shadows and smoke. Some of their most notablesongsaretheopener“BeyondTheBlack”,theirtitletrack, the instrumental “Merciless Onslaught”, “Gods Of Wrath” (which is differentfromall theothersongs, as ithadcleanvocals,clean rhythms, and fluent solos) and the Deep Purple cover “Highway Star”. ThealbumisproducedbyMetalChurchand TerryDate (Pantera, Slayer, Prong).