Metal Church and Images of Eden Start the Fire in Fubar

The evening that Metal Church and Images of Eden came to St. Louis in support of their most recent albums, it was a busy night at my place of employment. With things getting much more hectic than anticipated, I agreed to stick around for a little longer to help out my team and miss some of the show. However, I wasn’t willing to miss too much, and after an extra hour I had to tell them it was time to duck out. That’s when I rushed over to Fubar for a well-earned night of metal.

<img src="www.thegauntlet.com/bandimages/IMG_3712.jpg"; alt=“Images of Eden photo" width="750" height="586">

Images of Eden - This York, PA-based progressive metal act was admittedly not my cup of tea with a few too many chugging moments and keyboards, but I still had to appreciate their performance. The band was very good at their style and could catch your attention with the hooks in their leads. What stood out to me the most was the optimistic words of vocalist Gordon Tittsworth. The enthusiasm he expressed in between songs about life, music, forgiveness, and touring with Metal Church really made him stand out as a frontman. Whether you liked their music or not, you had to admire his unparalleled positivity. The attitude was reflected in some of their lyrics as well. When I saw Gordon walking around the audience after their set, I told him how I felt about their performance and he appreciated the feedback.

<img src="www.thegauntlet.com/bandimages/IMG_3723.jpg"; alt=“Metal Church Photo" width="750" height="586">

Metal Church - Things got off to a rocky start, with a guitar sound that was difficult to digest because it was even fuzzier than my five o’clock shadow. Luckily, after two or three songs, things cleared up and the sound improved significantly. The band’s newer material was better than I expected, but I still didn’t feel like I immediately needed to buy the new album. “Badlands” received an incredible response from the crowd even from the first few notes, but the last few songs in the set were my favorite moments of the gig. As the audience cheered them on, vocalist Mike Howe would just close his eyes and gracefully tap his heart, embracing the love from his fans. He was less flamboyant onstage this time around, except during the first twenty seconds or so of some songs when he made a habit of jumping around with his arms stretched out. Guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof looked like he was having the time of his life throughout the show. At the very end of the set, drummer Stet Homeland even stood up on his drum kit as he was bashing his cymbals.

Although it seems the band has gone through an absurd number of personnel changes (no member has played on every single album), and it’s not the lineup I’d ideally like to see, they still put on a respectably entertaining show. A friend of mine expressed a lack of interest in the concert after witnessing the band’s last trip to St. Louis in 2016, and I felt confident going in that it wasn’t going to be my favorite show of the year, but it’s a worthwhile show any time they’re playing in your area. With the turnout being much larger than what I saw at their last show and at various other Fubar shows, it looks like they’ll be stopping by here reasonably often.

You can tell that they not only love performing for an audience, but also meeting their fans. I mentioned to Kurdt how I could tell how much they enjoyed being onstage, to which he replied, “Who says there’s no smiling in metal?” He disproved all of the naysayers, and besides, metal is the main thing people should be smiling about in the first place.

Damned If You Do
The Black Things
Badlands
Needle and Suture
Gods of Second Chance
Start the Fire
No Friend of Mine
By the Numbers
Watch the Children Pray
Beyond the Black

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Tags:  Metal Church, Images of Eden, Fubar, St. Louis, American metal

Nick Statuto    October 12, 2019