Former METAL CHURCH vocalist Marc Lopes has spoken at length about the circumstances surrounding his exit from the veteran metal outfit, revealing frustration over a prolonged lack of communication and learning about the band’s new lineup online.
Lopes addressed the situation during a recent appearance on The Big Truth Podcast, reflecting on his brief but intense tenure with METAL CHURCH, which culminated in the release of 2023’s Congregation Of Annihilation. The album marked the band’s first release following the tragic death of longtime singer Mike Howe in July 2021 and featured Lopes alongside founding guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, guitarist Rick Van Zandt, bassist Steve Unger, and drummer Stet Howland.
Last November, METAL CHURCH announced a revamped lineup featuring Vanderhoof and Van Zandt alongside bassist David Ellefson (MEGADETH), drummer Ken Mary (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, FIFTH ANGEL, ALICE COOPER, HOUSE OF LORDS, TKO, CHASTAIN), and new vocalist Brian Allen (VICIOUS RUMORS). The announcement came nearly two years after the band scrapped its 2024 touring plans due to Vanderhoof’s ongoing back issues.
Looking back on the period leading up to his departure, Lopes explained that much of 2025 was marked by uncertainty.
“For most of 2025 nobody knew what was going on with METAL CHURCH,” he said.”
He elaborated on the fallout following the canceled tour dates and the silence that followed: “When METAL CHURCH canceled the tour in 2024, there was a lot of things going on behind the scenes that we didn’t make public, obviously. People get mad, people have disagreements, and we kind of just let things lay for where they were in hopes that maybe we could have a conversation, like adults should. If there’s a disagreement, resolve it one way or the other, whether it’s yes or no, or whatever the case may be. But there was no communication for that whole time. And I did a lot of interviews and a lot of people would always ask [about METAL CHURCH‘s status], and when I said I didn’t know it was, it was the truth — I did not know.
According to Lopes, the lack of transparency took a personal toll: “The last thing that I had heard… I kind of gotta be honest and be 100% honest, there was definitely some half truths to what was going on, and I went along with it only because I didn’t feel… I still felt that there needed to be conversations before anything could be said. So, I had a lot of… I definitely wasn’t a happy person. [Laughs] So, personally, I had to deal with a lot of inner demons when it comes to that stuff, because I worked so hard, and to just not get any kind of respect of an answer for anything, no matter what it was after the amount of work that I put into that band, that didn’t go over too well with me for a long time. So, that was always in the back of my mind. I wish it wouldn’t have overtaken me as much as it did, but my passion for what I do is so intense, that’s the part that bothered me. Financially, that sucked too, but [I knew I would be able to] make it up in other ways. So it really wasn’t that.”
The breaking point, Lopes said, came when he discovered the band’s future plans through the internet rather than direct communication: “In a nutshell, now we’ve come out to where we are now, it’s basically no integrity. The cowardice of not confronting any of the issues, whether good or bad, it didn’t matter, in my book, that doesn’t work… That doesn’t fly. If there’s an issue, no matter what it is, either you freaking take it out in the school yard, so to say, or you have that discussion and each person goes ‘f**k you’ and that’s the end of it. But when that doesn’t even happen, that’s a tough nail to bite. And then, obviously, the conclusion of it is to find out everything on the Internet. That was the ultimate ‘f**k you’. And that does not bide well with me personally, which will be addressed in another time. [Laughs]”
Despite the turmoil, Lopes noted that continuing to work with Ross The Boss helped him push through a difficult period: “Thankfully, I was still able to play and do stuff with ROSS [THE BOSS], which I’m eternally grateful for, and it was awesome. But, yeah, it definitely was a rough year coming off the tail end of that. And then, obviously, towards the end of the year when all that other stuff came out, I definitely wouldn’t say I would wanna be in the same room as me. But we got through it and it’s all cool.”
When asked whether there was any possibility of future involvement with METAL CHURCH, Lopes made it clear that the door is firmly closed” ”Oh, no, dude. They announced a whole new lineup, new single, new album. Oh, yeah. That’s all done. They totally bamboozled us. And, yeah, it’s pretty, pretty disgusting what happened.”
Addressing criticism from fans online, Lopes pushed back strongly against claims that he was playing the victim.
“It’s kind of funny,” Lopes said. “Obviously, somebody always likes to tag you on something [on social media] and I saw one comment that made me f**king laugh. They’re, like, ‘Oh, he knew, and he’s just playing victim.’ I’m, like, ‘Listen, motherf**ker, you have no f**king idea, ’cause you’re not in it. You’re not involved in it. And I can tell you right now, right f**king right here, I’m not playing victim.’ F**king victim of what? That whole thing was a s**t show from day one, if you wanna know the truth. But to not have conversations and get totally slighted like that, especially in public, and then saying that we quit?! Nobody f**king quit. Nobody was fired. You just threw it under the table. ‘They’re not gonna [notice]. No one’s gonna notice.’ [Laughs] And you know what? Honestly, that’s the only thing that bothered me. You think that you are working with people that are supposed to be comrades, you’re with them on tour day to day, and then they just totally blow you off and disregard, like not even having a conversation to even say, ‘Hey, look, you know what?! We’re gonna go in another direction,’ or, ‘We don’t agree with this or what that was.’ But not to have that?”
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