[1] Led by guitarist and songwriter Kurdt Vanderhoof, the band has released thirteen studio albums and is considered to be an integral part of the then-emerging Seattle heavy metal music scene of the 1980s.

Metal Church has had a revolving lineup of vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers throughout its 45-year career, and Vanderhoof remains the group's sole consistent creative force, despite reducing his role strictly to composition in 1986 after tiring of performing live.

The "classic" lineup of Vanderhoof, vocalist David Wayne, guitarist Craig Wells, bassist Duke Erickson, and drummer Kirk Arrington recorded the band's first two studio albums, Metal Church (1984) and their major breakthrough The Dark (1986).

Metal Church resurfaced in 2003, with Ronny Munroe replacing Wayne, and the band underwent a few lineup changes within the next six years, leaving Vanderhoof as the only remaining original member.

Following Munroe's departure in the fall of 2014, Metal Church considered disbanding for the third time before Howe was rehired in April 2015 as their lead singer.

[13] The three-song, instrumental Red Skies demo, was released in 1981, and featured Vanderhoof, guitarist Rick Condrin, bassist Steve Hott, and drummer Aaron Zimpel.

Vanderhoof returned to his hometown of Aberdeen in 1981 and began the new group Shrapnel with Craig Wells, Duke Erickson, drummer Tom Weber, and vocalist Mike Murphy.

In 1984, Metal Church released its self-titled debut album, which included three songs from the Four Hymns demo and a cover version of Deep Purple's "Highway Star".

[14] By the time Metal Church released their second studio album, The Dark, in October 1986, they were touring with high-profile acts including Metallica.

The Dark was a commercial success, helped by the fact that the band's first music video, "Watch the Children Pray", received frequent airplay on MTV.

[15] Shortly after the album's release, however, they were plagued by lineup changes: Vanderhoof ceased performing live with the group in 1986, to be replaced briefly by Mark Baker and more permanently by former Metallica roadie John Marshall.

[16] Blessing in Disguise was even more successful than its predecessors, peaking at number 75 on the Billboard 200; this was Metal Church's highest chart position, until it was surpassed 27 years later by XI.

After spending much of 1989 and 1990 touring heavily behind Blessing in Disguise (performing with numerous bands such as Metallica, W.A.S.P., Accept, Annihilator, Saxon, Meliah Rage, Forced Entry and D.B.C.

Critics applauded the group for transitioning to a major label and successfully retaining the vitality of their sound,[20] while also releasing a record with conceptual accessibility beyond the heavy metal genre.

After touring almost non-stop in support of that album for about two years, Metal Church officially disbanded for the first time in 1996,[8] citing management problems and poor record sales as factors.

During the production of Live, Wayne, Vanderhoof, Wells, Arrington, and Erickson decided to reform the band and began work on a new studio album.

Critics responded positively, hailing it as a focused product that increased the energy over previous releases, despite it ultimately failing to break new ground.

[26] Arrington and Erickson were unable to tour behind the album, so the band enlisted members of Vanderhoof's side projects, bassist Brian Lake and drummer Jeff Wade, for live performances later that year.

[14] He departed from the band once again in June 2001, due to personal and creative differences, forming the group Wayne with Wells and releasing the curiously titled debut album Metal Church thereafter.

In 2003, he and Arrington recruited singer Ronny Munroe, former Malice guitarist Jay Reynolds, and bassist Steve Unger to form a new lineup of Metal Church.

[28] On May 10, 2005, former Metal Church singer David Wayne died of complications from injuries sustained in a car accident that occurred months before.

[29] Later that year, the band released their eighth studio album, A Light in the Dark, which featured a re-recording of "Watch the Children Pray" as a tribute to Wayne.

In October 2012, the band announced resumption of activity around a lineup featuring Vanderhoof, Munroe, Unger, Reynolds (soon replaced by Van Zandt), and Plate.

[37] On April 30, 2015, Metal Church announced on their Facebook page that former singer Mike Howe had rejoined the band, nearly two decades after his first departure.

He said Ronny [Munroe] left the band and he didn't really wanna carry on with Metal Church unless maybe I would consider coming back.

So Kurdt went back to the studio and started writing songs in the vein of Hanging in the Balance, where we left off twenty years ago, and he sent them to me over the Internet.

[48] In a May 2017 interview, Vanderhoof stated that Metal Church had begun writing and demoing their twelfth studio album, which was tentatively due for release in early 2018.

[51] In support of Damned If You Do, Metal Church co-headlined a North American tour with Doro in April–May 2019,[52] and performed at Megadeth's first-ever Megacruise that October.

[58] In October 2021, after announcing the return of his short-lived early 1990s band Hall Aflame, Vanderhoof hinted on his Facebook page that Metal Church would continue on with a yet-to-be-revealed replacement for Howe.

[62] In a September 2022 interview with Metal Rules, Vanderhoof revealed that the band had found a replacement in Howe, but added that they were "keeping a lid" on the identity of their new singer "for the time being."