Metal Church announced in May the return of legendary frontman, Mike Howe, who first took the place of original singer David Wayne in the mid-'80s. A new, updated version of “Badlands” titled “Badlands 2015” is now streaming. The track was mixed by Chris “The Wizard” Collier and was recorded this month.

The song features Mike Howe on vocals, Kurdt Vanderhoof on guitar, Jeff Plate on drums, Steve Unger on bass, and Rick Van Zandt on lead guitar. A new album is due for release this fall on Rat Pak Records.

In the summer of 2014 Metal Church suddenly found themselves in need of a new singer. As fate would have it, guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof was already in talks with Mike for another project that he was working on with Saxon drummer Nigel Glockler, so he decided to ask Mike to rejoin Metal Church. Mike agreed, but true to form, didn’t want to make it official until he knew for sure that the integrity of the new material was there.

In Mike’s own words, "I didn't want to come back to Metal Church just for nostalgia, it had to be for the right reasons, it had to be the best stuff we’ve ever written together or it just wouldn't be worth it to anyone, especially the fans.”

Soon after, Kurdt and Mike began exchanging ideas and writing new material with the band. The end result sounds like “classic Mike Howe-era Metal Church, it’s both heavy and melodic”, says Vanderhoof, who further states, “Mike sounds the same as he did 20 years ago, this is going to be truly epic!!”

Drummer Jeff Plate comments, “Mike Howe is the ONLY singer for Metal Church. He has a reputation of complete honour and respect. We can now take Metal Church to the next level!”

Mike Howe originally joined Metal Church in the late 80s and released three albums with the band: The Human Factor, Blessing In Disguise and Hanging In The Balance. Mike was also the face of popular music videos “Date With Poverty” and “Badlands” that aired during MTV’s heyday.