Marko Syrjala at Metal Rules recently conducted an in-depth interview with Metal Church frontman Mike Howe, discussing his return to the fold after 20 years out of the music industry, the band's new line-up and their new album, XI. An excerpt is available below.

Q: What were the most specific things that made you consider carefully before you made the final decision to return?

Mike Howe: "Just the music business in general, yeah. But we had those conversations how it’s not like that anymore, and so he basically educated me on the new form of Metal Church’s record company involved, Rat Pak Records, and what their part was in it. So all these enticed me and I said, but the main thing for me is new material. Can we write songs again that will be stand up to Metal Church name? We left it there and we took baby steps. Like I say; we’re starting over as babies, and we’re going to work our way up and make sure that we do it the way we want to do it.  It has to be enjoyable and fun doing it. I said 'Okay, I’m open minded Kurdt. Let’s see what kind of songs you can write.' So he wrote some songs and sent them to me on Dropbox. I listened to them and they were very impressive. I was like very impressed with his ability to still write amazing riffs and in having Mike Howe singing over them in mind. He wrote the songs that he knew would fit my voice and the style of my singing. So we kind of went back in a time machine to the ’90s. We’re going to pick up our song writing style from the Hanging In The Balance record and move forward from there. Like we could have back then, if it weren’t for the music business ruining it for us. That was our goal. We had some issues that we wanted to work through and we had some unfinished business, let’s say. Hanging In The Balance was a great record, but all that surrounded it kind of ruined it for us.

Q: At that time when you stopped following the music world, I remember that you said this in some old interview you also stopped listening music because you were so angry about everything that had happened. Did you really do that?

Mike Howe: "That’s right and that’s exactly why. Because I was very jaded, I was very angry and hurt by the music business itself.  It made me hate music, the business. To say that it’s very big for me, because I love music and music is a part of me and a part of my soul. Like you and everyone who’s involved in it. So to be like I have to get away from it, because it’s been hurt so bad by the music business. It was really a hard thing. So it took a while, but my love of music came back. I love all whole music; I think that there is good in every style of music if you look for it. Because it’s all a basic, rock and roll, whatever. It’s blues based. It’s just the fundamental elements of music that move people and soul in every kinds of music. There is commercial stuff that’s like, yeah. So that’s what I do and it’s an art form. So whatever resonates for me, makes me feel good and that’s what I look for in all kinds of music. For you it might be different and for that person over there it might be different, but that’s what’s great about it. Is we all can find what we love and makes us feel good inside.

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Check out BraveWords glowing review of XI at this location. A BraveWords review and gallery of their recent New York City appearance can be found here.

“No Tomorrow” video: