#mark dodson

The link above is the obit from Entertainment Weekly.

Wanted to share a story of his getting paid a full days work from Warner Brothers for the French release of Gremlins.

The Dark was initially seen as a great leap forward for Metal Church, and many diehards still cite it as a fan favorite.  But in hindsight their second album was a tentative bridge between their debut and the more polished heavy metal of the Mike Howe years, leveraging their major label deal to up their recording budget and sand down some of the rough edges and frenzy.  That said, something like “Over My Dead Body” was every bit as antisocial as one would’ve expected from Metal Church up to that point, even if Mark Dodson’s production smoothed things out a bit.  David Wayne simultaneously snarled and wailed over Kurdt Vanderhoof and Craig Wells’ chugging riffs, and there was a certain cantankerous charm to the whole affair driven in large part by Wayne’s idiosyncratic vocals.  At the same time, this era of Metal Church didn’t always sound fully confident in their approach, as The Dark sometimes felt like it was trying to satisfy multiple masters.  Nonetheless, the years with David Wayne at the helm gave the band the underground cred and momentum to steadily up their game, which they proceeded to do on their next couple records even though many of the circumstances had changed.

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There were many reasons why The Human Factor was Metal Church’s defining statement: Mark Dodson’s production was fully locked in to the aggression and precision of the band’s performance, Mike Howe was a fierce and commanding presence on the mic, and arguably most of all the writing was sharp and focused.  Part of that involved Kurdt Vanderhoof finally learning to edit a bit: where previous albums (especially Blessing in Disguise) got bogged down with pointlessly lengthy instrumental freakouts, this time the songs were kept to mostly manageable length.  So even though “The Final Word” could’ve probably still used a little trimming, it made its point without overstaying its welcome. As usual, Howe was the ace in the hole, yelping and cajoling over a trad metal brew that, while not groundbreaking in itself, was remarkably well executed- Craig Wells and Kirk Arrington were underrated players that were vital in making Metal Church what it was. “The Final Word” wasn’t an immediate grabber like “Date with Poverty” or “Human Factor”, but it was a crucial part of The Human Factor’s backbone, and helped make that album one of the great unsung metal gems of the ‘90s.