Review Summary: Ultimately a pretty good Metal Church album, boomerisms and all
Despite being the epitome of uncool in the grunge era (even if they were also from Seattle), Metal Church entered the nineties with well-oiled precision on 1991’s The Human Factor. The production has an in-your-face clarity compared to their eighties outings, giving the guitars a sharp edge that plays well with the driving rhythms. Vocalist Mike Howe is also securely integrated into the band at this point, having honed his signature melodic bark with some of his most commanding rapid fire deliveries.
The songwriting is also rife with anthemic flair, featuring straightforward structures and some extra hard rock flavor. Lead single “Date With Poverty” is an especially noteworthy bid for accessibility, featuring a catchy bounce accentuated by an infectious set of hooks and one-liners. Things can often sound closer to what bands like Skid Row or W.A.S.P. were doing around the time, but speedy tracks like “In Due Time” and “Flee From Reality” show that the band are still just a hop away from their power-thrash roots.
But with that said, the lyrics end up being the biggest point of attention for me when it comes to The Human Factor. Talking about social issues and politics has been standard procedure in thrash then and now, and the band had certainly dabbled in such themes before on songs like “Line of Death” or “Cannot Tell a Lie.” However, their execution has never been this blunt to the point that it can come off as preachy at times. It’s not necessarily a dealbreaker but it can certainly be a mixed bag.
This is noticeable right off the bat with the opening title track’s cynical tirades against sampling and other music industry shortcuts. The sentiments hold true to the band’s unwavering integrity and are arguably even more relevant nowadays in the wake of AI. However, it comes off as somewhat tone deaf in the original context and gets even sillier if you dig up the collaborative pseudo-cover of “Iron Man” that they’d done with Sir Mix-A-Lot just a couple years prior. “The Final Word” hits peak preachiness with a ‘love it or leave it’ attitude centered around an anti-flag burning message that seemingly predicts the sort of songs that Jon Schaffer would throw together over a decade later. Fortunately, the themes of child abuse on “In Mourning” and “In Harm’s Way” still resonate with pain and urgency.
Even with those hindsight moments that threaten to give way to full-blown boomer metal, The Human Factor is ultimately a pretty good Metal Church album. The pacing doesn’t quite hit the ferocity of those early works nor the graces of their other installments in the Howe-era, but the band’s musicianship is powerful and matched by some of their most impactful tracks to date. It may have showed them getting to be out of step in the contemporary climate, but it also affirmed who they were and paved the way for much of their endurance in the years since.
