Former Metal Church drummer Stet Howland has publicly voiced his support for ex-singer Marc Lopes, saying he fully agrees with Lopes’ recent criticism of the band. Lopes had labeled Metal Church “a s**t show” and took aim at founding guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, accusing him of mishandling the band’s lineup changes.
Lopes was brought into Metal Church in the summer of 2022, stepping in after the death of longtime frontman Mike Howe in July 2021. His tenure with the group resulted in just one studio album, 2023’s Congregation Of Annihilation, which featured a lineup that also included Vanderhoof, Howland, veteran guitarist Rick Van Zandt and bassist Steve Unger.
In November of last year, Metal Church announced yet another reboot, unveiling what was described as a “revitalized” lineup. That version of the band pairs Vanderhoof and Van Zandt with former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, drummer Ken Mary and new vocalist Brian Allen. The news arrived almost two years after the band had scrapped its planned 2024 tour, citing ongoing back issues affecting Vanderhoof.
Stet briefly addressed his eight-year stint with Metal Church in a social media post yesterday, Sunday, January 11. Howland wrote in part : “I have to release a statement regarding the Metal Church situation. I know it’s overdue, I’ve just been too busy with positivity and making money to deal with negativity & drama. But after seeing recent [Metal Church] interviews, Marc‘s statement, and Kurdt‘s response. There’s clearly MANY things that need to be said. But in short, Marc was 100% accurate. Tho[ugh] he barely shared the tip of the iceberg of the bulls**t, and he was much more kind than I’m going to be. There’s truths that need to be told and facts that need to be shared. I’ll be as kind as I can, but I’ll be dissecting and explaining a s**tshow. Hang tight, you’ll see it right here very soon.”
In a recent episode of “The Big Truth Podcast,” Lopes detailed the chaotic end of his tenure with the legendary metal outfit, describing a situation rife with poor communication, hidden agendas, and a complete lack of professional courtesy.
According to Lopes, the trouble began when the band canceled their 2024 tour dates due to guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof‘s back issues. From that point on, communication effectively ceased.
“For most of 2025 nobody knew what was going on with Metal Church,” Lopes told the podcast. “When Metal Church canceled the tour in 2024, there was a lot of things going on behind the scenes that we didn’t make public, obviously. People get mad, people have disagreements, and we kind of just let things lay for where they were in hopes that maybe we could have a conversation, like adults should. If there’s a disagreement, resolve it one way or the other, whether it’s yes or no, or whatever the case may be. But there was no communication for that whole time. And I did a lot of interviews and a lot of people would always ask [about Metal Church‘s status], and when I said I didn’t know it was, it was the truth — I did not know.”
The situation reached a breaking point when the band publicly unveiled their “revitalized” roster featuring Vanderhoof, Rick Van Zandt, bassist David Ellefson, drummer Ken Mary, and new singer Brian Allen. For Lopes, discovering his replacement via social media was the ultimate betrayal.
“In a nutshell, now we’ve come out to where we are now, it’s basically no integrity. The cowardice of not confronting any of the issues, whether good or bad, it didn’t matter, in my book, that doesn’t work… That doesn’t fly. If there’s an issue, no matter what it is, either you freaking take it out in the school yard, so to say, or you have that discussion and each person goes ‘f**k you’ and that’s the end of it. But when that doesn’t even happen, that’s a tough nail to bite. And then, obviously, the conclusion of it is to find out everything on the Internet. That was the ultimate ‘f**k you’. And that does not bide well with me personally, which will be addressed in another time. [Laughs]”
When asked if there was any chance of reconciliation or further movement with the band, Lopes shut down the idea immediately, labeling the entire ordeal as deceptive.
“Oh, no, dude. They announced a whole new lineup, new single, new album. Oh, yeah. That’s all done. They totally bamboozled us. And, yeah, it’s pretty, pretty disgusting what happened.”
He also took aim at internet commenters accusing him of playing the victim, clarifying that his anger stems from a lack of respect rather than the loss of the gig itself.
“It’s kind of funny. Obviously, somebody always likes to tag you on something [on social media] and I saw one comment that made me f**king laugh. They’re, like, ‘Oh, he knew, and he’s just playing victim.’ I’m, like, ‘Listen, motherf**ker, you have no f**king idea, ’cause you’re not in it. You’re not involved in it. And I can tell you right now, right f**king right here, I’m not playing victim.’ F**king victim of what? That whole thing was a s**t show from day one, if you wanna know the truth. But to not have conversations and get totally slighted like that, especially in public, and then saying that we quit?! Nobody f**king quit. Nobody was fired. You just threw it under the table. ‘They’re not gonna [notice]. No one’s gonna notice.’ [Laughs] And you know what? Honestly, that’s the only thing that bothered me. You think that you are working with people that are supposed to be comrades, you’re with them on tour day to day, and then they just totally blow you off and disregard, like not even having a conversation to even say, ‘Hey, look, you know what?! We’re gonna go in another direction,’ or, ‘We don’t agree with this or what that was.’ But not to have that?”
Despite the bitterness of the split, Lopes expressed pride in the work he did on Congregation Of Annihilation and his gratitude for his ongoing work with Ross The Boss. However, he made it clear that he has no desire to cross paths with his former bandmates anytime soon.
“Let’s just put it this way, it was business, business — that’s all I’m gonna say — it was business that the whole thing started to crumble. And it didn’t have to end like that. But you know what?! Hey, whatever. The thing is this, like I said. And the fans are gonna go. They’re gonna go. If they’re happy, that’s cool. Great. I’m grateful for what I did while I was there. Everybody was awesome. I thank them, and the support was awesome. And I did what I had to do. One and done. The album did great. It got great reviews. The tours were awesome. I have no regret in any of that. [Do] I wish it would’ve went down different? Absolutely. You know what I mean?! But the moral of that story is communication is very important in everything. A lot of those things could have been avoided just by having a simple conversation. But when certain parties don’t wanna even deal with it and they just want to take their ball and go home?! So there it is. What can you do? And that’s the honest truth. I mean, that’s as far as I’m getting into it right now. But that’s where it’s at. Go enjoy the new record. Do what you want. But I’m not there. [Laughs] … I’m being nice. [Laughs] I just hope we’re never on the same show with them. [Laughs]”
On Friday, January 9, Vanderhoof shared a message on Metal Church’s official social media channels addressing the situation, writing:
“Hey friends! As with any band, sometimes things just stop working and you have to move on, no matter what the cost and no matter what people are going to say or think about you, including former bandmates. It’s just that simple.”
“I am continuing to do what I’ve been doing since I formed Metal Church 46 years ago, writing albums and releasing music. If you love that, great, if not, that’s ok too. If you love any of the former band members, that’s also great, then go support their musical endeavors and be thankful for new music. I personally have nothing negative to say about them, I wish them all the luck. I’m just happy to be where I am at now, with great musicians that I respect and I look forward to performing live with. That’s all I have to say about it.”
