# Metal Church's The Dark: The Album That Got Buried By 1986

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/dig-me-out-70s-80s-metal-6762076/metal-church-s-the-dark-the-album-that-got-buried-by-1986.md
Podcast: [Dig Me Out: 70s & 80s Metal](https://stenobird.com/podcast/dig-me-out-70s-80s-metal-6762076)
Published: 2026-04-21T14:37:28+00:00
Episode link: https://www.digmeoutpodcast.com/p/the-community-voted-we-dug-into-metal
Audio file: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/194920360/c9593fb07a11af4a14ca7efdf89e027e.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/dig-me-out-70s-80s-metal-6762076/episodes/metal-church-s-the-dark-the-album-that-got-buried-by-1986
Duration seconds: 3236

## Resource

You Opened for Metallica. You Got MTV Airplay. So Why Does Nobody Know Your Name? The strange disappearance of Metal Church and The Dark The Dark earned its place on the turntable the way all our episodes do: through community vote. It pulled 47% of combined Patreon and Substack poll votes, beating out Fastway, early Pantera, and Metallica to claim this week's dig. If you have an album you think deserves a closer listen, suggest it here and let the community decide. You toured with Metallica. You got MTV airplay. You peaked at #92 on the Billboard 200. So how does an album just disappear? Metal Church released The Dark in October 1986, opened for Metallica on tour, and landed Watch the Children Pray in MTV rotation. They had every ingredient for a breakthrough. And yet, most people who love 80s metal have never heard a note of this record. This week Jason, Tim, and Chip work through all eight tracks, argue about whether the second half holds up, and make the case for David Wayne as one of the most underrated vocalists in the genre. They also dig into the band's origins in the Bay Area thrash scene, their move to the Pacific Northwest, Terry Date's early engineering work, and the real (and fictional) connections to Metallica. Highlights: what makes Ton of Bricks the perfect opener (23:00), the Queensrÿche-ish shading in Watch the Children Pray (19:44), the Lars Ulrich rumor and how Vanderhoof debunked it (33:14), and the honest case that the second half sags (35:16). 🎧 Listen to the episode at DigMeOutPodcast.com Episode Highlights Intro: Scene-setting and poll results context, how The Dark beat Fastway, early Pantera, and Metallica for the community vote 0:47: Poll Results: The Dark Wins at 47%: breakdown of the combined Patreon and Substack vote and why the margin sur…

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