March 29, 2024
R.I.P. former Metal Church drummer Kirk Arrington (1962-2023)



Photo by Christopher Lee Helton

R.I.P. former Metal Church drummer Kirk Arrington (1962-2023)

Photo by Christopher Lee Helton

Sleaze Roxx has some sad news to report as Metal Church‘s former and classic era drummer Kirk Arrington has passed away due to health complications at the age of 61. Arrington was born on January 23, 1962 and passed away earlier this morning (on May 22, 2023). Arrington played on Metal Church‘s first seven studio albums and was in the band from 1982 to 1995, 1998 to 1999 and 2000 to 2006.

Kirk Arrington’s select discography:
Metal ChurchMetal Church (1984)
Metal ChurchThe Dark (1986)
Metal ChurchBlessing In Disguise (1989)
Metal ChurchThe Human Factor (1991)
Metal ChurchHanging In The Balance (1993)
Metal ChurchMasterpeace (1999)
Metal ChurchThe Weight of The World (2004)

The following message was posted on Metal Church‘s Facebook page earlier today: “We just received the sad news, Kirk Arrington passed away this morning due to health issues. RIP in brother! See you on the other side….#RIP #legend #gonetoosoon #MetalChurch #drummer.”

In an interview with UK’s eonmusic back in 2017, Metal Church founder and guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof talked about some of the health issues that Arrington was encountering towards the end of his tenure in the band. When it was noted that the band’s “original” line-up reformed back in 1999, Vanderhoof indicated (with slight edits): “‘Masterpeace’, which I like to call ‘Disasterpeace’. The whole thing was a great idea, but when we tried to put together it just didn’t work. We got forced into doing some stuff and I swear, when we played Wacken with [vocalist] David Wayne, the whole thing fell apart with having all the original members. They literally forced us into doing that, and I was telling the management, and record company; “Look, this is a bad, bad idea”, and they said; “Oh no, you’ll be fine, it’ll be fine”. We played, and we SUCKED, I mean, it was horrible, and then afterwards everybody was like; “What happened?!”, and I was just like; “I’m going to fucking kill you guys” – the management and record companies. I was like; “Fuck YOU. I told you, and I warned you that this is bad”.”

In terms of why that reunion failed, Vanderhoof opined: “Well, David Wayne couldn’t sing anymore, he was fucked up on drugs; prescription drugs, because that’s ‘different’. It was fun to play with John Marshall, but Kirk couldn’t do it because of his health, and that’s when I had to cut ties with Kirk. He didn’t play, and he barely played on the record, and it took forever to get that done. It just didn’t work. It was a horrible feeling. We did a tour and it was awful. We’re still recovering from that now.”

Metal Church‘s “Watch The Children Pray” video (from The Dark album):

Metal Church‘s “Badlands” video (from Blessing In Disguise album):

Metal Church‘s “In Harm’s Way” video (from The Human Factor album):





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