01. Ton Of Bricks
02. Start The Fire
03. Method To Your Madness
04. Watch The Children Pray
05. Over My Dead Body
06. The Dark
07. Psycho
08. Line Of Death
09. Burial At Sea
10. Western Alliance

This album is the follow-up to the self titled Metal Church but this one didn't quite kick my ass as hard as the debut. The Dark has some spit and polish to it, sacrificing the rawness of the debut for a more streamlined, somewhat "radio-friendly" recording. Don't get me wrong, this album is good but I think Metal Church could do it better.

Unlike the first one, the production on this one, the sound, was not up to par. The songs themselves are killer, no doubt. However, the sound level was low, not as clear as the first, which makes you have to hit the bass boost on the your amp, and have the volume knob higher up the dial than most CD's.

Kurdt and Craig show that they can write incredible riffs and licks in songs like ''Watch The Children Pray'' and ''Over My Dead Body'' but I'm not impressed with solos. I appreciate slow and simple solos, but usually when Kurdt and Craig do their leads, I'm not majorly impressed. David Wayne had a one of a kind voice that no could emulate. Mike Howe and Ronny Munroe did great jobs, but I think David fit Metal Church the best. I actually think the vocals are probably one the best parts of the album. David can do just about everything from singing clean in ''Watch The Children Pray'', to doing amazing high pitched screams throughout the album. The lyrics are also pretty good, mostly revolve around violence, sanity, war and fear.

So in the end, I'll be honest. The debut is much better and I give him a much better grade. But still The Dark is the album that I recommend to any metal fan. This album captures creepy and dark themes (''Burial At Sea''), as well as true thrashers like ''Ton of Bricks'' and it also has a great ballad (''Watch The Children Pray''). After several days of listening you'll love it. If not, try to buy the debut and enjoy it.

Performance:	8
Songwriting:	9
Originality:	8
Production:	6