In a new interview with The Metal Voice, METAL CHURCH singer Marc Lopes was asked about the band’s current status, a year after METAL CHURCH canceled its previously announced 2024 tour dates due to “an ongoing back issue” suffered by guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Ask them. [Laughs] I don’t know anything about nothing.”He continued: “It was doing amazing, everything was going really good, and then stuff happens. [Laughs] I haven’t heard from anybody in a long time. That happens.”Lopes added: “People sometimes, they’ve gotta go do their thing. So I don’t know. I don’t know. I have no idea… There’s nothing to hide. I don’t know anything. You know what I mean? [Laughs]”When interviewer Neil Turbin (ex-ANTHRAX) told Lopes, “I guess they didn’t put you on the need-to-know basis or something,” Marc clarified: “Well, it’s not just me. [Laughs]”A year ago, Lopes told The Metal Voice about METAL CHURCH’s tour cancelation: “We did this whole tour from May [of 2023] till December [of 2023], [finishing] in Australia. [Kurdt’s] had a chronic problem with his back for a long time. And I can understand that, ’cause I do too. It’s a little bit different. But he battled through as best as he could always; I mean, he never not did what needed to be done. And it just got to the point where if he didn’t address it, it would just end up being — he wouldn’t be able to play. So, rather than take that chance, it was better off that he go and get it taken care of and then carry on from there.”Asked by host Jimmy Kay if METAL CHURCH was “continuing” despite Kurdt’s health setback, Marc said: “As far as I know. [Laughs] I haven’t got that memo [that the band is over] yet. And in all honesty, if it did happen, I would understand. It would suck, but I would totally understand. But we’re not there. So that’s good. But hopefully we’ll get together and write more. We were actually starting to get into that mode of writing the next record. I had a billion ideas ready to go — you know me — so, that probably will happen at some point, depending on how [his recovery is].”When METAL CHURCH first announced that it was canceling its tour dates, Vanderhoof said in a statement: “As some of you may have recently noticed during our live performances, I frequently will disappear to the side of the stage during a set and continue playing while sitting on a chair. This is due to an ongoing back issue that I’ve needed to deal with for a while now. I kept putting it off and it’s finally caught up with me, so I’m going to get this taken care of so I can continue performing live in the future.”That being said, sadly we will be canceling all upcoming show dates for 2024. I apologize for this but I need to get this taken care of.”Check with your local venues for any refunds.”Thank you for your continued support and I’m looking forward to seeing you in the future!”METAL CHURCH made its live debut with Lopes on June 3, 2023 at the Legions Of Metal festival at Reggies in Chicago, Illinois.Lopes joined METAL CHURCH in the summer of 2022 as the replacement for Mike Howe, who tragically passed away in July of 2021. The band’s most recent lineup was rounded out by guitarist Rick Van Zandt, bassist Steve Unger and drummer Stet Howland.Lopes’s first studio album with METAL CHURCH, “Congregation Of Annihilation” came out on May 26, 2023 via Rat Pak Records (America) and Reaper Entertainment (Europe). The LP was produced by Vanderhoof.[embedded content]