While this fiction is mere Hollywood conceit the meaning of those sentences carries weight. That God is in every atom of creation and you can smolder with faith on a pilgrimage as you can in a cloistered cell or on a performance stage.

Mike Hanopol knows this lesson well, having been converted to Born Again Christianity in 2002. Yes, the jeprox, guitar hero and purveyor of Pinoy metal has seen the light of God.

Hanopol, for those unaware of Pinoy rock mythos, is one of the architects of modern heavy music. Before your Wolfgang, Razorback, Valley of Chrome or Sandwich there was the Juan De la Cruz band wherefrom all these bands took inspiration and paid homage. As case in point, check out the track "Sugod" on Sandwich’s most recent album that’s filled with classic JDLC glam riffing.

Mike was the serious, gruff bassist of the great trifecta that included the relaxed guitar bluesman Wally Gonzales and the hyperactive chaos-mongering drummer Pepe Smith.

Born in the small town of Sogod, Leyte, Mike first heard the strains of the guitar as an infant, when his grandmother strummed folk songs as she rocked the cradle. Though, when he was already old enough to fret a chord, Mike immediately started learning the instrument.

Barely out of his teens by then, JDLC rose and faded by 1974. By 1976 Mike had started on his solo career and advanced onward to more fame with the songs "Katawan," "No Touch," and "Laki sa Layaw." This last song became the slacker anthem of the early ‘80s and late ‘70s, thereby enshrining the term "jeprox" into Pinoy pop culture forever.

Does he ever get tired of being associated with his jeprox days? "Hindi naman," says Mike dressed in signature all-black regalia with a corduroy cap on his shocks of white hair. "In fact I use it as a recall or marketing tool sa mga bata pag may concert tapos ini-explain ko sa kanila kung anong meaning ng jeprox. Ngayon kasi may bago nang jeprox."

Despite a lukewarm reception of a one-shot JDLC reunion album last year, Mike has been quiet with his own creative projects. Now, with LAGABLAB, Mike Hanopol is back, ablaze with a different kind of fire.

"I listened to the music of praise and worship by the messianic Hebrews," explains Mike about his trip to Israel in November of last year. "The man I talked to there claimed that this is the kind of music being sung in the heavens. This was new to me but this is not new music at all."

While Mike still uses his trusty, modestly-sized Steinberger guitar and his 5150 Van Halen amp, his palette of sounds remains as vast as ever. For LAGABLAB Mike was all for fusing the complex, powerful melodies of Sting with the weight and atonal diversity of avant-metal outfit King Crimson.

Mike’ meaty hands grasp the air as he explains how excited he was that Warner saw commercial potential in his recent project. "When I was writing this music I felt I was really going into a new direction. Hindi na Led Zep, Pink Floyd or Sabbath. I got a new formula right here. This is new territory for me. But I was not searching for Mike Hanopol because I know my sound and that was not what I was looking for. Pati lines ng guitars melodic but heavy. Hindi naman pwedeng sabihing pop at magaan or heavy and experimental."

Mike excuses himself, filches for his reading glasses and squints in the dim light of Chaquico’s Bar as he reads the text message on his mobile phone. "Very wide and emotional perimeter ng album na ito," he continues. "Meron dyan simpleng simple lang that you don’t know kung pwede sa commercial meron ding complex pero commercial. [Also most of the collaborations are] spur of the moment decisions. Nung sinusulat yung mga kanta may nag bigay ng idea na maghanap ng babae to sing."

Mike ticks off his fingers, "May nag-suggest na si Hannah Romawac [Session Road singer] daw subukan. Then napunta kami kay Myra [Ruaro, aka ska singer Skarlet] and Aia [De Leon, vocalist for Imago]. Naku ang ganda ng lumabas!"

Mike was right to go with the flow. Never mind the lyrics that often veer into didactic preachiness and take on the tone of being on a moral high horse. Never mind the overt referencing of Psalms on "Hambog" and "Masama o Mabuti." Never mind the head-scratching effect that some of these songs will have on hardcore Hanopol or JDLC fans wondering if their metal hero has gone and done tender in his twilight years. By far the best among the tracks on LAGABLAB are the collaborations with young musicians.

The musicianship on the album is never in doubt and Mike remains one of the more inventive guitarists this side of the planet. Though the sudden and uncalled for rap of FrancisM on "Namamasyal" or the ho hum vocal delivery of hyper-pixie Aia De Leon on "Hindi Ka Magsisi" could have been better placed, the collaborative tracks are the ones that take risks in this generally diffuse and droll album.

There’s a very interesting and complex song in the ender "Talamak" with Myra Ruaro. Complex, both rough and silky with interjections of a saxophone, counting lyrics in the vein of a socio-political appraisal, this could easily have been a disaster but it somehow all gels.

"Talamak" works because it tries to find an even keel without all the disparate threads trying to out-voice each other as does "Hawakan Mong Mabuti" (also with Myra).

"Maghihintay" is one of the more immediate tracks in the album. Immediacy being key in making this ‘70s-infected track a big love stomper. The call and response vocals between Hanopol and Hannah Romawac are especially affecting and, as back to basics moves go, a stroke of genius.

Spot on with tone and feel, Hannah smoothens out the rough, macho edges and gives them an emotional focal point. You can burn and dance to this one all too easily. Kids will also revel to hear this popular singer from a new perspective.

"I had a notion that [Mike] was a very serious person," says Hannah. "Out of the JDLC three, Pepe is makulit and Wally’s relaxed and Mike is serious. You go to the session and you do what you have to do and be good at it. I felt that I really needed to deliver. But I feel very proud to be part of the album. It’s very overwhelming. During the recording day, I was freaking out like anything!"

Though the time warp songs here may not accrue the same startstruck effect on the CD-buying public of the 21st century, we are glad to welcome back the mighty Hanopol guitar to the Pinoy sonic landscape. We’re not worthy.