..Christian Metal

Christian metal is a form of heavy metal music and its many subgenres with Christian lyrics and themes.

Although Christian metal bands have existed since late 1970s, the term "Christian metal" itself was born in 1984 when heavy metal music divided into numerous subgenres. At the same time some people in the metal scene began to jokingly call the Christian metal bands of the 1980s as "white metal" – a pun for black metal, which was a rising movement back then. "White metal" is seldom used nowadays as many see it as a derogatory term and want to avoid its negative connotations to neo-nazism ("white power" etc.).

Characteristics

Christian metal is not a solitary style of music, on the contrary, it comprises almost every subgenre of heavy metal music. Therefore the only notable difference lies in the lyrics. The musicians are believers almost without exception and typically base their lyrics on Judeo-Christian traditions. The lyrical approach depends on bands: some emphasize in pointing out the positive aspects of faith matters, others iterate the teachings of Christ, and part of the bands keep their message gentle and covered in metaphors. Only a minority takes an aggressive attitude towards those who speak against Christianity.

The lyrical style varies depending on culture, denomination, and country. For example, in Northern Europe the bands usually prefer personal lyrical approach, which is seldom meant to "convert" in an aggressive manner. Christian bands almost never deny their conviction, but typically avoid preaching since they do not want that the musical entertainment suffers. Some Christian bands do not declare their conviction at all and only concentrate on the entertainment aspect of music.

History

Origins

, possibly the first Christian hard rock group.]]

Christian metal has its origins in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Jesus movement, which was basically a hippie movement with Christian ideology. It has been said that Christian metal was unavoidable because Christian musicians have always copied secular trends. Larry Norman was the first Christian rock band. The band released Upon This Rock in 1969 which is arguably the first Christian rock album. The first Christian hard rock group is thought to be Resurrection Band, which was formed in 1972 in Jesus People Milwaukee. Resurrection Band released the hard rock cassette Music to Raise the Dead in 1974. The Swedish group Jerusalem was formed in 1975 and is cited as another early Christian hard rock group. In 1978 Resurrection Band Released its album Awaiting Your Reply and Jerusalem released Jerusalem . Both albums had a notable impact on Christian music culture. To everyone's surprise, Awaiting Your Reply hit big in the Christian market, and reached #6 on the Gospel album sales charts. Jerusalem also became an instant hit among Christian listeners, and within the first six months the record sold 20,000 copies in six months, unheard of within the genre of Christian rock in Europe. Later, Jerusalem released the notable album Dancing on the Head of the Serpent. The Canadian progressive hard rock group Daniel Band was formed in 1979 and is cited as one of the first together with Resurrection Band and Jerusalem. Daniel Band released the albums On Rock and Straight Ahead on the following years.

1980s

First heavy metal groups

In the early 1980s there were four notable Christian heavy metal groups: Messiah Prophet, Leviticus, Saint, and Stryper. The Swedish band Leviticus was formed by Bjorn Stiggson in 1982. The band's early releases were glam metal typical of the 1980s style. Their second 1985 album The Strongest Power was called "One of the best records of the year" by Kerrang!. Saint was compared to Judas Priest Mostly due to the Rob Halford sounding style vocals of lead singer Josh Kramer. Saint are best known for the negativity reflected in their lyrics. Common themes of their early releases include hell, evil, and apocalyptic themes such as the End times. Their most successful album was Time's End (1986). It is not sure which one was the first, but Stryper was the biggest. Stryper was also the first band to say "Hey, we're Christian metal." Stryper gained attention with their way of throwing bibles with the band logo stickers on the covers at the end of their concerts. In the beginning mostly Christian went to Strypers concerts but soon they reached secular audience.Christe, Ian (2003). Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. Pages= 196. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-380-81127-8 In the 1980s, Christian metal bands closely followed the trends of more mainstream bands, and it was typical that many Christian bands were compared to certain secular counterparts.

brought Christian metal into mainstream.]] (1986) is the best selling Christian metal album to date.]]In 1984 heavy metal music divided into numerous sub genres and the term "Christian metal" was officially born. During the mid 1980s, the black metal movement was rising rapidly. The Chicago doom metal group Trouble was known to be the first band that was publicly labeled as "white metal" - in contrast of black metal - by Metal Blade Records since their early albums Psalm 9 and The Skull feature biblical references. Citation: "It was Metal Blade. Back then they called all of it ´Black Metal´, y´know, Slayer, Danzig, etc., all those bands, they are ´Black Metal´, so I didn´t grow up believing in all that crap and I think that people didn´t believe in it either. It was a question about marketing your band in some way, so I had to do it. So I did this. Metal Blade called us as a “White Metal band” and I just wished they didn´t." (Vocalist Eric Wagner comments on Troubles white metal tag.) It took a year for the metal music subculture to realize that the members of these groups were Christian who actually claimed to believe in Christ: Stryper, although reaching commercial success at that time, received a hostile reception when they played at a Dutch metal festival in 1985.Christe, Ian (2003). Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. Pages= 204. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-380-81127-8 Regardless of this, Stryper helped to popularize the genre, as they were the first Christian metal band to reach platinum status on an album. The 1986 album To Hell with the Devil sold 2 million copies, achieved a grammy nomination and produced many MTV favorites.

The scene developes

Many rock and metal fans were rejected from churches in 1980s. In 1984, California, pastor Bob Beeman saw this problem and soon started the ministry called Sanctuary - The Rock and Roll Refuge. This fellowship brought many musicians together and formed groups such as Tourniquet, Deliverance, Vengeance and Mortal that would soon become ground breaking acts in Christian music culture.

Christian metal soon developed into its own music industry. The first Christian metal label was Pure Metal Records, soon followed by R.E.X. Records and Intense Records. There were requests for a magazine that would cover phenomena of Christian metal music industry. In 1985, Doug Van Pelt answered to this demand and published the first issue of Heaven's Metal fanzine, which soon achieved more popularity and became an official publication.

Late 1980s metal groups

' Atomic Arena (1988) was one of the more successful Christian heavy metal albums in the late 1980s.]]There were also other notable hard rock, heavy metal and glam metal groups active from the late 1980s. Whitecross was formed 1986 in Chicago, releasing their first recording Whitecross the following year. Their early albums, which often invite comparisons to Ratt, are laced with fast, technical guitar work of Rex Carroll, who became well-known as a talented guitarist. Sacred Warrior, formed in 1988 was also from Chicago and their music is often campared to that of Queensr˙che or Metal Church. Of all their albums, their first release, Rebellion, is considered to be their best. The California native group Barren Cross was formed in 1983. Musically, the band is often compared to Iron Maiden, mainly due to the similarity of the vocals between Mike Lee and Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson. Their most notable album, Atomic Arena was distributed to both secular and Christian markets and a music video was made for "Imaginary Music", which received some MTV airplay. The Washington group Bloodgood was formed in 1985. Their first major United States tour was in 1987, and was protested by groups on the Christian right. The band was more popular in Europe than in the United States, and they toured the United Kingdom in 1988. This tour featured lead vocalist Les Carlsen portraying Pontius Pilate during the song "Crucify," as well as a graphic, live-action portrayal of Christ being crucified. Bloodgood opened ways for Christian speed and thrash metal styles.

The Kentucky based band Bride, formed in 1983, started out playing speed metal an released the albums Show No Mercy (1986) Live to Die (1988) Silence is Madness(1989). Bride's early metal albums didn't sell too well. It wasn't until they changed to hard rock style that Bride began reaching wider audience on the 1993 album Snakes in the Playground. Despite being criticized for their abrupt changes in style in favor of what's "hot", the band has remained largely popular in the U.S. and other places like Brazil. The band X-Sinner was formed in 1988 and is known for having a very similar sound to that of AC/DC, and released the popular albums Get It (1989) and Peace Treaty (1991) on Pakaderm Records. X-Sinner was named the favorite new band of 1989 by the readers of HM Magazine. The California speed metal band Recon, formed in late 1980s, released only one yet popular album, Behind Enemy Lines on Intense Records in 1990. The Connecticut glam metal group Rage of Angels was often compared to Mötley Crüe, and released the album Rage of Angels in 1989.

The band Neon Cross was formed in California in 1983. Neon Cross started playing clubs in Hollywood during the 80's and attracted the attention of record company Regency Records in 1987 and was asked to record two songs for their upcoming compilation album. After the release of that CD, Neon Cross was signed to Regency to record their self titled album. In 1993 the band got back together and was signed by Rugged Records to record their second full length CD, Torn. Another Californian glam metal group, Holy Soldier, formed in early 1985, released its self-titled debut on Word and A&M Records (Myrrh imprint) in 1990 to critical and commercial acclaim. Two years later, the band followed up their debut with Last Train, another critical success. The commercial success of Last Train, however, did not live up to its critical acclaim, and after their 60 city world tour, lead vocalist Steven Patrick abruptly left the group. The band Guardian, formed in 1982, released their notable second album Fire and Love in 1991 under the Pakaderm label. The response to the album was overwhelming and one of the videos was included in the MTV's Headbangers Ball rotation. The heavy metal band Angelica introduced vocalist Rob Rock, who would later gain notice for his soloproject. Rob Rock also sang in the band Joshua, formed in early 1980s in California, which released the albums The Hand is Quicker Than the Eye (1983) Surrender (1985), and Intense Defense (1988). The group Shout was compared to Styper as their glam metal styles were similar. The band Crystavox was compared to Skid Row and released two albums, Crystavox (1990) and The Bottom Line (1992). The band Mastedon played glam metal and released the album It's a Jungle Out There (1989) and Lofcaudio (1990).

Thrash metal movement

's Human Sacrifice (1988) was a ground breaking Christian thrash metal album.]]

In 1986, the band Bloodgood opened ways for Christian speed and thrash metal styles with their song "Black Snake". Soon speed and thrash metal bands like Deliverance, Believer, Vengeance and Tourniquet began to appear. They all released their early material on Intense Records, apart from Believer which was on R.E.X. Records. Deliverance was formed in 1985, Believer in 1986, and Vengeance was formed in 1987 and in 1988 year published its first album Human Sacrifice, the first Christian thrash metal album. The group soon changed its name to Vengeance Rising since there was another band called Vengeance in Holland. In 1989 both Deliverance and Believer released their first albums. Deliverance published Deliverance and Believer Extraction from Mortality. During the same year the band Tourniquet was also formed and in 1990 released the album Stop the Bleeding. The band's unique style brought them fans all over the World and broke new ground. A music video was made for the song "Ark of Suffering", but it was banned from MTV since due to its violent content that pointed out the horrors of animal abuse. debut Prepare for the Judgement of Mankind (2005) is one of the more notable releases in recent years the genre.]]In the early 1990s both Believer and Tourniquet, known for their technical styles, caught the interest bigger record labels: Believer was signed to Roadrunner Records and Tourniquet to Metal Blade Records. On their new labels, Believer released Sanity Obscure and Dimensions, and Tourniquet released Psycho Surgery and Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance. Deliverance released Weapons of Our Warfare in 1990. A music video was made for the title track received some airplay on MTV. During the 1990s, an Oklahoman group called Eternal Decision gained attention with its thrash and groove metal style. The 1997 album Eternal Desicion hit the record stores in the U.S. and 16 other countries, achieving considerable acclaim and providing the band with even more notice.

There were also some thrash groups Europe. The British band Seventh Angel was formed in 1987 and released the albums The Torment (1990) and Lament for the Weary (1992). The band was known for its combination of doom metal and thrash metal. Another British group, Detritus also played thrash metal on the 1990 album Perpetual Defiance, but changed to power metal on If But for One (1993).

A couple of Christian groups played crossover style of punk rock and thrash metal: The Crucified and One Bad Pig. The Crucified was formed in 1984 and the band released Take Up Your Cross in 1986 and Nailed in 1987. The Crucufied was a notable influence on several of the aforementioned groups. One Bad Pig was formed in 1985 by Carey Womack and released A Christian Banned in 1989 they released Smash on Pure Metal Records and two following albums Swine Flew and I Scream Sunday on Myrrh Records.

In 2005 Temple of Blood released their debut album Prepare for the Judgement of Mankind which is one of the more recent acclaimed releases for the Christian speed and thrash metal genre.

1990s

In the early 1990s, the rising musical styles, especially grunge, began to take their places as the dominant styles in the mainstream, and eventually caused that heavy metal music lost most of its popularity and went to underground for a decade. Heavy metal musicians began to seek musical limits. Therefore Christian metal musicians began to play extreme music as well. Soon death metal replaced thrash metal in popularity. For the time being it was typical that Christian bands took it seriously how secular bands affected their audience. Death metal and black metal styles had grown more and more dominant in the metal underground. Themes such violence, evil, and occult had become growing subjects in the lyrics of secular bands, such as Decide and Morbid angel. As a counteraction to this, there was a significant phenomenon that Christian bands wrote lyrics that encouraged to go to idealistic war against evil. Examples of lyrics that encouraged to go to idealistic war against evil include the following albums: Deliverance - Weapons of Our Warfare (1990), Mortification - Mortification (1990), Tourniquet - Stop the Bleeding, Horde - Hellig Usvart ja Antestor - Despair among others. The attitude towards Christian metal bands became more negative, and affected notably on how the more traditional Christian heavy metal bands such as Saint, Bloodgood and Leviticus for example split up in the 1990s. Even Stryper's popularity went through a regression. The band couldn't return its success even though they tried to change their style from pop metal to hard rock, and eventually Stryper split up in 1993.

Death metal movement

's Scrolls of the Megilloth (1992) was a ground breaking Christian deathgrind album.]]

In 1990, the Australian group Mortification became the first widely recognized Christian death metal band. Though they played an old style of death metal, on the album Mortification (1990), very close to its thrash roots, their 1992 album Scrolls of the Megilloth is still considered classic death metal, and was released in both Christian and secular markets as the band was signed to Nuclear Blast Records. The album was almost as ground breaking as Stryper's To Hell With the Devil. Scrolls of the Megilloth brought Mortification to the elite of the death metal movement. The band enjoyed notable commercial success with Blood World Mortification Biography, Australian Music Online. Amo.org.au and eventually became possibly the most successful Christian extreme metal group. Interviews by Gary Garson and Peter Schultz, translations by J. Grym, additional notes by Mape Ollila. Maailman metalli: Australia. Article about Australian metal today in the biggest Finnish metal site Imperiumi.Net (in Finnish).

Prior to Mortification the Brazilian band Incubus (later known as Opprobrium) already combined Christian lyrics to death metal on their albums Serpent Temptation (1988) and Beyond the Unknown (1990), yet the band was not thought to be exactly Christian. At roughly the same time the band Living Sacrifice was creating thrash and death metal. Their albums Nonexistent (1992) and Inhabit (1994) had the deathgrind style to them. Also, Crimson Thorn released the albums Unearthed and Dissection in 1990s.

In Australia, there was also the most well-known Christian grindcore group that focused on goregrind style, Vomitorial Corpulence. The band released its albums Karrionic Hacktician and Skin Stripper in 1990s. The Norwegian death metal group Schaliach gained a notable cult following for its album Sonrise (1996), which had a slightly more melodic and doomier approach than most Christian death metal albums. Later in Northern Europe, the groups Extol, Deuteronomium, and Immortal Souls began playing post-death and received notable attention.

Unblack metal movement

Main article: unblack metal

's Hellig Usvart (1994) was the first album that mixed Christian lyrics and black metal.]]

Horde is widely considered to be the first Christian black metal band. As a one man band with only one release (in 1994), Horde initiated controversy within the extreme metal community, opposing the more common lyrical themes of Satanism and evil. The title of Horde's only release -- Hellig Usvart -- means "Holy Unblack", which is now often used by Christians to refer to Christian black metal, in order to avoid the negative connotations of the term "black metal".

Antestor existed prior to the release of Hellig Usvart but their music was a death/doom style (or as they called it, "Sorrow Metal"), and was not yet musically considered black metal. During the early 1990s when the band was known as Crush Evil, Euronymous, guitarist for the seminal black metal band Mayhem, was planning to stop Crush Evil from continuing. However, this never took place.

The Swedish band Admonish was also formed around 1994 or 1995, and is known to be the first Christian black metal band in Sweden. They gained notoriety for calling their style "Christian black metal" publicly on their website. This caused some debate in metal underground and soon one black metal fan started an anti-Admonish website. While the band didn't release anything until 2005, the magazine Metal Hammer called Admonish "One of the leading Christian black metal bands" in a 1990s issue which focused on black metal.

They, as well as Crimson Moonlight and others (such as Divine Symphony), make up today's more polished style of Christian black metal comparable to more mainstream high production black metal bands. However, more traditional and raw low-production black metal bands such as Abdijah, Light Shall Prevail, Offerblod, Arch of Thorns, Flaskavsae, Eligbbor, Bedeiah, Dormant, Firethrone, etc., still exist on record labels such as Sneeuwstorm Produkties and GES Productions, among others.

Power metal and progressive metal movements

During the 1990s, the metal scene in the United States focused more on the alternative styles. This caused the regional change that the center of heavy metal music moved to Middle and Northern Europe. This is why most Christian power metal bands existed in Europe in the 1990s. Even Heaven's Metal changed to The Hard Music Magazine in 1995, and focused more on the mainstream Christian hard music rather than underground metal music.

album Awakening (1998) is a notable Christian power metal album.]]The German group Seventh Avenue, formed in 1989, was one of more notable Christian power metal bands in the 1990s. They released Rainbowland 1995, and after that the band was signed to Treasure Hunt Records. Their first release on this label, Tales of Tales, topped at 18 on the Japanese Heavy Metal Charts. The 1998 release, Southgate, was licensed to Megahard Records for release in Brazil, where the band subsequently toured. They released two albums, Between The Worlds and Eternals, on Massacre Records debut Theocracy (2003) is a notable American release in the genre.]]Later in the 1990s, the Swedish group Narnia made notable contributions to Christian power metal history. Previously, Christian Liljegren was in a melodic metal band called Modest Attraction which released the albums The Truth in Your Face and Divine Luxury before Liljegren teamed up with guitarist Carl Johan Grimmark to form Narnia in 1996 and released the first album Awakening in 1998. Narnia was later signed to Nuclear Blast Records, Germany, and Pony Canyon Records, Japan, and broadened its popularity.

Later there appeared more notable European groups such as the German bands Chrystyne and Lightmare, and the Swedish groups XT, Harmony, and Heartcry.

The British group Balance of Power was a notable Christian progressive metal band until the album Heathen Machine, as mostly their bassist Tony Ritchie wrote the more Christian based lyrics. The band was formed in 1995 and released the first album When the World Falls Down next year, and was picked up by the Japanese label Pony Canyon, and received significant airplay on Japanese radio stations. After Lance King joined them as vocalist, the band released Book of Secrets in 1998.

It wasn't until late 1990s and early 2000s when some United States based power metal and progressive metal groups began to appear. Jacobs Dream, formed in 1997, became popular and was signed to Metal Blade Records. They soon released the albums Jacobs Dream (1997) and Theater of War (2000). Magnitude Nine released the albums Chaos to Control (1998), Reality in Focus (2001) and Decoding the Soul (2004). In 2003 a one man project called Theocracy created by Matt Smith released their self titled debut Theocracy, which achieved notable popularity in both Christian and secular scenes.

Doom metal and gothic metal movements

is together with Paramaecium the most well-known Christian doom metal band.]]

In 1987, the Swedish group Veni Domine started playing progressive doom metal and released its first album Fall Babylon Fall in 1992. The album was called a "masterpiece" by some critics. The following album Material Sanctuary featured a heavier output, however, the band abandoned most of their epic style on later releases.

's Exhumed of the Earth (1993) is one of the most respected doom metal albums in both secular and Christian circles.]]

Paramaecium and Ashen Mortality are the two most well-known doom metal bands in Christian metal. Australian group Paramaecium incorporated violin, flute, and acoustic guitars to its atmospheric music on their album Exhumed of the Earth, and continued on adding more symphonic elements on the following albums. What sets Paramaecium apart from other bands in the doom metal scene, is the fact that they are the only Christian death doom band that made it to the top of the genre. Paramecium would influence later Christian bands such as Pantokrator. British group Ashen Mortality was formed after thrash metal band Seventh Angel split up. Ashen Mortality mixed elements of medieval music and goth in their doom metal sound. The critics usually wrote that Ashen Mortalitys overall quality set them apart from competitors. The 1998 Your Caress was called "essential album". In 2000, the ex-Pentagram guitarist Victor Griffin formed a traditional doom metal group called Place of Skulls, and released the albums Nailed (2002) and With Vision (2003)

Christian gothic metal was pioneered by Saviour Machine, which mixed David Bowie type rock-opera and classic metal. Saviour Machine was more popular in Europe, particularly in Germany, than US. After releasing the albums Saviour Machine I and Saviour Machine II, the band gained attention with its ambitious Legend trilogy. The vocalist Eric Clayton also produced the United States gothic metal band Wedding Party's album Anthems (1997). Later Wedding Party changed its name to I-Dragon-I. In the 1990s there were three other notable gothic metal bands: Undish, Necromance and Kohllapse, all of them started out in early 1990s playing death metal before developing their gothic metal sound. The Polish band Undish, formerly known as Graviora Manent, released the 1997 album Acta Est Fabula on Massacre Records and made an European tour afterwards. The German group Necromance released the album White Gothic and Wiederkehr Der Schmerzen in the 1990s. The band began incorporating industrial elements on their alter releases. Australian group Kohllapse self-released the albums Kohllapse (1996) and Distant Mind Alternative (1999) and gained some attention in secular circles for its unique style that combined darkwave and doom metal.

2000s

Return to mainstream

has been at the forefront of metalcore along with Killswitch Engage and Unearth since 2002. ]]Currently, there exist Christian metal bands for virtually every sub-genre of metal. Extol has a mixed (and often changing) style, and is popular among both Christian and Non-Christian metal fans. Theocracy, Narnia, Rob Rock, Jacobs Dream, and Divinefire are the most prominent Christian power metal bands. Rob Rock also achieved initial fame as the vocalist for guitar virtuoso Chris Impellitteri's band Impellitteri during the 80's and 90's and then went solo with his Rage of Creation album. He also performed guest vocals for the heavy metal band Warrior. There are many other notable bands, including Ultimatum, Becoming the Archetype, Temple of Blood, Aletheian, Crimson Thorn, Harmony, Saviour Machine, Majestic Vanguard, Sympathy, Virgin Black, Disciple, and Veni Domine.

Certain Christian metal artists have found mainstream acceptance selling millions of albums to both Christian and non-Christian fans, including Flyleaf, P.O.D. and Stryper. Metalcore's popularity is especially based on Christian bands, including such crossover successes as Underoath, Norma Jean, Zao, As I Lay Dying, Still Remains, and Demon Hunter.

In its 2006 In Review issue (February 2007), Revolver Magazine dubbed Christian metal the phenomenon of the year. Editor in Chief Tom Beaujour interviewed the lead singers of As I Lay Dying, Demon Hunter, Norma Jean, and Underoath (Tim Lambesis, Ryan Clark, Cory Brandan Putman, and Spencer Chamberlain, respectively) as the front-page article for the issue. Tooth and Nail Records, P.O.D., Zao, War of Ages, Still Remains, and He Is Legend were also mentioned.

Controversies

Christianity in secular metal

Several general market metal bands do not identify themselves as a "Christian band" but still use their lyrics to portray God in a positive light. There are some bands, Virgin Black and Klank, for example, who have Christian members but prefer to remain in the general market. Other more notable mainstream acts that feature Christian members are Anthrax (Dan Spitz), Accept (Peter Baltes), Saliva (Josey Scott), Blind Guardian (Hansi Kursch), Helloween (Andi Deris and Michael Weikath), Iron Maiden (Nicko McBrain), Avian (Lance King), Shadow Gallery, Magnitude 9, Dream Theater (John Petrucci and John Myung), Alice Cooper (who himself is a Christian), All That Remains (Philip Labonte), Megadeth (Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson), Head (ex-Korn), and The Human Abstract (AJ Minnette). Other bands, such as Killswitch Engage and Linkin Park have members who were raised in Christian homes, thus occasionally using spiritual themes.

Some of the most well-known groups in heavy metal music have dealed with Christian themes in their solitary songs. Black Sabbath, sometimes referred as the first heavy metal band, wrote the song "After Forever" (from Master of Reality, 1971), which talks about life after death from Christian point of view. Iron Maiden has portrayed God in positive light on its recent song "For the Greater Good of God". James Hetfield of Metallica was raised in a Christian home and reflects this backround on songs like "Creeping Death" (from Ride the Lightning, 1984) which refers to Bible scriptures of Exodus. Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian has incorporated Christian themes on songs such as ”Precious Jerusalem”, ”Another Holy War” and ”Sadly Sings Destiny”. Megadeth's 2004 album The System Has Failed contains Christian lyrics and Bible references on songs such as "My Kingdom Come". The thrash metal group Testament's song "Sins of Omission" (from Practice What You Preach, 1989) is known to have Christian vibe.

Michael Weikath has said that most of the members of Helloween are Christians, apart from former member Uli Kusch, and that their lyrics tend to have a spiritual vibe. Weikath also states that bands should take the responsibility for what kind of lyrics they write for their fans.{{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/chaoticcrit/helloween.html |title= Helloween Better than ever |accessdate= 2007-09-24 |author= Journalist of Unrestrained! magazine |date=2002 |work= Chaotic Critiques |publisher= |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= Well most of the guys in the band are Christian, apart from Uli who cannot say that he has decided to accept the existence of a God. Our lyrics tend to have a spiritual feeling, as Uli doesn't mind that kind of lyrics because they express no bad or wrong thinking. (Weikath) }} In 2006, Peter Steele, the vocalist of Type O Negative, announced in an interview that he is no longer a "foxhole atheist" and has become a Christian. Steele has written Christian based lyrics on the 2007 album Dead Again, though he has kept his twisted sense of humor and colourful lanquage as a part of his lyrics and personality. Tuomas Holopainen has also incorporated Christian themes in almost every Nightwish album but he has stated in one interview from Nightwish's site that he has his own views respecting Christianity.

The Italian and German dark metal group Graveworm has caused controversy since its lyrics on the early albums When Daylight's Gone (1997) and As the Angels Reach the Beauty (1999) contain Christian themes that are uncommon in the style. In an interview, the vocalist Stefan Fiori has said that he "believes in religion" but underlines that he does not like the Church as an institution.{{cite web |url=http://deadfall.org/interviews.php?id=61 |title= Graveworm |accessdate= 2007-09-24 |author= Deadfall |date=2004-10-12 |work= Deadfallzine |publisher= |pages= |language= German |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= Sagen wir es so: Ich glaub an die Religion, aber ich finde die Kirche scheisse! Die Institution Kirche ist meiner Meinung nach nicht das was sie sein sollte, es ist einfach zuviel Geld dahinter. (Stefan Fiori) }}

Some Asian bands have also dealed with Christian topics. The Taiwanese power metal band Seraphim talks about God in a postive light in some of its songs. The Japanese hard rock artist Hyde (of L'Arc-en-Ciel) has written strong Christian references on his solo album Faith (2006), most notably on the song "Jesus Christ". Hyde describes that he tried to capture the power he felt when he visited some churches in Europe on the album. |issue= 4 |pages= 108 |accessdate=2007-09-24 |url= |quote=O:"What can we hear from your latest release?" Hyde:"The religious expressions and aspects. I am not a member of a special religion but when I was in Europe and visited some churches there, I felt this enormous power and I felt like my soul was being purged. And I wanted to create this atmosphere on my album."}}

Few musicians of well-known secular groups have left their bands after announcing their Christian faith. Kittil Kittilsen was a guitarist in the Norwegian black metal pioneer group Mayhem for a short while, during 1987, and left the band shortly after becoming a Christian.{{cite web
 | title = Kittil Kittilsen
 | author =  Lindsų, Jan F.
 | publisher = Chronicles of Chaos
 | date = 2007
 | url = http://www.beattheblizzard.com/?module=interviews&interview=80
 | accessdate = 2007-09-24 }} Ron Rinehart used to sing in the thrash metal group [[Dark Angel (band)|Dark Angel]] but after discovering faith he left and formed a Christian metal band called [[Oil (band)|Oil]].{{Harvnb|Powell|2002|loc="oil", p. 637}}


Certain artists, however, are controversial in that they claim Christianity while playing in bands with anti-Christian lyrics or themes. Tom Araya, Slayer's lead vocalist, claims to be a Roman Catholic despite singing overtly anti-Christian lyrics.{{cite web
 | title = Slayer likes bad-boy image
 | author = FENIAK, JENNY
 | publisher = Jam.com
 | date =
 | url = http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/S/Slayer/2006/07/09/1675183.html
 | accessdate = 2007-01-26 }}  [[Deicide (band)|Deicide]], known for their Satanic and anti-Christian themes, included guitarist [[Ralph Santolla]], another professing Roman Catholic.{{cite web
 | title = CoC chats with Ralph Santolla of Deicide
 | author = Smit, Jackie
 | publisher = Chronicles of Chaos
 | date = 2006-08.07
 | url = http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/articles/chats/1-941_deicide.aspx
 | accessdate = 2007-01-26 }}


Critique

Certain fans of metal consider the use of Christian lyrics to be opposed to the "true" purpose of metal, despite the fact that the musical content is hardly any different from secular metal bands. On the other side, certain Christian groups, most notably those in some King James Only denominations, consider all types of rock and metal music opposed to their faith regardless of lyrical content or the lifestyles being led by band members. However, many fans and artists see metal as another genre of music, parallel to such genres as blues, classical, jazz, punk, and hip-hop. These people claim that the instrumentation of the music is simply a medium, agnostic to a worldview, while the person creating the music as well as the lyrics being presented provide the message. Therefore, Christian metal is created when Christians compose metal music in a way that reflects their faith in Christ.

See also

  • List of Christian metal bands
  • Unblack metal
  • Heavy metal music
  • List of Christian music videos


Record labels

  • Facedown Records
  • Flicker Records
  • Bombworks Records
  • Mono Vs Stereo
  • Raging Storm Records
  • Rivel Records
  • Solid State Records
  • Harvest Earth Records
  • Endtime Productions
  • Nightmare Records
  • Intense Records
  • R.E.X. Records
  • Tooth & Nail Records
  • Fear Dark Records


Fonte: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian Metal

Tags:

 


..Generi Musicali

Blues, Classical, Acid House, Acid Jazz, Acid Techno, Breakbeat, Chillout, Electronica, Funky Breaks, House, Jungle Drum'n'bass, Minimal Techno, Techno, Trance, Jazz, Punk, Pop, Disco, Funk, Hip-Hop, Rap, Acid Rock, Alternative Pop - Rock, Black Metal, Death Metal, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, Rock, Symphonic Metal, Thrash