Have started listening to Christian Metal

For the longest time I avoided Christian Metal as though it was infected with leprosy but I don't know why... Admittedly I had preconceived ideas about this whole sub-genre. I didn't like the idea, I felt like metal had to be "dark" sounding for me to enjoy it.

However, since I have started studying the bible a bit more as of late I wanted to also try to introduce the message into my life through a medium that I enjoy - metal music. What I have discovered is a whole new world of heavy metal and it is so far exceeding my expectations. I know lyrics are lyrics and it is how you interpret them but I am finding metal being taken to a whole new degree with the Christian bands I listened to. Perhaps some may call me delusional but I actually find the 'lighter' message blending it very well with the powerful and melodic sound of metal. Musically, some of these bands exceed many of the more conventional metal bands.

I have been listening to the likes of Barren Cross, Bloodgood, Sacred Warrior and Whitecross and I find all these bands are able to take the traditional metal sound to a new level. My comparisons may not be entirely correct but this is how I react to hearing these bands: Barren Cross reminds me of the golden era of Maiden mixed with a bit of mid-late 80s Savatage; Bloodgood has a certain NWOBHM sound attached to it - there's a bit of everything from Saxon to the teutonic giants Accept in their sound; Sacred Warrior sound is a solid mix of 80s 'Ryche, Fates Warning and Helloween; Whitecross sits more on the poppier sound of 80s metal but still quite ballsy sounding I liken them to a more metallized RATT.

As I said perhaps my comparisons are not very accurate but that's how I reacted listening to these bands for the first time. I feel like I have been missing out on this side of metal and so far I am very impressed with the sound.

The lyrical content doesn't bother me at all - in terms of corny stuff, metal has much worse to offer: Manowar and the true metal themes, Slayer / Venom and those caricature satanic lyrics; listening to something that is at least a bit more meaningful is far more tolerable and can be quite refreshing.

Also as of late I've become quite put off by 'dark' stuff. As a whole I don't generally listening to satanic stuff because the message doesn't appeal to me (Deicide, Vital Remains and the like) but I really have very little interest or tolerance for anything 'death' / 'black' metal sounding these days. I used to listen to various bands from those genres but now I'm more interested in the melodic side of metal - maybe I have wimped out but I just don't get any kick out of death or black metal anymore. I find that it fatigues me and I just want to turn it off and put some power or AOR or thrash or prog or just classic rock.

Christian metal is pretty rad and widely under-appreciated. I frequently write to Eddie Trunk about this. With Stryper's exposure and being a well-known group, why haven't others received the same sort of attention? Barren Cross, Bloodgood, Guardian, Whitecross, Tourniquet, Mortification, Deliverance, Bride, Angelica, Joshua, Liaison, 77's, One Bad Pig, Petra, Fear Not, Die Happy...there are miles of these bands and they're all killer, even if some are a bit derivative. Go to any forum though, and you get two cliched responses: "metal is not Christian, so there's no such thing," or "Christian metal is not a genre." To dismiss this region of rock history on these grounds is pretty stupid. Who cares if it's a genre or not? It's just a way to classify these bands.

I was going to say more but my one-year-old is leaking poo and it's bath time.

Cool. I like alot of Christian metal, my only problem with the genre as a whole is that sometimes bands tended to copy cat the secular market, especially early on.

Because I'm a really not at all religious person, I'm not too bothered by either Christian or Satanic lyrics (or in the case of Sabbath Assembly, a weird combination of the two!) but I find the constant negative imagery and vibe of a lot of extreme metal a bit dull these days and frankly a little childish.

I've not really found much Christian Metal that I can get into, but it's not the Christian aspect, i love some Gospel, it's just not for me musically (and I did listen to most of the popular Christian metal bands from the 80's.)

Boris2008 wrote:

Because I'm a really not at all religious person, I'm not too bothered by either Christian or Satanic lyrics (or in the case of Sabbath Assembly, a weird combination of the two!) but I find the constant negative imagery and vibe of a lot of extreme metal a bit dull these days and frankly a little childish.

I've not really found much Christian Metal that I can get into, but it's not the Christian aspect, i love some Gospel, it's just not for me musically (and I did listen to most of the popular Christian metal bands from the 80's.)

I think from the perspective of 80s metal, Christian Metal provides an alternative to the generic lyrical themes explored by the better known, secular metal bands. However, if you look at bands like Maiden or Saxon, Christian bands aren't doing anything too dissimilar they're just exploring a different theme which is just as epic imo as the historical themes Maiden and Saxon did.

Well, welcome to a lot of cool music...

My band, we're Christians, but since I don't believe in the idea of "Christian metal" or many other brandings of that sort, that's not what we are, check the FB bandprofile in the signature anyways for some tunes.

I like a lot of Christian metal.  

Actually that's how I got introduced to Christian Metal - through No Life Til Metal.

You know Believer is still making records too, phenomenal ones at that.  

There are some amazing so-called Christian bands out there. Some of my favorites identify as Christian bands and I'm not religious at all. I don't care.

Hell, I frickin' LOVE the song "Jesus Freak" by DC Talk! Haha.

And in case you're curious why I laugh...



Love it!

Eyesore wrote:

There are some amazing so-called Christian bands out there. Some of my favorites identify as Christian bands and I'm not religious at all. I don't care.

Hell, I frickin' LOVE the song "Jesus Freak" by DC Talk! Haha.

Talk' was one of the only bands I was allowed to listen to when I was like 8.

I have to post this classic. I had no idea who the Doobies were when I heard this.



 

Stender wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

There are some amazing so-called Christian bands out there. Some of my favorites identify as Christian bands and I'm not religious at all. I don't care.

Hell, I frickin' LOVE the song "Jesus Freak" by DC Talk! Haha.

Talk' was one of the only bands I was allowed to listen to when I was like 8.

An ex used to love them. There's one other song from this album that I like. Dig a few Jars of Clay songs, too.

And some of my favorite hardcore bands are Christian.







 

love christian metal. While non-christian bands by-and-large seem to have the lion's share in the talent department, I still love rockin' out to metal that also feeds my soul and spirit.

There's some great Christian Metal out there - some of the best album outside of Stryper (IMHO) are:

Barren Cross - Atomic Arena
Bloodgood - Detonation
Deliverance - S/T, Weapons Of Our Warfare
Bride - Live To Die

That list can easily be expanded

'Psychosurgery'.... 

I used to be all into Christian Metal...from about 86 up through late 90s...

The award for scariest music video from my childhood goes to...

Eyesore wrote:

And in case you're curious why I laugh...



Love it!

the whole album is really good.

I like Christian metal and have a slew of demos from bands that never made it.

Does "religionising" music helps?

Dude, Eyesore, right on the money! Strongarm is one of the best hardcore bands ever, in my opinion.

Tur-Thalion wrote:

Dude, Eyesore, right on the money!  Strongarm is one of the best hardcore bands ever, in my opinion.

They sure are. They had a really unique style.

You need Recon and Haven to check if you enjoy SW.

I'd love a good Recon reissue......