Christian metal

Christian metal or White metal is a form of heavy metal music with explicitly Christian lyrics and themes. It is a form of Christian alternative music.

Origins

Early Christian metal bands include bands such as Resurrection Band and Jerusalem. Stryper was the first to popularize the genre. Christian metal can be classified under many subgenres as well. For example, the band Horde, who have extreme black metal influences, yet are deemed grindcore and there is also Gånglîå which would be considered cybergrind. Then there is Whitecross who play glam metal and As I Lay Dying and Still Remains who play metalcore. Typically, a band's style status is defined not only by the actual music, but also by theme and lyrical content.

Controversies

Several controversies often crop up when discussing Christian metal.

First, many fans of secular heavy metal do not consider Christian metal to be a real form of metal, even though the Christian bands often sound very similar to their secular counterparts. This is partly because metal was originally supposed to contain various controversial themes, which set it apart from Hard Rock. In many ways, Christian metal is considered to be a paradox.

Second, there are several general-market metal bands who do not identify themselves as a "Christian band" but who still use their lyrics to portray God in a positive light. They have various reasons for doing this. A common reason that they cite is easier access to the secular market; although more stores are now stocking Christian metal bands along with secular metal bands, often times the Christian bands are given their own, much smaller, section in the back of the store. Additionally, there are some bands (for example, Virgin Black and Klank) who do have Christian members but who have had negative experiences with churches, and therefore would prefer to just identify their band as a regular band (rather than a Christian one), so as to avoid being lumped in with the same people who had rejected them before. MCM Music, founded by Eric Clayton of Saviour Machine (along with two others), is one record label that has signed several bands who have this mindset.

Third, many people who do not enjoy the genre of metal think the concept of Christianity and what they view as the evil and destructive music of metal cannot be combined. This same view is held by some conservative Christian circles (who are on the opposite side of the debate); members of the King-James-Only Movement (especially Dial-the-Truth and similar ministries) are chief among these. Much like Christian hip hop, however, Christian metal is also widely accepted into holy culture.

On that note, the nu-metal band P.O.D., who have recently said numerous times that they are a Christian band, was invited to perform live at a Billy Graham crusade in San Diego, the band's hometown. The band humbly rejected the invitation, because, in lead singer Sonny Sandoval's words, "We were like, 'Hey, we just want to be there, to hang out and meet people and serve. We don't want to go up there on stage. This is not a platform for P.O.D. We don't want to use your platform to promote our band.'" ^*

Concerts

As is to be expected, there are not a great deal of churches that allow metal bands to perform, with more contemporary churches (and churches such as Sanctuary International and Revolution, which target their ministries at people who do not fit well at more conventional churches) being an exception to this. The typical Christian metal show, then, might take place at a community center or coffeehouse or some underground venue that might generally host a show of such high volumes and intensity. In addition, there are annual festivals that host Christian metal bands. Many Christian metal bands can be seen at the Cornerstone Festival in Illinois or Florida. For seven years, fans of Christian metal could also attend the Bobfest in Europe. (The last Bobfest took place in 2005.) There are also smaller festivals like Purple Door, a festival in Lewisberry, PA, that is mostly attended by locals. The Underground Cafe of Roseville, CA hosts a lot of underground Christian metal/hardcore bands. One of the biggest concerts in the world is Creation Fest.

Unblack metal

Unblack metal, also called Holy unblack metal or Christian black metal (CBM) is a style of music derived from and similar to black metal music in nearly all ways, except that it is patently anti-Satanic, usually Christian and espouses holiness, moralism, etc. It is seen by some as oxymoronic because it uses dark symbolism, affrontrous stage behaviour, and the very content which was in the first place adopted by black metal for the reason that it was thought to alienate the sensibilities of such convictions held in family values and social philanthropy, etc.

External links

MetalForJesus.org Comparisons of Christian Metal to Mainstream Metal chart
Reign Radio (Streaming Christian Metal)
Sanctuary International
DanielsMusic.com Concert Photography - includes Cornerstone Festival
Tongues of Fire News and Reviews of Modern Christian Hardcore and Metal
Firestream The believer's heavy music refuge - a forum for many Christian metal bands
Godcore.com Christian Music Database