Hey Andy, what do you and other Christians think of Heavy Metal music? And I don’t mean the new stuff they call heavy metal…I mean like Judas Priest, Kiss, Dio, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Megadeth, Venom, and Slayer (I would have included Metallica but they went down hill after the first 3 albums).
Haha, hilarious. Yeah, I agree with you about Metallica — nothing after the Black Album, and some of those songs are even questionable. But they seem to be moving back to their roots lately.
What I Think of Heavy Metal
So What do I think of Heavy Metal? Dude, I freakin’ LOVE it! (Bet you weren’t expecting that, eh?) In fact, I DJ’d for a (secular) heavy metal radio station from 1996 – 2005, before and during seminary. Also, from 2017-2019, I redid and managed their website and edited the cuss words from a bunch of their songs so we can play them on the air. (Don’t believe me? Check out my profile). So yeah, I love metal.
Not All Christians Agree With Me About Heavy Metal
Now, not all Christians have the same views of metal as I. For instance, some Christians choose not to listen to heavy metal at all because of the messages in the songs. Some Christians did listen to metal before knowing the Lord, but don’t anymore because it reminds them of who they were in those days. So they stop listening to it to keep themselves from any chance of falling backwards in their faith. That’s fine, and I totally encourage them to keep with what they feel they need to do.
And Honestly, I won’t listen to all metal songs, especially if they blaspheme the Lord, and there are a LOT of bands out there who are truly against God. And whether they know it or not, are actually promoting Satan, even if they think it’s just their image.
Not All Metal is Evil
I think it’s also important though to realize that not all heavy metal bands who don’t promote God are actually to be considered as evil. In fact, for some, if you really pay attention, you’ll find that many of their songs aren’t so much against God as they are about their misunderstandings about God, the Church, and the Bible. And many of those bands today (and some of those you mentioned above) have in fact come to know Jesus personally since those days (Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Blackie Lawless from WASP, and Alice Cooper, for instance). And with Megadeth, I love listening to the lyrics and different albums because it sort of gives the story of Dave’s struggles and his coming to know Jesus.
Christian Heavy Metal
Originally, the Christian rock/metal bands started out trying to sound like the secular bands for evangelism reasons, like, “Hey do you like Iron Maiden? Then you should really check out this Christian band….they sound just like them!” But some Christian bands had their own sound, like Stryper. Heck, these guys became so well known in the secular metal world that 2/3 of the 1 million buyers of their well renown album, “To Hell With the Devil” were non-Christians. Talk about an awesome ministry to non-Christian metalheads!
Today, you’ll find a whole bunch of great Christian metal bands that I would suggest you check out. Some sound just as great as the non-Christian bands, and some even sound better, depending on who you’re comparing them to. For example, if you like Iron Maiden and old Metallica, then I suggest you check out some old “Deliverance“. Christian metal bands with their own sound include: X-Sinner, Tourniquet, Bloodgood, Ultimatum, Whitecross, Mortification, Barren Cross, Bride, Jacob’s Dream, The Crucified, Betrayal, (old) P.O.D., Pillar, 38th Parallel...just to name a few of my favorites.
I also really get into the newer sound, and there are many Christian bands in that category, such as InnerWish, Phinehas, Theocracy, BioGenesis, Signum Regis, Impending Doom, Demon Hunter, Extol, Cross the End, Apollyon, Unseen Faith, As Lions and Lambs, I Am Eternity, Saving Grace (sounds like Pantera), Sleeping Giant, Lightworker (which sounds like Five Finger Death Punch, which is NOT a Christian band, but I do also like), Living Sacrifice, Skillet, Scourged Flesh, Anti-Demon, Enshrouding, Salvation X, and MANY more.
There are also great Christian punk bands you may like, such as “The Crucified”, and Six Feet Deep.
Christian Metal Resources
If you’re on Facebook, check out the group “Christian Metalheads International“. You may also want to check out something that has been out in Sweden and Germany for a bit, but is just now recently available in English, “The Metal Bible”. It’s basically the New Testament of the Bible in the New Living Translation (and available in, I think, about 50 languages now), but in the front, you’ll read Christian testimonies from metal artists, such as Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden, Dave Ellefson from Megadeth, Peter Baltes of Accept, Brian “Head” Welch of Korn, and many others.
So there are many ways for Christians to listen to metal, while also continuing to remove ourselves from the non-Christian lifestyle that’s often associated with it. It also makes it easier to listen to metal as more and more secular band members continue to come to Christ.
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