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Christian metal

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

Origins

The first Christian metal band was arguably 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 plays Hair Metal and As I Lay Dying plays 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.

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, oftentimes 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.

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 (www.purpledoor.com), a festival in Lewisberry, PA, that is mostly attended by locals.

List of Christian metal bands

Main article: List of Christian metal bands

See also

External links

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