History

Christian metal has its origins in the early  1970s . Names like  Resurrection Band ,  Messiah Prophet ,  Jerusalem  and Jesus&Mary Jane are cited as early Christian metal bands. during the  80 's, the band  striper  helped popularize the genre, becoming the first Christian metal band to achieve  platinum disc .

Since the metal genre is popularly associated with an image of  sex  and  Satanism , Christian metal has often been criticized and met with some resistance by the mainstream church. Despite this, Christian metal bands have persisted and increasingly multiplied, boasting styles ranging from clear evangelism, such as the early Stryper formations, known for shooting  bibles  and charge  tithe  to the public, to other bands like  King's X , who tried to avoid association with Christian metal, although they demonstrated a strong Christian influence in many of their lyrics.

Band Rez aka Resurrection in live concert, August 1988.

Because Christian metal is largely characterized by lyrical context, there are several related subgenres. In the 1980s, Christian metal bands heavily influenced by mainstream bands were influenced by the  glam metal case of  striper ,  whitecross  Holy Soldier and  Neon Cross . Other bands were influenced by the  speed  and  thrash metal , like  tourniquet ,  Deliverance , Vengeance Rising and  believer .

In  nineteen ninety  O  mortification  became the first Christian death metal band to achieve greater recognition. Although they played an old style of  death metal  very close to the roots of thrash, their album,  Scrolls of the Megilloth , from 1992, is still considered a classic of the  death metal , [1]  and was launched on the markets  Christian  and  secular . At approximately the same time the band  living sacrifice  were playing  thrash metal / death metal ; also; O  paramaecium  became one of the biggest bands of  doom metal  Christian, and would later influence Christian bands like Pantokrator.

Horde is widely considered to be the first Christian band of  black metal . As the band had only one permanent member and only one release (in 1994), Horde started a controversy with the music community.  extreme metal , as it was opposed to the more common themes of  Satanism . The title of the Horde's only release,  Hellig Usvart , means "Sacred unBlack". Thus, the term unblack metal came to be used sometimes by Christians to refer to Christian black metal, in order to get rid of the negative connotation of  black metal .

Antestor  existed before the release of Hellig Usvart, but their music was closer to the death/doom style (or as they called it, "sorrow metal"), and it wasn't musically known yet as  black metal . They, as well  Crimson Moonlight ,  Divine Symphony , and others, today make a sophisticated style of Christian black metal that can be compared to productions by mainstream black metal bands. As always, more traditional and raw productions by bands from  black metal , like Abdijah,  Light Shall Prevail , Offerblod,  Arch of Thorns , Flaskavsae, Eligbbor, Bedeiah, Dormant and Firethrone, continues to exist on labels such as Sneeuwstorm Produkties and GES Productions, among others.

Currently, there are Christian metal bands for almost every genre of metal. However, particularly the band  Extol , which has a (often changing) mix of styles, is popular with both Christian and non-Christian metal fans.

Seventh Avenue,  Theocracy ,  Narnia , Rob Rock and  Divinefire , are the most prominent bands of  power metal  Christian. Rob Rock initially rose to fame as the lead singer of the  Chris Impellitteri , the  Impellitteri , during the  80's  and  90's . In  2000  he released his solo work,  Rage of Creation . He was also part of the vocals of the band  heavy metal  Warrior . There are many other notable bands, including  Ultimatum , Becoming the Archetype, Temple of Blood,  Aletheian ,  Savior Machine ,  Majestic Vanguard ,  Soul Embraced ,  Virgin Black , Century Sleeper,  Disciple  and  Come Domine .

In Brazil, the most popular bands are  G3 Workshop , which gained popularity in the 90s,  Antidemon , band from São Paulo  grindcore  and  death metal  internationally known and referenced created in 1994, and Amintor, a rising band from São Paulo  heavy  and  Thrash Metal  formed in 2010.

Certain Christian metal artists have found great public acceptance, both among Christian and non-Christian fans, such as  The Devil Wears Prada ,  As I Lay Dying  and  Stripper the popularity of  metalcore  is especially based on Christian bands such as  zao ,  Sleeping Giant ,  The Devil Wears Prada ,  Still Remains ,  Wolves at the Gate  and  Demon Hunter .

In the retrospective issue of the magazine  Revolver Magazine  in  2006 , Christian metal was voted the phenomenon of the year. Editor-in-Chief Tom Beaujour interviewed the leaders of the  As I Lay Dying ,  Demon Hunter ,  Norma Jean , and  underoath  ( Tim Lambesis ,  Ryan Clark ,  Cory Brandan Putman , and  Spencer Chamberlain , respectively) as the issue's cover file. [two]  Tooth and Nail Records ,  POD ,  zao ,  War of Ages ,  Still Remains , and  He Is Legend  were also mentioned.

In Brazil, the band Witness, with two thematic albums recorded: Vinde e Vede, which portrays the passion of Christ and Martyr, which brings versions of the stories of some of the main martyrs of the Catholic Church, is one of the representatives of the Christian Metal scene.

Christian black metal

It is the Christian variant of black metal. Christian black metal started in  1991  at  Norway , when  Antestor  released the demo The Defeat of Satan. the launch of  1998  of the band on the Cacophonous Records label, The Return of the Black Death, proved to be influential in the movement. In modern Unblack metal, it was led by groups such as Lengsel,  Vaakevandring ,  Crimson Moonlight  and Sanctify. The Christian lyrical themes of unblack metal are often united with the common imagery of black metal, regularly addressing the  christianity  as the matter in question.

Sonically, unblack metal incorporates heavy/distorted guitars,  torn vocals , fast passages and melodies, and songs with unconventional structures. The style varies between the aggressive style of Horde, the sorrow metal of Antestor and  Arvinger , the somber keyboards and synthesizers of  Vaakevandring  (more symphonic) and Vardoger in the more technical Drottnar style.

In the late 1990s, groups  scandinavians  how  antetor ,  Crimson Moonlight  and  Vaakevandring  set a new course, where anti-satanic lyrics were replaced by themes dealing with philosophical and ideological content.

Sanctuary International

Many rock and metal fans were rejected from churches in  1980 . In 1984, Pastor Bob Beeman saw this problem and soon started a ministry called Sanctuary - The Rock and Roll Refuge. This scholarship brought in many musicians and formed groups such as  tourniquet ,  deliverance ,  Vengeance  and  Mortal , who would soon become innovators in Christian music culture.

Sanctuary sponsored the first Christian metal festival, Metal Mardi Gras, held in  1987  in  Los Angeles . More Christian metal festivals were organized elsewhere as well. The Sanctuary spread and had 36 parishes throughout the  U.S  in  1990 . Sanctuary parishes had a significant impact on the Christian metal movement: groups that would later become notable as  POD , who held their first concerts at the Sanctuary.

However, at the end of  1990s , felt that "traditional" church attitudes towards metalheads, rockers and punks became more permissive and therefore there was no need to continue and it was closed. Sanctuary became Sanctuary International, and currently teaches international studies and Christianity. It also functions as an internet radio station called "Radio Intense", which in 2003 reached around 150,000 listeners. [3]

References

1. ↑  Kraemer, Chris.  «Mortification - Scrolls of the Megilloth Review» . The Metal Observer. Consulted on April 21, 2006

2. ↑  Beaujour, Tom.  «Revolver - gets down and dirty with four of Christian metal's leading frontmen» . Revolver Interview. Accessed February 1, 2007. Archived from  original  on January 5, 2010

3. ↑  Borgmasters, Mazi (2003). «Sanctuary International». Ristillinen. 3:22–28. Interview with Pastor Bob Beeman

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