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Post by Thomas Eversole on May 8, 2015 0:16:07 GMT -6
Hi guys. Just wanting to start a discussion on what actually makes a Christian band? Is it something the band even gets to decide? I'd like to list the catagories below and see what ingredients make the "Christian band" recipe, and which ones don't. Members: - Volunteering Christian faith or Admitting Christian faith when asked - Not a Christian (but respects the faith) - A former Christian, but now against Christianity - Against Christianity - Unknown Stance: - This is a Christian band per the member(s) - This is known as a Christian band - This is not known as a Christian band - This is not a Christian band per the member(s) Lyrics: - Openly Christ Centered on all topics - Openly Christ centered OR Christian in morale, but potentially offensive/irregular lyrics (ie: profanity) - Not Christ centered, but heavy on Christian morals (holy) - Not Christ centered, but emphasis on overcoming unholy struggles - Not Christ centered, but a fictional story with (holy) spiritual metaphor - Not Christ centered and related to tangible/earthly topics only - Obviously not Christian lyrics (or unholy) Lifestyle/Heart: - Known for Christ like behavior, very straight edge - Some secular characteristics/quirks, but still Christ centered - Glaring defects of character that contradict Christianity - Unknown These laid out, I'd like to say that "elapsed time" is the ultimate variable here. The examples I'll post will help explain that. ________________________________________ My first scenario, is a comparison. I'd like to compare "Sobrwydd a Disgyblaeth" era Ankou Awaits and "Within the Ancient Forest" era Paramaecium. The faith is there for both parties. (admitted and volunteered where apropos) The lyrics are "Not Christ centered, but a fictional story with (holy) spiritual metaphor" I'd say "Some secular characteristics/quirks, but still Christ centered" for me - Unknown, straight edge or the same thing for them, I don't know The significant difference is Within the Ancient Forest is "known" as a Christian release, Sobrwydd a Disgyblaeth "is not a Christian band/release per the member(s)" What if no one here ever heard me state that Ankou Awaits is not a Christian project and I put 2 bible verses in the CD insert and the lyrics, music and artwork stay EXACTLY the same. Would you consider it a Christian release? What if there were no Bible verses, but a thank you to "The Almighty God"? ...how about something a little more vague, like thanks to "The Grand Creator" or "My Higher Power"? What if you were never aware of Paramaecium as a Christian band, those scriptures weren't in the insert but their lyrics, artwork, music was the same. Would that be a Christian release? Trying to get you thinking folks! ________________________________________ Second scenario - The band Sewer They're very raw black metal on "The Satan Records", their first album is "Satanic Requiem". Their second album is "Black Death". The lyrics are rather vile. Doesn't sound like anything a Christian would want anything to do with, right? Their third album is called "The Light", and the band and label (seriously) call it unblack metal. The lyrics are strange, but in effect... hold no evidence of sarcasm and appear to be legitimate glorification to all things holy. bestblackmetal.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/sewers-the-light-is-extreme-christian-unblack-metal/...of course, their 4th album is once again explicit, their music is horrible/stupid/sounds like farting in a soup can - but I digress. If a band's current modus operandi is unholy filth and they (for whatever reason) decide to intentionally create a Christian album, would you consider it to be Christian? If you read Sewer's lyrics (and you should) would your view change if, hypothetically speaking, those exact lyrics weren't from Sewer, but from Vardoger or Crimson Moonlight? ...or some band that just showed up that we know nothing about? If you wouldn't consider Sewer's "The Light" as a Christian release because of the band's current anti-Christian activity, do you also consider the Vengeance Rising albums to not be Christian? (again, proclaimed as Christian releases, but the current activity of the band member is clearly anti-Christian) ....aaaaaaaaaaaaaand this is where the time variable comes in. In 1990-1992, what Christian metalhead didn't consider Human Sacrifice or Once Dead by Vengeance Rising to be Christian releases? Is the band member's faith/behavior currently or 10 or 23 years from now really a variable to it being "Christian"? Anyone else's mind blown? Here's my ultimate realization. There's no such thing as Christian music or a Christian band. Recordings, CD inserts or concepts with a name cannot accept Christ's gift of salvation and enter heaven. Only people can. ...and animals. Maybe. Squirrels will probably be in heaven.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2015 10:29:40 GMT -6
Once again: interesting topic - and quite complex, so I'll just drop some thoughts at this point!
I guess speaking of Christian/Satanic/Occult (whatever) metal makes sense the same way people classify music as black/death/doom etc metal: it's simply a way to communicate what something is about or a way to team up with others you want to be associated with. So far, so good. Furthermore I understand that folks who are searching for "Christian metal" want to find something Christian when discovering a so called Christian band. From an "artist's" point of view it's a different story, at least for me. I mean, on the one hand it makes sense from my point of view to call something Christian bm, if Christian spirituality is part of what I'm trying to put into my stuff and if the musical foundation is bm = Christian black metal. On the other hand creating some kind of Christian metal doesn't mean I want to be forced to include a 'standard message' or something like that, just like 'there has to be one "turn to Christ!!!" / "Jesus saves!!!" / "repentrepentrepentrepentrepent!!!" per song, otherwise it isn't Christian metal" (guess you know what I mean) - not saying that's it's wrong to do it that way, but not my cup of tea when it comes to creating music. In general I've got the impression that what (many) Christians expect from Christian metal isn't a very wide field, so to speak. I'm mean, if lyrics were inspired by Christian gnosticism, many probably wouldn't want to call it a Christian release, even though it's simply a different shape of early Christian beliefs (just took this as a random example).
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Post by Thomas Eversole on May 8, 2015 13:31:26 GMT -6
Good points Kai. I agree completely with the listener and artist perspective. It almost seems to me like metal listeners formed two different clubs for artists to join. There's the secular club which is huge, has been around forever and things are pretty open... then there's the Christian club which is small and has much stricter requirements in comparison. Can't be in both clubs either, unfortunately. So I choose the larger one for the larger audience, even though the small one has my friends and its charm. I'm mean, if lyrics were inspired by Christian gnosticism, many probably wouldn't want to call it a Christian release, even though it's simply a different shape of early Christian beliefs (just took this as a random example). Ironically, the story told in the Ankou Awaits "Oberour Ar Maro" release is based on what Christians believed when Christianity first came to Ireland. ...but no one would consider that album "Christian". Not by my admission, or theirs.
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Post by Thomas Eversole on May 14, 2015 12:38:06 GMT -6
I figured I'd mention here. Here's a statement on what appears to be on every one of Bedeiah's YouTube video postings.
I think we all know that the term "unblack" has a stigma attached to it. I'd be curious to know why they'd want to distance themselves from that term. I can certainly tell you why I'd do it, but not everyone has my motives...
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Post by Kerrick on May 14, 2015 13:15:37 GMT -6
The whole "unblack" thing is quite silly IMO. If I were in a Christian black metal band, I'd stray away from that title too (though I don't think I'd care much either way). With Horde (where unblack got its name, as everyone knows), much of the lyrics were specifically anti-anti-Christian. There's not much of a message of love or hope when crushing the bloodied horns of goats, etc. I tend to associate "unblack" with conveying messages of anti-anti-Christianity rather than the themes Bedeiah spelled out such as repentance redemption.
Not sure if that's relevant or accurate at all... but that's how I see it anyways!
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2015 13:28:55 GMT -6
I understand that the term "unblack" sounds silly to many people, but then again it's just another name. All in all I think naming it unblack or christian bm and not just bm simply comes from two things: those that get a rapid heartbeat from the thought of any christian themes in metal (so you have to "warn" them with the apposition "christian") - and christians that don't want to listen to non-christian music (by calling it christian you assure that it's "safe" to listen to the music). I wouldn't mind to handle it differently, but...
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Post by Thomas Eversole on May 14, 2015 19:41:56 GMT -6
When it comes to "unblack", I just think its silly to coin an entirely new MUSIC genre when the only real difference is LYRICAL content. I mean, if there was blues music with Christian lyrics, would that be "unblues"? I guess we could call it "Oranges" in the likeness of the less common term of "white metal" vs "black metal", "life metal" vs "death metal".
To me, this just adds to the segregation between listeners - and THAT is the most harmful thing to Christian metal today. The same group of people that get butthurt at the thought of Christians being in extreme metal are probably the same type of people that get wasted because their shoelace broke, or blow up at a teacher because their kid(s) gets bad grades.
If its not that, its something else.
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2015 5:04:40 GMT -6
Don't know, perhaps this also depends on the society people live in, but at least in Germany this kind of "extreme metal can have any lyrics but Christian lyrics" is like a relict from the times when "being a Christian" was some kind of social rule (well, to some extend that is) forced upon young people. Guess in these times Christian metal must have been some kind of "stick to rules and behave - Rock n Roll" for many metalheads.
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Post by Thomas Eversole on May 15, 2015 10:42:39 GMT -6
True. I think there are some metalheads actually going against the against grain. Metal has a theme of rebellion and what better way to do that than to rebel against the rebels? I'm pretty sure a chunk of that is why Hellhammer drummed for Antestor. To shock the shockers, you've got to me anti-disestablishment, which is just another form of (love the term Kerrick) anti-anti-Christian. Maybe that's why Sewer did what they did? I mean, if being offensive or "out there" is at least some aspect of the project, the only people offended by sex, death, anti-Christianity and all of the above combined are people who aren't already listening to Sewer. Those themes have been more than welcome for quite some time to them and that genre. What better way to offend and be "out there" in their own flock than make a (as sincere as they can) Jesus Loves You album? ....ultimately though, and kind of going back to the original post, I think this has less to do with what secular people think of Christian metal, and more to do with what Christians think of secular metal. I say this because, the Christian metal scene is really behind in comparison! Secular black metal (from a musical standpoint ONLY) is better than a lot of Christian black metal projects/bands because what I mentioned on this post. ...and I say that having listened to a good chunk of each. If the big picture is that Christian black metal is supposed to be 100% for Christian listeners who never listen(ed) to secular black metal, well, I guess there's no reason to really improve the sound. If there's even a small percentage that its to be known / witness to / be recognized by the secular black metal scene, they WILL NOT have any success outside Christian approval if they only listen to the current pool of Christian bands available now. I'll eat my hat if they only have Christian influences and become a secular success. Currently in the Christian scene, there's not enough variety of influences or experience to compare in quality to the secular scene, and its frustrating to watch artists cripple their own art because they see any influences outside the Christian bubble as poisonous.
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Post by Varg on May 15, 2015 12:26:58 GMT -6
The Unblack label is rubbish. Music should be defined by the genre it belongs in. Like Black Metal or Death Metal. Or any other genre. If an artist or a band wants to point out the lyrical stand point/faith behind the music. Simply call it Christian Black Metal. Or whatever..
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2015 7:53:31 GMT -6
To me, it's simple: the band chooses whether or not they want to be called a "Christian band". Generally, a band who chooses to be called a Christian band will try to find a Christian label as well, but a secular band ran by a Christian would find a secular label. Thus, the difference between Paramaecium and Ankou Awaits.
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Post by Thomas Eversole on May 16, 2015 9:39:09 GMT -6
I agree with those differences. It does strike me weird that I could just say Ankou Awaits is a Christian band, and then it would be.... like, a band being Christian doesn't have to do with its lyrics?
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2015 13:13:28 GMT -6
...from this perspective, calling something Christian metal simply seems to be a membership card, so that other club members know that they 'can' listen to your album. For example: two Doom Metal albums with a fictional story, but one album is from a 'Christian band', so a Christian should buy this and not the other album...
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2015 18:27:02 GMT -6
I just gave a cursory skim of the thread and so I apologize at the outset if I beat any dead horses here or mischaracterize any of your views.
I've adopted a kind of metaphysical framework when thinking about metal (or music, generally) that posits three fundamental categories: the Sacred, the Secular, and the Profane. I think the majority of music fits in the middle category (secular), which rarely makes any kind of religious commitments, and only borrows loosely from religious imagery and symbolism.
Extreme metal (and in particular, black metal) consciously situates itself firmly in the category of the Profane - it makes religious commitments that are decidedly anti-sacred, that aim to negate the concept of hope or salvation, etc. What I mean by this is that there has been a historical confluence of ideas and identities in extreme metal that are not merely atheistic (as we might see in, let's say, pop music) but anti-theistic, and these include general lyrical trends (obviously), symbolism in cover art, liner notes, t-shirt designs, etc., and a general attitude among most metalheads that religion (specifically Abrahamic religion) is harmful or limiting. Unlike the blues, which got the name "devil's music" largely from church-going folks in the Mississippi Delta, extreme metal has **dubbed itself** as The Devil's Music. I'm of the opinion that we should take that seriously, and not simply write off extreme metal as merely another genre. To do that would reflect a very secularized approach to music that I think Christians simply cannot afford to have, lest the idea of "Christian Music" at all completely folds in on itself.
The musical elements that extreme metal use almost seem to have been chosen in direct defiance of church musicology. The diminished triad (or tritone, called the "diabolus in musica"), for example, which is so prominent in extreme metal was outright banned in church music both before and after the Reformation. Church fathers have talked about how fast, pounding drums are reminiscent of pagan celebrations that encouraged possession - and what drum cadence is both faster and more pounding that the blast-beat? The vocals are an obvious nod to what we imagine as demonic or monstrous voices.
All this to say that to straddle the line between sacred and profane - like Christian extreme metal does - requires that a lot of theological ground clearing be done. It's not enough to say that extreme metal is just like any old genre of music, and that to dub it "Christian" is simply sign of membership or helpful label. The idea of "anti-anti-Christian black metal," I think, deserves to be contemplated more seriously. Does unblack metal *revert* the inverted cross, or *invert* it a second time? What symbolic significance does the choice of verb carry?
Bringing this strange rant to a close, I want to thank y'all for reading through this. I believe I've shared this with some of you, but I plan on writing a full-length book on Christian black metal and one of my aims is to tackle this very issue, so I'm just sorta getting my thoughts down on paper (computer screen?).
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2015 11:24:37 GMT -6
A really interesting read and I hope you will share some more thoughts on this topic!
I think I have a different point of view on that question of 'the devil's music' - at least to some extent. I mean, to me it's pretty obvious, that this label has always been used in order to shock or rebel against what was prevalent in the societies where (extreme) metal evolved. Most folks didn't make it beyond using some mixture of fantasy, La Vey, Crowley and perhaps some Lovecraft they had read when writing lyrics - let alone being some kind of 'true' Satanists. For example a member of Running Wild was a theology student and became a pastor later on, while using 'evil' imagery/lyrics on the first album. Ok, not an example for EXTREME metal, haha. Besides that I got the impression that a whole lot of bands focus on different things (nowadays). I mean, while all somewhat 'occult'/'heathen' content might be evil (well, you know what I mean) or profane for most/many Christians anyway (in terms of: 'my belief is the one and only truth, so a different belief inevitably has to be wrong and bad on that note'), I think, that a good amount of bands don't focus on inverting Christian values anymore. Even if you think of that 'anti-cosmic Satanism' of Dissection/Watain (for example), it's more or less based on a gnostic idea of 'creation is bad - chaos is release' (you get the point, my description is rubbish of course). It's obviously not a Christian/biblical concept of salvation, but a goal, which is perceived as 'positive' nevertheless. Or think about all the Pagan beliefs, which are reflected in the work of many bands: they reflect a lot of values that are viewed as positive or perhaps even sacred (in the framework of that believe) and don't seem to feel attached to Christian ideas at all (and refusing Christianty / not being Christian is just a side note or a natural consequence of having a different spiritual point of view), so I think it's kind of complicated to arrange the whole thing on that 'traditional' Christians vs Anti-Christians (or scacred vs profane) idea - if you look at it from a universal angle, that is. Hope you understand what I'm trying to express, would be easier to find proper words in my native tongue, of course. Please let me emphasize that I'm just sharing my thoughts and I'm not trying to say, that your point of view is wrong in any objective way!
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2015 14:05:29 GMT -6
Don't worry about your English, Kai; your post was perfectly understandable.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2015 20:54:19 GMT -6
Those are some super interesting points, Kai! I think this might be the first time I've seen those ideas laid out so clearly. As I'm able to flesh out my ideas more, I'd love to correspond with you about them to see what you think.
On a side note, I also identified Watain's ideology as being essentially gnosticism when I watched that concert/film "Opus Diaboli". I wonder if people who aren't familiar with religious studies or the history of Christianity are more captivated by those ideas, but since I was already familiar with gnosticism I found his views somewhat boring, lol.
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Post by Varg on May 27, 2015 8:12:05 GMT -6
I plan on writing a full-length book on Christian black metal and one of my aims is to tackle this very issue, so I'm just sorta getting my thoughts down on paper (computer screen?). This sounds like something I want to read.
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Post by Thomas Eversole on May 27, 2015 16:26:06 GMT -6
For starters, any book you write Eulogium, I'd be interested in buying. I can tell your profession is teaching the English language!
I think a big component to extreme metal being evil, even today, is its history. Why is black metal evil? Because of where it came from. That argument has been used on both sides, for and against, black and death metal.
Just because it used to be evil, or was rooted in evil, doesn't mean it has to remain evil... or that its permanently tainted with evil.
I mean, if history stayed eternal and what it was means that's what it always will be, courthouses would still be known as places to hang people.
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Post by Thomas Eversole on May 27, 2015 16:26:35 GMT -6
For starters, any book you write Eulogium, I'd be interested in buying. I can tell your profession is teaching the English language!
I think a big component to extreme metal being evil, even today, is its history. Why is black metal evil? Because of where it came from. That argument has been used on both sides, for and against, black and death metal.
Just because it used to be evil, or was rooted in evil, doesn't mean it has to remain evil... or that its permanently tainted with evil.
I mean, if history stayed eternal and what it was means that's what it always will be, courthouses would still be known as places to hang people.
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Post by drawnsword on May 28, 2015 18:29:03 GMT -6
When it comes to Christians making Black Metal and calling it Unblack, i think its actually about showing your understanding with respect in the language of the elitist underground movement. Calling it Christian unblack metal might be flying an honest flag in deciding support, but that is not important to the BM movement if you dont show you understand the language or the unwritten rules then you will be labeled an imposter, a poser, a weekend party warrior, or a depressed poet. There own know the real fruit of a demon possessed and oppressed slave of satan. If you dont have the evil feeling and right sound your going to be labeled Post black metal , dark extreme metal, forest metal, moon metal, gloomy grim metal, pixie elf leaf metal or frozen sword blood drip metal. Who cares right? Do you think Lord Vile of Gorothargariumoth Hex Maggot who is desperate for peace and freedom from being controlled and tormented by Satan will care what you call it in your pretend Black metal bubble? will he think you understand his world? Can you stand out and be a light in a very very dark place?
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Post by Thomas Eversole on May 29, 2015 8:27:52 GMT -6
I think I might disagree on some points, I'm not sure... ...see, Christian black metal (or any of its other names) has a mission. Or at least it should have a mission. Black metal is very much a "fist to the throat" to music in general, both with its harsh sound and un-contemporary lyrics. This appeals, now, to a relatively large group of people. If a Christian black metal project ends up being just a "fist to the throat" of black metal, well... that appeals to, now, a very small group of people. With good reason - its both pissing off the rooted black metal because it is against what they conform to, and its still much too frightening or misunderstood with the general Christian hard music fan. Bottom line, if the goal is to intentionally make music that most people dislike, then, mission accomplished? It's not logical, within reason, to be anti-genre with art though. I'd say that Ankou Awaits has been a relative success with pulling this off - but obviously different than a Christian band. I think Christian black metal would be a MUCH better success if it did as little as possible to rock the boat our neighbors sailed. On top of that, it would be a much better success if the light it was shining was made to appeal to the darkness, rather than repel or be against it. I truly believe Christian black metal should attempt to be attractive to secular black metal. Ironically, I feel like Ankou Awaits is attempting to be attractive to Christians from the neighbor's yard. HAHA!! If Christian black metal can pull off appealing in all aspects to the sound of black metal, and with very strategic lyrics, proudly wave the flag of Christianity while NOT being an irritant to those against it, we're talking a REAL success here. This could even have some "ministry" results! Easier said than done though. My closing remarks are more of a side note though, I'm starting to really reconsider switching gears to what I described - rather than furthering my ranks in the secular scene. This decision I'm considering in part (and this is described in detail on this thread) because the secular scene really does have a seperate set of morals - and would be more inclined to steal music than a practicing Christian would. Key word, decision, not committed action by the way. Wow, that was just a random stream of consciousness.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2015 11:14:04 GMT -6
Those are some super interesting points, Kai! I think this might be the first time I've seen those ideas laid out so clearly. As I'm able to flesh out my ideas more, I'd love to correspond with you about them to see what you think. That would be awesome! ---------------------------------------------- The idea of 'good vs evil' others have mentioned is a difficult topic from my point of view. I don't think that people act in order to be evil - 'evil' - more or less - always refers to an evaluation of another person. If you don't believe in the Christian god, the most blasphemic lyrics are evil from a Christian point of view - while this god is just a fantasy from your own point of view. It's just the same with many moral issues. For example: when La Vey wrote the Satanic Bible, he chose (!) the part of the antagonist, but from HIS very own point of view, the attitude he talked about was simply sane, while (some/many) Christian rules were considered unhealthy. So the term 'evil' always refers to specific moral frame. Just like described in that La Vey example, many people in bm would call Christianity or at least the church evil (witch hunts, crusades, forcing morals and a believe on people etc). So can we really say that Christian bm vs bm equals 'good ideas vs evil ideas', while especially those in bm would not share the point of view that Christianity is right and good? About your last post, Tom: I agree to a certain degree. I've said this before: I like people that "wave the flag" for what they stand for, while accepting that other people stand for different ideas, which seem to be right and true for their lifes. Against this background it's probably pretty obvious, that I don't like this idea of "ministry" in music that much. From my point of view people should accept that spirituality / a belief cannot be discussed on the basis of "without a doubt you are wrong and I am right", otherwise we would talk about some kind of assured wisdom and not about a belief (!), right?
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2015 18:29:49 GMT -6
A lot of people seem to think that CBM can be used for ministry and spreading the word of God. I doubt that this will work very well. If we use anti-Satanic lyrics (early Drottnar, Horde, etc.), the secular scene will not really take the music seriously. If we use lyrics that simply speak of Christianity (Antestor, etc.), the secular scene might take the music seriously but they certainly won't think any differently of Christianity than they did before. If we use worship lyrics (Grave Declaration, etc.), the secular scene would not take the music seriously at all and would probably mock it a lot. If we use lyrics that reference Christianity among other things (Crimson Moonlight, etc.), the secular scene might take the music seriously and listen to it, but it won't change their minds about Christianity.
In my opinion, ministry is best left to real life, not through music.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2015 18:42:23 GMT -6
Btw, here's an interesting quote from TT from Abigor about Black Metal (just felt like tossing it in) : "In Black Metal you act out your spirituality, it's comparable to church music as a service to God. That's the foundation of Black Metal. Why does one create Black Metal? Because it is an engagement in one's religion."
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2015 19:39:08 GMT -6
A lot of people seem to think that CBM can be used for ministry and spreading the word of God. I doubt that this will work very well. I've begun to think of Eulogium not as a ministry, but as an offering - maybe like a work of religious art that is not *designed* to save souls, per se. It's confessional, not evangelical.
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Post by Varg on Jun 2, 2015 8:09:04 GMT -6
A lot of people seem to think that CBM can be used for ministry and spreading the word of God. I doubt that this will work very well. If we use anti-Satanic lyrics (early Drottnar, Horde, etc.), the secular scene will not really take the music seriously. If we use lyrics that simply speak of Christianity (Antestor, etc.), the secular scene might take the music seriously but they certainly won't think any differently of Christianity than they did before. If we use worship lyrics (Grave Declaration, etc.), the secular scene would not take the music seriously at all and would probably mock it a lot. If we use lyrics that reference Christianity among other things (Crimson Moonlight, etc.), the secular scene might take the music seriously and listen to it, but it won't change their minds about Christianity. In my opinion, ministry is best left to real life, not through music. I see your point. I'm not saying you're wrong. Cuz you don't. But at the same time I know people who has come to faith, and / or has been stronger I faith because of Christian Metal. The world needs bands like Antestor and Extol. Testimonials from artists like Dave Ellefson and Brian Welch is important for many people. Both for those who have faith and those who are unbelievers. It may not work for everybody. It does work for some that's for sure.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2015 9:12:03 GMT -6
I think at this point we can seperate two things:
1 - The content of art can obviously have an impact on people, be it Christian art, Heathen art, political art and so on. From this angle it is right: Metal with Christian content might influence someone, if this person feels inspired by what he/she listens to.
2 - Making music with the 'official' goal to influence people. I might be wrong, but very often I get the impression that (some) Christians try to 'legitimize' this by claiming, that the rest of the metal scene consists of lost, depressed, sad beings, who long for someone to tell them how to rise from their miserable lifes. While there will be some of these depressed persons in metal (just like there are depressed people among 'regular' secular people, among Christians...), it just doesn't match reality in general.
So all in all I think standing for what you believe in is cool, but preaching to other metalheads doesn't make much sense.
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Post by Varg on Jun 2, 2015 13:43:31 GMT -6
I think at this point we can seperate two things: 1 - The content of art can obviously have an impact on people, be it Christian art, Heathen art, political art and so on. From this angle it is right: Metal with Christian content might influence someone, if this person feels inspired by what he/she listens to. 2 - Making music with the 'official' goal to influence people. I might be wrong, but very often I get the impression that (some) Christians try to 'legitimize' this by claiming, that the rest of the metal scene consists of lost, depressed, sad beings, who long for someone to tell them how to rise from their miserable lifes. While there will be some of these depressed persons in metal (just like there are depressed people among 'regular' secular people, among Christians...), it just doesn't match reality in general. So all in all I think standing for what you believe in is cool, but preaching to other metalheads doesn't make much sense. True. I'm not talking about preaching. But the fact that people can innspirere people be themselves.
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