Christianity
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The most prominent traditional religious denomination in heavy metal music would have to be Christianity. Christians have found a place in metal by creating a distinct subgenre, known as white metal, or simply Christian metal. Christian metal gained popularity in the 1980’s, thanks to bands such as Stryper, Vengeance, Saint, and Messiah Prophet (Weinstein 54). Christian metal’s fan base obviously consists almost entirely of young, religious individuals. The subgenre has very little appeal to the average metal head, and is considered by many to be lame and uncool, since its righteous message is a clear aberration from most traditional metal themes. Perhaps the only common theme between Christianity and heavy metal is chaos and destruction, which is seen mainly in the book of Revelation in the Christian bible.
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Some individuals utilize Christian metal as an alternative to traditional religious practice. Many people may feel a strong desire to connect to a deity on a spiritual level, but they feel that organized religion is not for them. In this sense, Christian metal offers another way for people to feel like they’re a part of a religious community. Simply listening to and enjoying music may seem like an unconventional form of worship to many. However, it appears to provide a great opportunity for many people to express and deal with their discontents and to build relationships with god and others.
Marcus Moberg, a religious scholar, suggests that “Christian metal emerged in the U.S. in the late 1970s as a means of evangelism in the secular metal community” (Moberg 2). Another possible explanation for the creation of this subgenre could be that certain religious individuals thoroughly enjoy the heavy metal sound, but they disagree with the subject matter discussed in its lyrics. This strong religious opposition to metal is exemplified by documentaries such as “Hell’s Bells - The Dangers of Rock And Roll”, which was created by Eric Holmberg. In this documentary, Holmberg makes his extreme Christian opinions very clear, condemning rock musicians as immoral, blasphemers, and Satanists (Holbmberg). The apparent incompatibilities between the principles of Christianity and traditional heavy metal themes makes the existence of Christian metal seem somewhat paradoxical, but the subgenre persists, nonetheless.
Marcus Moberg, a religious scholar, suggests that “Christian metal emerged in the U.S. in the late 1970s as a means of evangelism in the secular metal community” (Moberg 2). Another possible explanation for the creation of this subgenre could be that certain religious individuals thoroughly enjoy the heavy metal sound, but they disagree with the subject matter discussed in its lyrics. This strong religious opposition to metal is exemplified by documentaries such as “Hell’s Bells - The Dangers of Rock And Roll”, which was created by Eric Holmberg. In this documentary, Holmberg makes his extreme Christian opinions very clear, condemning rock musicians as immoral, blasphemers, and Satanists (Holbmberg). The apparent incompatibilities between the principles of Christianity and traditional heavy metal themes makes the existence of Christian metal seem somewhat paradoxical, but the subgenre persists, nonetheless.
Judaism
Judaism is not quite as prevalent as Christianity in heavy metal music, having only a small influence on the genre. In his article entitled “Let’s Hear it for Jewish Metal Musicians”, Jewish journalist Keith Khan-Harris attempts to explain the small role that Judaism plays in metal. He is quick to point out the incompatibility between the moral behaviors encouraged in Judaism and the immorality of traditional metal themes. He also notes that “Traditionally, the image of the Jew in the diaspora is the "nebbishy" weakling – the ultimate nerd figure – hiding from the bullies. Metal - hyper-masculine, over the top and very very loud - is the antithesis of this stereotype” (1). Despite this, several Jewish musicians, such as Dee Snyer, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, and David Lee Roth, have played an important role in the metal genre. Kahn-Harris also mentions that a very select group of metal musicians are making an effort to incorporate Judaism into their music, citing as an example the musician Jamie Saft and his release “Black Shabbis”, which explores negative stereotypes against Judaism. Other than this fringe Jewish metal movement, Judaism plays no significant role in influencing heavy metal music, or its subculture.