Morally righteous religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have had only a small influence on the heavy metal genre, the most notable being the emergence of the Christian metal subgenre. However, non-traditional religious denominations, such as Satanism, Paganism, ancient mythology, and The Occult, play a huge role in influencing the song writing and image of heavy metal. As mentioned earlier, heavy metal relies heavily on the realm of darkness, terrifying creatures, evil forces, and chaos. Heavy metal fans do not wish to hear about the good in the world, or about good triumphing over evil, but rather they crave lyrics and images of evil and destruction. Non-traditional religions are replete with this evil themes, and for this reason, they become a perfect source for metal musicians to draw inspiration from.
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