This may be a repeat thread but I looked through all the recent ones before posting. Does anyone else here like Christian Metal? Any thoughts on it? Band recommendations or discussion on certain bands.
Also I got into metal before I truly knew God like I do now. I feel like it’s sacrilege keeping bands like Lamb of God, Chimaira, Nothingface (in case people know these bands) but I just can’t seem to get rid of them, I love working out to their music. Is this such a terrible thing?
Welcome to CAF!
I like metal, too, though I’m not familiar with the bands you mentioned. I’m more of a fan of power/progressive/symphonic/orchestral metal (like Dream Theater, Savatage, Nightwish, Kamelot, Blind Guardian, Sonata Arctica, etc.).
There’s a
ton more Christian metal bands out there now than there were even ten years ago. Some of my favorites are Theocracy, Saviour Machine, HB, Divinefire, and Mehida. If you’re more into the alternative metal/metalcore type of thing, others will have to come along and make recommendations for Christian bands of that ilk.
I’ve been listening to metal for over 20 years now. It was about 15 years ago that I started taking my faith more seriously. It does force one to take stock of what one allows in one’s life. I never really listened to any metal bands that were that far out there in the blasphemy category to begin with, so I never went through a big purge of my CD collection or anything. There are a few bands I’m less comfortable listening to now, though.
The most important thing in our lives is our relationship with the Lord. So we need to be honest with ourselves and seek to hear what He is telling us. Some people are called to purge their music collection. Just the physical act of getting rid of something from our past can be a helpful exercise in detachment and putting God first.
I think there is the temptation for new converts to allow the pendulum to swing too far in the other direction, though. They start thinking that anything not explicitly Christian is to be avoided at all cost. In one sense, one is probably spiritually safer erring on the side of caution in that regard. But I don’t think we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
We really have to figure a lot of these things out for ourselves. Of course, we have to form our consciences properly in accordance with Catholic teaching. But applying those principles requires discernment. And what works for one might not work for another. I know some who have had to purge their music and/or movie collection after their conversion because they had stuff that was really bad or simply because that music takes them back mentally to that time in their life when they were entrenched in sin. I never really had a wild rebellious phase in my life, so the music holds no such connotations for me. But if it did, I can see how I’d need to avoid something that took me there.
I guess the bottom line is you need to ask yourself how the music effects you. Does it steal your peace? Does it blunt your sensitivity to what is acceptable?
Again, welcome to the forums. It’s a good place to be.
