Is it sinful to listen to metal?

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IdiNaPut

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I’m getting fairly into metal, but I know that some themes in metal music can be decidedly anti-religious. However at the same time I’ve found some songs which are definitely more pro-religion (the song I’m listening to right now, The Last Stand by Sabaton, is a good example as it is about the Swiss Guard defending the Vatican).

With it, I’m in conflict as to whether I’m really supposed to be listening to it. I do to an extent discern what bands and songs I’m choosing to listen to, but given the overall image the whole genre has it is difficult.

Any thoughts?
 
Short answer: No…it’s not wrong to listen to metal. Watch the lyrics though…Discard most black metal. That sucks anyway…!
I dare say as a whole, metal is much less offensive than rap or hip-hop. Or even pop music is very racy these days…

I’m 51 and have listened to metal since the '70’s.
 
I tend towards heavy metal like Sabaton who sing mostly historical themes in any case, so yeah, I tend to stay away from the most blatantly obviously anti-religious stuff.

And yes, I can agree that pop and the likes are probably far more problematic.
 
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No, it’s not sinful to listen to heavy metal, or I’d be going to hell and know it. That said, you might want to be careful with the lyrical content, and pretty much all black metal is anti Christian anyway, that’s part of the reason it exists. If you don’t know what black metal is, that is tied to church burnings in Scandinavia, I don’t mean people blame the music on it, I mean the people who played Black metal were the ones Burning Down the churches.
 
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Black metal isn’t my thing, so I probably wouldn’t listen to any of that anyway.
 
Stay away from black metal and go more towards power metal. Might want to check out Narnia. I have a saying of “Garbage in, Garbage out.” In other words, what you watch or expose yourself to will end up influencing your line of thinking, whether you notice it or not.
 
Well it was this reason I was questioning whether it was suitable.
 
Take the logic up a level, is it sinful to listen to atheists? Of course not. We should not fear the world, if we retreat from it then how can we be an example to people who might otherwise join the Church. I listen to Marilyn Manson sometimes, some of his songs have a catchy beat. I don’t agree with all the lyrics although some have some very deep truth in them. I can rebuke his anti-religious claims at the drop of a hat so they aren’t influencing me. What you have to watch for is whether some of the songs are normalising sin to you, but ultimately that’s about your personal character and whether you are easily misled.
 
Listening to metal isn’t sinful as long as the lyrical content doesn’t encourage you to sin or cause a seperation between you and God. As others have said stay away from black metal and I’d also warn against most all folk metal as it is largely rooted in paganism and has caused a lot of people problems.

A few bands I’d recommend are: Theocracy, Inner Wish, Narnia, Demon Hunter, Cradle Catholic, Diviner, Oblivion Myth and Immortal Souls.
 
Yeah, if I chose music based purely on whether the band’s or musician’s personal opinions/lifestyle was something I agreed with, I’d likely never listen to music whatsoever.
 
As long as you avoid the blasphemous stuff, and as long as “listening to metal” is not leading you into any other type of sin like substance abuse, sex, violence, neglecting your duty to God/ work/ family, etc. then there is nothing wrong with listening to non-blasphemous metal.

A lot of metal has underlying Christian themes of good vs. evil. Many of the best Christians I know are metal heads, and yes I listen to it myself.

Pax Christi
 
That’s awesome. I didn’t know there was a specifically Catholic metal site. The metal artists I know who focus on Christian themes tend to be either evangelical or non-denominational. This is a nice addition.
 
IdiNaPut said:
Yeah, if I chose music based purely on whether the band’s or musician’s personal opinions/lifestyle was something I agreed with, I’d likely never listen to music whatsoever.
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You also probably would never look at a piece of visual art, watch 99 percent of films ever made, or look at any TV outside of EWTN.
 
Exactly. As you say, it’s about remembering what comes first and what your own personal beliefs are.
 
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