The Spiritual Dangers of Metal Music

[AlTheCollegeGal]

I will not. I suggest you start listening to it!

Agree one hundred percent. It is not right to generalize an entire genre of music like rock and basically insinuate that it all is evil.

 

[KatolikaMusic]

I think your beef is with the publishers of a lot of “mainstream” music, not just metal music.
Most of the owners/publishers of mainstream music are not Christian, and clearly hate Christians. Just like the other members of media cabals, they are not motivated by profit, they are motivated by hate of Christianity.

Loud music could present physical danger to the ears, true enough. This danger is not just limited to “metal”.
That boom-thunka-thunka [c]rap isn’t metal music and is just as dangerous, both to the ears and moreso the culture.

Country, pop, jazz, urban, techno, whatever… a sizeable portion is saturated with anti-Christian hate. Some of it more subtle than others.

That said,
I like a lot of musical forms, and metal is one of them. Metal is music, with technical layers that rival any classical piece. You just have to exercise discretion and research with an open mind to what you choose.

Good rule of thumb for any media,
If it is published by any non Christian conglomerate (like Viacom), it means they hate Christians.
Simple as that.

Boycot them and support your fellow Christians. Save your culture and your money.

 

[Joe_5859]

What’s wrong with screaming your praises to Heaven? It is a musical outreach to people who may not have God. Besides, I can’t follow the argument that metal is aggressive or rebellious. Aggressive is a rather subjective term, and what you may see as aggressive, others may not. Many Christian artists try to make the point that they aren’t attempting to shove their beliefs on others. As far as rebellious, I guess it depends on who you listen to. It also depends on what it is being rebellious to. I’d say my music is rebellious to the culture we live in and all the bad influences that are going around. I can’t agree that not being traditional is being rebellious if that is what you are attempting to say. Now, I’m sure some metal falls under what you describe, but as I said, I make a conscious effort to avoid it.

I find the whole “rebellious” argument very weak. It’s guilt by association. “The music is rebellious! And do you know who the very first rebel was!? Satan!!! Therefore, it is encouraging the worship of Satan!!!”

Catholics should all be considered rebels compared to our secular society at large. We’re going against the grain and questioning the status quo. Does that mean that Catholics are all Satan worshippers? Certainly not!

It is rebelliousness against God that we need to avoid, not rebelliousness in general.

One of the things I find refreshing about metal music is their willingness to tackle meaningful lyrical themes that most popular music won’t go near. Even when I disagree with what they’re saying, I can at least respect their honesty.

 

[Crescentinus]

I take it that Fratello Metallo (a friar/metal rocker) is unknown here?

 

[SanguisMartyrum]

Examples of Satanic Influence in Music

A certain music group named Hell on Earth (which I will not link to due to the content I read on its Wikipedia page) had planned to feature an on-stage suicide of one of its fans, but due to the intervention of authorities was fortunately stopped. The group also promoted the vile and unthinkable act of grinding up live rats and giving the concoction to its fans. King Diamond of the Satanist band Mercyful Fate used a microphone stand made of the leg bones of a human, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers thanked Satan for their success at the MTV awards.

A former rock musician named Eric Barger has this to say about rock music:

Listening to rock music never sent anyone to Hell.  No, it simply teaches people how to get there, destroys God’s desire for one’s life, produces idolatry and conditions those who listen with satanic ideals.  Certainly, not every song on rock and country radio is evil. . . . It’s every third, fifth, eighth, fifteenth or twentieth song that teaches the adversary’s goals explicitly.  Many of the other songs may not be as blatant, but they still fall far short of the standard which God is pleased with.  And that’s really the key isn’t it?  Who and what are we identifying with?  What are we advocating?

Well, I can tell you that I was pretty heavy into underground metal music for many years before I became a devout Catholic. In fact, I was pretty much at nerd level. I know underground metal from almost every country in the world, have traded tapes and CDRs, gone to hundreds of shows, and I have never heard of Hell on Earth.

Really, you have to be careful with websites that show you some extreme underground, probably unsigned act that nobody’s ever heard of and then parade it as typifying the music. When the SPLC wants to discredit some people as listening to ‘hate rock’, they do the same thing.

I will say that since professing the Faith, even before Confirmation, I stopped going to shows. I don’t necessarily want to give up going to shows, but I have to think about it some more and pray on it. I have stopped listening to anything blasphemous, and mostly stick to Epic/Atmospheric Black Metal, which is mostly nature-themed.

Of course everyone knows King Diamond. I was always into the underground stuff more, but it’s difficult to imagine anyone taking King Diamond seriously. I don’t care for his lyrical content, but it’s just fun Speed Metal riffs. I personally wouldn’t listen to it, but I also don’t think a soul is damned for listening to Mercyful Fate. There’s no possible way that music could inspire Satan-worship or even put someone in a negative frame of mind. That said, it is also a bit closer to your standard rock music, and thus there’s a Dionysian quality there. It’s party music. Personally, though, I avoid ‘Satan’ stuff, even if it’s as serious as some Jack Black spoof.

Now, there are bands like Deathspell Omega, on the other hand, that really are psychically and spiritually harmful. I think they’re Freemasons, actually. They completely changed their sound, adopted this labrynthine style that confounds the listener, and wrote lyrics about the Teragrammaton, and stuff like that. I expect they are some kind of practitioners of some ‘ancient alchemy’…

I guess the point I’m making is that you can hear when something is really exalting sin.

 

[SanguisMartyrum]

Examples of Satanic Influence in Music

A certain music group named Hell on Earth (which I will not link to due to the content I read on its Wikipedia page) had planned to feature an on-stage suicide of one of its fans, but due to the intervention of authorities was fortunately stopped. The group also promoted the vile and unthinkable act of grinding up live rats and giving the concoction to its fans. King Diamond of the Satanist band Mercyful Fate used a microphone stand made of the leg bones of a human, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers thanked Satan for their success at the MTV awards.

A former rock musician named Eric Barger has this to say about rock music:

Listening to rock music never sent anyone to Hell.  No, it simply teaches people how to get there, destroys God’s desire for one’s life, produces idolatry and conditions those who listen with satanic ideals.  Certainly, not every song on rock and country radio is evil. . . . It’s every third, fifth, eighth, fifteenth or twentieth song that teaches the adversary’s goals explicitly.  Many of the other songs may not be as blatant, but they still fall far short of the standard which God is pleased with.  And that’s really the key isn’t it?  Who and what are we identifying with?  What are we advocating?

OK, so, before I came back to the Faith, I was heavily involved in underground metal. I own tapes, LPs, I traded tapes, CDRs, I’ve been to hundreds of shows…I have NEVER heard of Hell on Earth. I still know a ton of labels. I’m actually something of an expert, I have to say…

You have to be careful about posting some extreme underground and likely unsigned band as if it typifies all the music. Many websites will try to present a band like that as if they are popular among metalheads. The SPLC uses the same tactic when they try to demonize people for listening to ‘hate rock’. They’ll dig up some Skinhead band that’s played one gig that nobody’s ever heard of, and they’ll go, ‘Read these lyrics! This is what these people peddle to impressionable minds!’ And then, they’ll say listening to a band named Killzog88 is the same as listening to Burzum, when EVERYONE that’s ever listened to metal knows Burzum. So, if you listen to Burzum and you like black metal, you must be a hatemonger…

King Diamond, though, everyone knows. It’s fun party music. I don’t care for the lyrics, either, but this is just fun riffs and their ‘Satanism’ is about as serious as a Jack Black spoof. Still, though, I’d advise Catholics to be cautious. I can’t say, really, since I was always into more underground stuff.

I don’t go to metal shows. It’s not because of drugs! lol. There are no drugs in underground and local shows. Metalheads don’t do drugs. They drink, though. But I have avoided shows because I need to discern. I don’t know whether a show would put me near to sin. So I’m thinking and praying about it and asking spiritual counsel. It hasn’t been easy, because I don’t know a Catholic who understands metal and I don’t know a metalhead who understands the Faith…frankly, I don’t know many Catholics who understand the Faith or many metalheads who understand metal.

The thing both need to understand is that Metal, particularly underground Death and Black Metal, is Neoclassical music. So is Dark Ambient, so is Martial, so is Neofolk. All of these styles can be psychically and spiritually damaging, and yet they can also all be quite beautiful. Summoning write beautiful Tolkien-themed Black Metal. While Catholics fail to realize that the thrill in listening to Metal is finding those moments of beauty within the cacophany of sound (and that is not unlike a lot of Symphonic or Orchestral music), metalheads fail to understand that liking neoclassical music can lead people to classical music, to classical art, to traditionalism, and maybe even to the Church.

…and that’s what happened to me! It was one of the reasons, anyway. So, this tree does not always bear rotten fruit.

 

[SanguisMartyrum]

Oopsi thought my previous post was erased, so I wrote another one. Well, second one is better, anyway, ha

 

[Joe_5859]

Oopsi thought my previous post was erased, so I wrote another one. Well, second one is better, anyway, ha

I thought you just liked rearticulating your thoughts in several different ways.

Welcome to the forum!