What Do Christians Think Of Heavy Metal Music?

Dear Pastor Andy, what do you and other Christians think of Heavy Metal music? And I don't mean the new stuff they call heavy metal...I mean like Judas Priest, Kiss, Dio, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Megadeth, Venom, and Slayer (I would have included Metallica but they went down hill after the first 3 albums).

My Reply: What do I think of Heavy Metal? Dude, I LOVE it! (Bet you weren't expecting that, eh?)

Another thing you probably weren't expecting to hear is that from 1996-2005, I DJ'd for "Rebel Radio", a heavy metal radio station, which was previously based in Northbrook.

Now granted, some Christians choose not to listen to heavy metal because of the messages in the songs, and sometimes they did listen to it, but don't anymore because it reminds them of who they were in the days before they knew the Lord. So they stop listening to it to keep themselves from any chance of falling backwards in their faith. That's fine, and I totally encourage them to keep with what they feel they need to do.

And Honestly, I won't listen to all metal songs, especially if they blaspheme the Lord, and there are a LOT of bands out there who are truly against God, and whether they know it or not, are actually promoting Satan.

I think it's also important though to realize that not all heavy metal bands who don't promote God are actually to be considered as evil. In fact, for some, if you really pay attention, you'll find that many of their songs aren't so much against God as they are about their misunderstandings about God, the Church, and the Bible. Actually, I mentioned in a previous post that many of those bands today (and some of those you mentioned above) have in fact come to know Jesus personally since those days (Megadeth, Blackie Lawless from WASP, and Alice Cooper, for instance). And with Megadeth, I love listening to the lyrics and different albums because it sort of gives the story of Dave's struggles and his coming to know Jesus.

If you check though, you will find that there are a whole bunch of great Christian metal bands out there today, that I would suggest you check out. Some sound just as great as the non-Christian bands, and some even sound better, depending on who you're comparing them to. For example, if you like Iron Maiden and old Metallica, then I suggest you check out some old "Deliverance". Some other older and older-sounding ones you may also like are: X-Sinner,  Tourniquet,  Bloodgood,  "Whitecross",  Mortification,  Barren Cross, Bride, "The Crucified", Precious Death, Jacob's Dream... just to name a few of my favorites. And if you're on Facebook, check out the group "Christian Metalheads International". 

You may also want to check out something that has been out in Sweden and Germany for a bit, but is just now recently available in English, "The Metal Bible" (seen above). It's basically the New Testament of the Bible in the New Living Translation, but in the front, you'll read Christian testimonies from metal artists, such as Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden, Dave Ellefson from Megadeth, Peter Baltes of Accept, Brian Welsh, formally from Korn, and many others.

For more Bible-based Q&A and topics, check out my blog.