Knicks, I'm not sure if we understand each other.
So, I think the issue here is just a form of cognitive dissonance due to the genre. Heavy metal, at its core, was built on "cheesy occult, Hollywood-Satanist bullshit". That's just a fundamental part of the genre, ever since Tony Iommi hit that Devil's Interval.
That might be the problem. It was never the Devil's interval.
It's just self-proclaimed edginess that has been used as an advertisement, at most, but while metal can be certainly dark, it can be light as well - for all intents and purposes, it is more or less Romantic and my main complain't
ISN'T someone singing about damnation or Hell or brutal or gory stuff, I'm talking precisely of the adolescent shock intention that might have been once connected to the genre, but I would hope only in its infant stages. The self-presentation as Devil's music. Devil has no music. He is never a maker, remember.
To me, metal is about strong emotions and metaphysical, but not necessarily cheesy. And not necessarily the occult, just like
Romanticism or Victorian literature isn't necessarily only about incest and/or necrophilia.
I understand that your beliefs lead you to find those types of lyrics blasphemous, but digging into evil, as constructed, is an integral part of the birth of the genre. Of course there should be room in all genres for all types of lyrics and messages, but when only a literal handful of bands are responsible for representing actual Christian beliefs they are bound to face intense criticism.
Again, there is a difference between digging into evil - as an extremity and as an integral part of the human experience - and between the stuff I might complain about. You won't see me complaining about Opeth lyrics despite
Still Life or lyrics like "I'm a sinner and I worship evil" or "God is dead". You won't even see me complaining about Epica's lyrics, often strenuously anti-Christian, because although they are often not as cleverly-thought through and they are - for all intents and purposes - strawmaning to oblivion, it doesn't cross the arbitrary line where I would fault them for that.
There is, however, no reason why the spiritual or the religious side should be downright excluded from the metal paradigm - not only religion can be pretty metal - I mean, us Catholics we
venerate dead bodies, build mausoleums out of bones, have crazy gore and skeletons everywere, we literally feast on the flesh and the blood of our Deity, have huge cathedrals, incense, robed, secluded, mysterious blokes and so on... - but in fact religion is
that one thing that touches human beings in their entirety. Themes of guilt, repentance, self-worth, virtues, courage and bravery, sacrifice and martyrdom, passion and glory... that's not metal, somehow... why?
In fact, recently I used this picture in the Guess the Altered Title game as a clue. It’s my favourite Leal painting from the Spanish Golden Age. Absolutely religious and Catholic to the core … and
say it to my face this is not metal.
And the ineffability of awe against what from outside could be described as an eldritch horror, yet it is, well, would you believe our luck, benevolent - I don't see why it should be excluded from the metal paradigm as well.
A lot of the good Christian metal bands - I already named some of those, like early Mortification, Antestor, Extol and others - can be pretty metal even lyrics-wise.
One alternative mode of thought: isn't all metal that discusses the devil in some way Christian? Maybe they're slinging mud from the other side of the aisle, but the lyrical influence all comes from the same source.
A lot of it might be. Like I wrote above - speaking about the Devil or God or whatever can be in fact Christian (and specifially Catholic) very much. There is this idea of
à bas, named after Joris-Karl Huysmans' book of the same name. He is one of the examples who went from embracing decadence and nihilism to traditional Catholicism, precisely as a journey of extremes. So, it's a complex issue and I do not get my knickers in a twist merely because I see a pentagram (which was quite likely also a Christian symbol, originally, but I digress).
Also, inverted crosses are the Cross of St. Peter and you find it everywhere in the Vatican.
What I'm talking about more is the egdy "ooooh, beloved SATAN, I fuck the virgin in the ass for you, I put my semen onto the Eucharist, ooooooh, I'm sooo eeddgggyyyy"... I mean, in a way, this is also Christian. With how extreme some of these bands try do it, it kinda feels like "the lady
doth protest too much, methinks" and in a way, how they feel the need to oppose God and His virtues is a proclamation and assent to Faith
sui generis.
Still, watching some bands mocking what is dear to me for no reason at all might be unpleasant. Just like if you watch someone spitting on the picture of your mother, just to be edgy and offensive and get the Waldo moment. "Dude, it's just a picture". Yes, but I may take offence to that.
I would also like to add that I find any band who seriously preaches about Satan to be absolutely as ridiculous as I find Theocracy preaching about God. I find bands that preach about politics to be ridiculous, too. I have absolutely zero tolerance for someone using their music as a campaign platform, regardless of what you're selling. Fuck off and become a priest or a politician and stop luring people in with cool looking t-shirts.
I however don't agree with this. I do think that things you care about may be reflected in the art you do; in fact they always are, somehow, and most of the art that survives through the ages does reflect its authors serious attitudes. I agree that I don't like when the bands are being preachy - whether it's politics, religion or whatever (I'm looking at you, TUOMAS), but not every band has to be a mask wearing entertaining jester who doesn't take anything seriously.
A band that is serious about its (theistic) Satanism... well, I find that misguided up to the point of being insane, but still, it is an
integral approach and in a way, I respect that more than edgy-point seeking self-advertisers of "yo mama and yo preacher won't like this, kiddo!"
But tongue-in-cheek Satanism or Christianity? That's literally a pillar of heavy metal. For every Ghost there's a Powerwolf (who I'm still not sure what they're on about except for werewolves).
I also don't know what Powerwolf are about and I rather not think about it too much. Ghost, well, I would overlook their mocking of my religion if I could respect the music, at least. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
For me, any lyrics that just literally quote dogma or deliver on-the-nose exaltations are eye rolling. That dogma can be religious, political, or philosophical, and of any flavor -- my objection with it is its utter lack of creativity and poetry. It's why the vast majority of modern Christian music is garbage (they're so busy stumbling over themselves to stuff every stanza with Christian applause words that they forget how to actually write a compelling lyric), and why polemic songs always walk a dangerous line between artfully delivering a message and just regurgitating talking points. (And yes, all the "me too" glam bands from the late 80s who played sexual innuendo Mad Libs with their lyric sheets are guilty of the same thing, and I really only give a pass to bands like Mötley Crüe and Ratt who were on the vanguard of the sleaze train.)
To me, a song like Gamma Ray's "Avalon" is far more effective at delivering a Christian message than something that beats you over the head with scripture quotes and endless religious money shots about lords and messiahs and surrender. A non-religious person might actually hear the message in the former, while the latter is just a circle jerk for people who are already believers. And in fairness, many classical Christian hymns manage to keep the poetry and a reasonable level of abstraction on top of great music, and are thus more effective vessels for the message than pretty much all modern Christian music.
I get this point, in a way I agree. That's why I wrote the Protestant - Catholic distinction there at the very beginning of my commentary on the matchup and what I wrote even in this very post above.
Though - it's not dogma, it's mostly just quotes from the Bible, which are rather old and I find them rather poetic. But there's no accounting for taste, I guess.
Like I said, I love LOTR much more than Narnia, though both are Christian to their very core.
But (and this goes to
@MrKnickerbocker as well) my point there in the brackets was why do we not talk about lyrics in general (whether or not they "fit")?
A lot of these lyrics were, are or will be rather stupid, because 80 % of everything is stupid, yet only now it's so huge a problem everyone has to complain about it? I found that one-sided and that was the basis of my complaint.
I don't think we'll be ranting about Motley Crue singing about sex or ...
well, like I wrote in my post nobody complained about the stupid hippie crap of Heep's The Wizard, although it's just as "dogmatic" and on the nose in a way. But it's not Christian, so nobody notices.
Anyway, I don't want to defend it too much, sorry for the long post, I just wanted to express my position in the clearest way I could.
Maybe I should have nominated Nailed from the same album. It's about Luther, for crying out loud! Nobody would think me assenting to its lyrics. (And maybe nobody would notice them, because they're less explicit)
(but is more of a pure power metal than the power-prog mix I Am has, that's why I didn't)
