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Christian Heavy Metal – The Rise of White Metal

Christian heavy metal is a type of heavy metal that describes, not a genre or sub-set of classic heavy metal, but a mix of all types of metal that contain Christian lyrics and themes. It came into existence in the late 1970’s, gained massive popularity during the 1980’s, went underground in the 1990’s and has finally been revived in the 2000’s.

Christian Heavy Metal, also called “white metal”, is a cross-genre term. While most people think that Christian metal has a milder or softer style, it actually covers all extremes in the industry, from pop metal to doom/death metal and everything in between. The one common factor to all styles is the lyrics.

Christian metal began in the late 1970’s in the US and Sweden during the “Jesus Movement”. The instruments used are similar to all metal bands and include electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and occasionally keyboards. It gained worldwide popularity during the “golden era” in the 1980’s, with popular “glam bands” including Stryper and Leviticus. Saint, which also gained widespread acceptance during this time was often compared to Judas Priest in style and sound.

It took about a year for metal fans to realize that some of the groups were Christian and they were playing Christian lyrics. Stryper, who had gained commercial success in 1985, received a hostile reception when they went to play at a Dutch music festival. Despite some opposition, Stryper went on to greater popularity and were the first band to reach platinum status on an album and have three music videos that spent weeks on the top 10 list for MTV.

Christian Metal was first criticized by secular music fans and, then, as it gained more popularity, it was also criticized by Christian fundamentalists. One of the biggest opponents to this genre was the televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. Unfortunately, his opposition back fired. He drew the attention of the secular media to his cause, which in turn, gave the genre worldwide recognition. In the aftermath, many new bands from around the world began to rise up and gained the attention of major record labels.

Unfortunately, many churches were still opposed to the Christian heavy metal genre and rejected the groups participation in their church services. A group, called Sanctuary, was started in 1984 as a “rock and roll refuge” for metal fans and musicians. It brought people together, nationwide, in the first Christian Metal Festival in 1987. Sanctuary metal festivals spread to dozens of locations and had a significant impact on new groups to the genre. For example, P.O.D. performed their first concerts in Sanctuary. Sanctuary finally closed its doors in the late 1990’s when it believed that the Christian metal genre had finally gained enough widespread acceptance.

Christian Metal groups, just like secular metal, went underground during the 1990’s. The scene was fairly quiet until the 2000’s. As the heavy metal movement revival began, new Christian groups emerged such as P.O.D. and Underoath. P.O.D. became the most successful band when their 2001 album went multi-platinum, gaining mainstream secular acceptance. Christian metal, although no longer called “white metal”, continues to grow in popularity and acceptance, in both the secular and Christian sectors.

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For another great article, go to Heavy Metal Bands Styles.
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