Would you recommend it to a fellow believer? (Music)

I think it's kind of redundant naming bands such as Sinbreed or Demonhunter...

These bands' lyrics speak for themselves, as do their attitudes.

When I first opened the thread I thought it'd be about bands like Black Sabbath and Blind Guardian who have certain connections to God and Christianity in general, but aren't deemed as particularly religious.
 
@ Matt
That same interview states Araya saying "Christ came and taught us about love. About doing unto others. That was his preach: Accept each other for who we are. Live peacefully, and love one another. Period."

I think he's a good guy no matter how you look at it. I don't see myself listening to Slayer at any point but it'd be great to meet Tom Araya.

I agree. Just more or less stating that he probably doesn't subscribe to specific, organized belief set. That's all.

Reign in Blood is an amazing album. I don't care who you are, that's good stuff.
 
I think it's kind of redundant naming bands such as Sinbreed or Demonhunter...

These bands' lyrics speak for themselves, as do their attitudes.

When I first opened the thread I thought it'd be about bands like Black Sabbath and Blind Guardian who have certain connections to God and Christianity in general, but aren't deemed as particularly religious.

My intention was for people to ask about bands that they weren't sure were 'Christian-friendly' or 'Christian-appropriate' in the hopes that they could get feedback, and for people to also suggest bands that Christians would feel comfortable listening to. I just threw in some Christian bands for my suggestions. Above that, I have a few secular acts listed.

Black Sabbath is a hard one to peg for me. On the one hand, if you listen to a song like After Forever, it's kind of hard to deny where they stand. Then you listen to N.I.B. (granted, I don't know the words all that well, but there's one part that leaves me scratching my head).

Essentially, I just wanted to create a place where people could say, "Hey, I heard a song by band x and want to know if it's worth my time to check out" or "Hey, my friend recommended band y, but I want to know if anything in their music is going to be offensive to or against my beliefs before listening to them" in the hopes of getting answers, while either simultaneously providing or receiving other artists who they can feel comfortable checking out.

For example, if someone were to post in here that they were curious about Nevermore, I would tell them to just stay away. I used to really be into Nevermore's music, until I finally caught on to how anti-Christian some of their songs were.

Anyway, I probably just pulled a 'Thanks, Captain Obvious' move with this post. Carry on, folks.
 
They may well be. However, I've never seen it stated by a member of the band, and while it wouldn't surprise me given many of their lyrics, I haven't seen enough evidence to be positive in tagging them that.

The singer Herbie Langhans is a christian. He is also the vocalist and guitarist of the christian band Seventh Avenue.
Sinbreed however isn't meant to be a "christian band" AFAIK, but IS a band with at least one christian member - and that shines through in the lyrics.

Ooops, sory, didn't see that Verbum Lux has already said almost the same...
 
I think he meant whether they are "Christian" or not. I don't think either of them have any connection to Christianity at all but also don't think they anything negative in their lyrics either. Plus they both rock.
 
Okay, recommend me some awesome music that I can check out without the fear that I'll be uncomfortable with it as a Christian. Also, on a related note, just heard Maylene and the Sons of Disaster today.
 
I think he meant whether they are "Christian" or not. I don't think either of them have any connection to Christianity at all but also don't think they anything negative in their lyrics either. Plus they both rock.

I know they are both secular or "unchristian" whatever the right word is.
I've just been wondering if anyone has any specific views on them.

I think Eluveite has some funky pagan vibes, I'm totally uneducated though so if I'm wrong please lay the torches and pitchforks aside, I'm pleading ignorance :lol:

As for Wintersun there were always a couple of lines that kinda bothered me, and I know most people will say its a conviction issue or whatever. I was just wondering if anyone else liked these bands. I don't know if it will really affect me or not.

Heh trying to keep all of Romans 14 in mind about a lot lately too so... Yeaaaah.
 
What do you mean by pagan vibe? Typically, I treat paganism (say, Greek and Norse mythology) as fantasy. I enjoy fantasy novels and games, and to me the 'gods' of those mythologies are little more than fantasy characters. So, when a band writes songs about those mythologies, I take it no differently than a band that writes a song (or songs) based off of a book. I think it comes down to how you treat it and what it makes you do. Does listening to a song about Zeus make you want to bow down and worship Zeus, or does it just strike you as a piece of fantasy set to music?

Now, of course, the line I would draw is when the lyrics are actually encouraging you to worship pagan gods, or who are taking clear shots at Christianity/God. For example, I picked up an Amon Amarth CD from Wal-Mart one time, but I ended up returning it because of a song on the live disc that came with it. The song was called, 'Father, Son, and Holy Whore', and that set off bells in my head. I wasn't comfortable with it. I looked up the lyrics, and they basically confirmed what I already figured about the song. I don't know what they're referring to by the third part of that title. I think it's an attack against the Holy Spirit, but my fiancee thought they might be referencing Mary. Either way, the song struck me as clearly anti-Christian, and if they were blaspheming against the Spirit... well, we know what Jesus said about blaspheming against the Spirit. I didn't want that in my possession whatsoever. Even if the rest of the songs by the band could be enjoyed as simple fantasy (I think a lot of their stuff centers around Norse mythology), that one song was enough to make me uncomfortable with owning that album... or any of their music, to be honest.
 
What do you mean by pagan vibe? Typically, I treat paganism (say, Greek and Norse mythology) as fantasy. I enjoy fantasy novels and games, and to me the 'gods' of those mythologies are little more than fantasy characters. So, when a band writes songs about those mythologies, I take it no differently than a band that writes a song (or songs) based off of a book. I think it comes down to how you treat it and what it makes you do. Does listening to a song about Zeus make you want to bow down and worship Zeus, or does it just strike you as a piece of fantasy set to music?

Now, of course, the line I would draw is when the lyrics are actually encouraging you to worship pagan gods, or who are taking clear shots at Christianity/God. For example, I picked up an Amon Amarth CD from Wal-Mart one time, but I ended up returning it because of a song on the live disc that came with it. The song was called, 'Father, Son, and Holy Whore', and that set off bells in my head. I wasn't comfortable with it. I looked up the lyrics, and they basically confirmed what I already figured about the song. I don't know what they're referring to by the third part of that title. I think it's an attack against the Holy Spirit, but my fiancee thought they might be referencing Mary. Either way, the song struck me as clearly anti-Christian, and if they were blaspheming against the Spirit... well, we know what Jesus said about blaspheming against the Spirit. I didn't want that in my possession whatsoever. Even if the rest of the songs by the band could be enjoyed as simple fantasy (I think a lot of their stuff centers around Norse mythology), that one song was enough to make me uncomfortable with owning that album... or any of their music, to be honest.


I'm glad you mentioned Amon Amarth, actually. I was into them for a while. I agree with you on them though. I'm not 100% sure what the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is and I'm not claiming they are guilty of it, but I am taking no chances with that... I haven't listened to them in ages anyway. More into clean vocals these days, honestly.

ANYWAY I'm off topic....

As far as the pagan vibe I get, I don't know I actually haven't done my research (I'm lazy like that), but I remember hearing "Of Fire, Wind, and Wisdom" and it seemed like a band to be brought up in this conversation.
 
You're not off topic. That IS the topic.

What Wintersun lines bothered you?

This is where people may come to the conclusion that I overanalyze everything :lol:

The whole idea behind Starchild and Winter Madness ("Divine creations now destroyed..." for one example) Sadness & Hate has "My thoughts are captured by the magical chants of the spirits..." Sons of Winter and Stars seems like it has a hard meaning to point out "I tear a part of my heart for creation of dimensions" and "Before the revelation of infinity" Most bands have a few things that I'm always a tad unsure about. I know Wintersun has a few other ones

I know I tend to analyze things pretty weirdly though.
 
I really should just stay out of this thread.

If you're referring to me I acknowledge how flippin' out there my conclusions tend to be. Most people, I'm sure don't take things as literally (That's probably not the right word to describe it) as I do or make the same connections, but I still make them and I figure they could be worth some thought.

I try to keep my mind as open as possible I guess. Maybe to my own detriment, maybe to my benefit.
 
You know what, I think this one goes along well with the one I posted earlier.

 
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@Ibanez
There's nothing wrong with your approach to analyzing lyrics. I'm just not sure about Wintersun, sure Jari could consider himself a pagan, but those lines don't really imply anything against Christianity. They could be considered as telling a story or reflecting his pagan beliefs (whatever they may be) which are a telling of a story as well.
Nothing anti-religious to me, but you have your way of analyzing and that's to be commended :)