Hello guys, i'm kind of new here but i saw this thread and it looked very interesting so here is my take on it.
Black Session: I understand where you are coming from, man. It seems like 'christian' metal offends you as 'satanic' metal would offend most christians, and that is understandable seeing as you would have opposing views to christianity. But it goes both ways, if you don't like christian metal you dont have to listen to it, just like a christian who has opposing views to satanic bands doesnt have to listen to them either. Every one is entitled to their opinion and you obviously have yours, and we all respect that.
My opinion is this: i agree with those who defend extol and any other musician to use whatever music they want to say whatever they want. Its a free world you know? If they like metal, why cant they use that as medium to talk about what THEY want to talk about, just like the people who want to talk about evil and stuff do? And about listening to metal making christian hypocrites: I understand where you are coming from, yes, metal (esp Black) was originally intended to be against christianity, but like many others have said already, music is music. Yes it evokes certain emotions, but Christianity is not always about happy feelings and joy. Being a Christian myself I can tell you that for sure. Hell, all humans feel what would be considered 'negative' emotions no matter what they believe. But if listening to death metal and black metal would make a christian hypocritical, wouldnt an atheist listening to a band who happens to have members that are christian, who talk about christian things, would that make the athiest hypocritical too? My opinion is no, not if it does not influence how they think. I personally listen to a lot of bands that would be considered satanic or whatever, like Disgorge, Emperor, Hate Eternal, etc knowing this full well, but you know what, i can say that as a musician, i listen to it purely for the music, for what it is. I understand what they're viewpoints are for the most part but i have my own beliefs and I stand by them. I just happen to like the style of music they play and i am convinced that i would not be able to become a truly good metal musician if not for listening to the secular bands who excel at that style of music.
As far as to the original topic, Extol's earlier stuff (Burial and Undecieved) border on death/black metal STYLE, borrowing from each. Crimson Moonlight's new album, Veil of Rememberance is also of that hybrid of styles as well. Also, American band Becoming the Archetype is another good band that happens to be Christian, mixing Death and Black and a bit of core into their styles (not enough core to be called metalcore though). But yeah, Extol now is far from what they used to be (though i personally love their new stuff, its very unique and no one sounds quite like them).
I hope what i said made sense. Rock on!
