Christian Screamo/Metal Is Still Christian, yes?

[Jon Schellhardt]

I'm just trying to see what everyone else thinks.
I guess maybe it's my unusual perspective and taste.
But still the lyrice aren't bad.
In some cases (i'm very picky) of christian Screamo/Metal the lyrics are actually fantastic it's a win/win for me because it's what i like to hear musically and lyrically

[Jon Schellhardt]

also. there is christian rap, and rap doens't have the best history, i.e. Toby Mac.
christian rock, rock has strong ties to drugs, i.e. Relient K
but within the darkness there's is still light.
out of all the bad history of bands absorbed in drugs and sex, good bands have come out within the genre aswell.
so why is it that metal is treated different?
i don't think you guys are thinking equally.
i think you are still biast to some degree, (not all of you but some)

[Logan Schellhardt]

does it matter? I can only go so far with you on "the lyrics are christian" the bands that scream and are very heavy sound ALOT alike. if you cant understand the words either way, kids arent getting the drift of whether or not the songs are christian.

Jon Schellhardt said:

if you ask me i think that they are POSITIVELY influencing youth.
would you rather them listen to metal that tell about god. or them listen to Dimmu Borgir???


*Dimmu Borgir is a demonic metal band

[Jon Schellhardt]

well you could say that for the christian rap.
some of them you feel more of the aggressive vibe that you hear chistian ideas

[Jon Schellhardt]

and no they dont sound alot alike.
listen to August Burns Red - Composure
then listen to For Today - Never Lose Sight of the Goals
then try to tell me they all sound alike
it's impossoble

[Logan Schellhardt]

ok, opinions are opinions. im done.

[Ashley]

YES

[Tinakay]

I personally do not listen to screamo or metal, but I would like to say something of the lyrics. Several songs i have heard then checked the lyrics do indeed have provoking thoughts. I know my brother-in ( hope he does not mind me saying this) much rather listen to metal because he likes it. I battled anger and for me personally it is not what i need to hear. As it being christian hum... does it glorify God, does it want to make people know him more, or does it help create a mind set for God's work. I know some songs that are not screamo or metal that i would not listen to either.

[Jessie]

yes christian screamo/metal is still christian because if it wasn't then really any band could do but it takes real christian bands to sit down and write lyrics that they know will touch other christians in the same way it touched them as they were writing it it may just seem this way to me because this is really the only type of music i listen to

[Dave Anderson]

Im not trying to change any ones minds with what I say on the Internet but in my opinon I dont think christian screamo is good. I can respect the fact that its christian but what is the difrents between christan screamo and normal screamo you can understand the words, the tone of the song is the same.I think alot of times (NOT ALL THE TIME) christan band label them selves christan becase thay are not good enuf to make it in the world and a band that looks like the world (alot of the scremo bands frankly look werd "NOT ALL") and sound like the world, and thay probly want to be in the world. As for the commit why is scremo treated difrent than rap or rock, becase YOU CAN HEAR WHAT THAY ARE SAYING, toby mac was named with the rap section and if you lissen to his music almost every song he made glorifs god or makes people want to know more about god.
well thats my opinon on Christan screamo I dont ecpect you to think that im right but I ecpect you to respect my opinon as I respect yours to each his own as long as your not going agents the bible

-Dave Anderson

[Jessie]

how can u say that christan screamo isn't christan if u actually look at and read alot of the underoath and other bands lyrics then you wouldn't be able to say that

[Dan]

What I think is that you can't go by a song that you hear by a band known for their hardcore sound and denounce them as a demonic or spiritually negative band. You really have to hear what the band is about and what is in their hearts, which shapes what they put into their songs.

For example, one of my favorite screamo bands, UnderOath, mostly tours with non- Christian bands like Disturbed or Slipknot, but openly talks about their faith in Jesus to their secular audience. They draw in non-Christians who listen to that type of music and give them not just entertainment but the message of Jesus and the Gospel. No disrespect, but I don't think that Non-Christian teens of today are gonna be influenced greatly or even kept awake by being given Hymns and such. This style of music is what their comfortable with.

Also, my parents extremely disagree with another one of my favorites, Demon Hunter, who are known for song titles like "Ribcage", "I play dead", and Snap your finger, snap your neck". They only saw and heard those songs (their sounds and not lyrics) and were completely turned off to them and protested against not just the band itself but the Christian screamo/metal realm in general. DH does have some pretty heavy stuff, but a lot of their songs talk about issues like depression, slipping away from God, cutting, etc. and you can actually hear what they're saying. On the other hand, if i hear a good song from some random band, I'll make sure i know what the band stands for before I get accustomed to them.


Aside from that, critics have to understand that the 'style' and understanding of 'normal' is changing. What is dismissed today as demonic, soul-depriving noise is tomorrow's elevator music (I don't mean that literally). I've heard that the drums, decades ago, were thought to be 'worldly' and definitely to be kept out of church settings. Well, today, in my church at least, the drums keep the worship services together and is a main instrument.

In general, opinions and our 'morals' about whats right in Christian music styles have obviously changed, but God has never and will never change. Over the centuries, I'm pretty sure that God has been and is pleased with what we offer to him as our worship (in song that is). So, i think that it is not up to us to decide on this issue too much, but to find out what God's unchanging will is, as ours is fickle and changing.

P.S. Redemption is a great song by a metal/screamo band called August Burns Red. check it out [even if you don't like the style]

[Jay Antonic]

I'm writing this as one who used to front a heavy metal band before salvation, played in church, and who now plays original christian rock music.

The real barometer is, "Does it magnify your flesh?" or "Does it magnify God?"

If you want to reflect Christ in your music, then you need to reflect him in your presentation. The Character of Christ. Screaming like Sepultura, Mastadon, Testament, etc is confusion. If, at first listen, you cannot understand the lyrics, it is confusion. If the music is too dissonant without enough resolution, or simply thrashes on like a drone.. you get into repetition, and invite an almost chant-like mindset that can open the spirit up to the demonic a la Maryln Manson's Beautiful People.

The main thing is that with most harder rock, Christ is not glorified.. the musicians are.... but that is not limited to genre.
If you have ever watched Michael English sing on TBN, that is probably one of the best examples of self-glorification in music.
The bible teaches us that no flesh should glory in the sight of God. Music and worship were the office of Lucifer before it was given to the church. Music has a way of bringing the inner psyche of a person to a place where it can be easily manipulated. Even our churches abuse this principle when they contrive services toward a specific end like an alter call or tithes and offerings.

But, if the aim of the music is to express the angst of the human condition in song or lyric, then the music itself as reflecting that problem should also direct the listener to the solution through resolution both musically and lyrically.

Leaving one at the end of a song with the same feeling of angst, anger, rebellion, as when it began only fuels that mindset and helps lock the person into that disposition. There are two types of christian music in my mind. The first brings people to the cross and the second maintains them there. If we are bringing more secular reconciliation music to the unsaved, then the message of salvation should be present. Our goal should be to craft music that addresses where a person is at and then through that music help them progress to a place where they are at least one step closer to the cross and reconciliation.

Music as ministry and music as entertainment are two different animals.

I play ministry music, and I play secular music that is family friendly that entertains but still contains threads of the human condition and a pointer to the cross or to get someone to deal with a tough issue like loss, woundedness, etc...

We are supposed to put off anger, malice, hate, as works of the flesh...
Jesus didn't express hatred even toward the devil. And the Angels did not bring railing accusation against him.

Are we entitled as children of God to walk in anger, rebellion, malice... EVEN if against sin? No.

We are to follow peace with all men. Blessed are the peacemakers...

Does the music help someone acheive peace? Or does it only discuss the problem and emotion without a true solution?