Religion and Metal - Inside and Beyond the Hate-Hate Relationship

Most major religions and the heavy metal movement have never had what anyone would call a friendly relationship. The most vocal (though by no means the only) religious opponent of metal was and still is the Christian population of North America. Denounced universally from its 1970s fledgling days as being the music of the Devil, metal was turned away immediately from most mainstream markets because of the considerable influence of the religious population, and not just in the United States. Contrary to the intentions of metal's detractors, it thrived in the underground and obscure world of little-known magazines, record stores and the timeless word-of-mouth.

At first glance, the criticisms leveled at metal seem reasonable from a religious standpoint. The music is loud, aggressive, dark, often "evil-sounding" (fun fact - the riff of Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath" actually makes use of what medieval society termed "the Devil's tritone", so the term "music of the Devil" actually does have some basis in fact, if not in the way religious people would have us see it). The lyrics are even worse, and that's when you can understand them. Filled with death, pain, violence, morbidity, anger and sometimes seeming to promote callous and opposing attitudes towards that which religion holds sacred  (things such as sex, drugs, faithlessness or "wrong" beliefs, etc.), it doesn't take a religious extremist, or even a religious person, to see that the moral teachings that come with most religions are not compatible with metal.

The controversial album cover for Cannibal Corpse's "Butchered At Birth".

The original proposed title for Metallica's first album, later called "Kill 'Em All".

But is that really the case?

First, let's examine the long-standing allegations and views that metal's most well-known heroes are Satanists or promote anti-Christian messages in one way or another. Ozzy Osbourne, the "Prince of Darkness", infamous for his drug addiction - a member of the Church of England. Tony Iommi, creator of the legendary first heavy metal riff - to this day has never gone on stage without wearing a cross necklace. Dave Mustaine, who used to dabble in black magic in his youth and incorporated it into Megadeth's song "The Conjuring" - now a born-again Christian. Tom Araya, bassist and vocalist for the anti-religion giant, Slayer, a band that also regularly references Nazis - a practicing Catholic and devoted family man. Among other things, this reveals the fact that there are few cases of genuine Satanism among those creating metal music. The reasons for these religious individuals partaking in a music genre so readily identified with non-Christian notions are many and varied. In Ozzy's case, he may self-identify as belonging to the Church of England, but it's clear that religion takes a backseat in the man's life. In Iommi's case, there is no conflict with his religious views seeing as most of Black Sabbath's songs actually warn of the dangers of sin and even include a plea to God in the lyrics to their eponymous song ("Oh please God help me!"). In Dave Mustaine's case, he has actually renounced his past in black magic and refuses to play the songs that included allusions to it from his set lists. In Tom Araya's case, he has no problems setting aside his personal beliefs to make his music, which he claims, as a form of art that mirrors society, is simply picking up the darker reflections.

Maybe Ozzy wasn't the best choice to demonstrate that there are religious metal musicians...

Good guy Tom Araya.

And what about metal's opinion of religion? One authoritative figure, now deceased (may he R.I.P.), was Ronnie James Dio, who had a stint with Black Sabbath, performed in Rainbow, Elf, his own band Dio and in his last years, Heaven & Hell. Ronnie's opinion of religion is reflected by the lyrics to the Black Sabbath song "Heaven and Hell" - his view is that heaven and hell, and similarly God and the Devil, are inherent inside every human being, and that instead of a literal place in the clouds or under the Earth where people go to be saved or to be punished, heaven and hell are rather choices that we make inside each of us - a path to good and a path to evil. Kerry King, Tom Araya's bandmate in Slayer, has revealed that he likes to "take potshots at religion" because he thinks "it's the biggest brainwashing thing that is totally acceptable in America and probably everyplace else in the world". This seems to indicate some antipathy towards religion, low levels of religiosity and some indifference. As with the gender and race issues, religion is secondary to the music in the self-contained world of metal.

The extreme fringes of metal are where some bands and musicians are truly anti-Christian, though there are few that are outright anti-religion. In the previously esoteric black metal movement in Norway, setting fire to churches and murder, as committed by Varg Vikernes (creator of the one-man black metal project Burzum), were two of the crimes that made the obscure subgenre latterly well-known. The gist of the ideas behind the black metal proponents of anti-Christianity in the Scandinavian countries was a belated, but in their view justified retaliation for the unwanted and unasked-for Christianization of Europe. At the same time, there are other extreme bands and movements, most notably the national socialist black metal phenomenon, that advocate for pro-white supremacy and pro-Christian ideas as they perceive it. Black metal is also where you'll find most of the few metal musicians that actually make serious claims of adhering to any form of Satanism, such as Daniel Rostén and Régis Lant.

The album cover for Burzum's "Aske" (Norwegian for "ashes"), showing a church that was suspected to have been burned by Vikernes.

Inevitably, as a counter to the black metal movement, there emerged an "unblack" or "white" metal movement where the style of black metal (shrieked or rasped vocals, tremolo picking on the guitar, rapid blast beats on the drums) was emulated but the lyrics were turned from topics such as misanthropy, Satanism, despair and hate to Christian ideas. However, unblack metal is considered a subgenre of black metal rather than a subset of the larger Christian metal scene that exists as a separate entity. The latter consists of bands that permeate other styles of metal but also write Christian lyrics.

The literature on Christianity and metal goes on forever, almost like Christianity's presence in actual western literature. But an often neglected portion of the discourse that has grown too big to ignore is the relationship between metal and other religions. In particular, in the past two decades, metal has been gradually building in the Middle-East. Arguably the biggest band from that region right now is Orphaned Land, an Israeli band that promotes religious peace with its use of quotes from the Quran, Torah and the Bible as lyrics. No doubt much of what they express through their music can be interpreted as sociopolitical simply because religion is so deeply entwined with the politics of that particular geographical region, but they don't stop at advocating for peace between the Abrahamic religions. The smooth, seamless and beautiful blending of traditional Middle-Eastern and religious hymn-like melodies with undeniably metal instruments also signifies the possibility of peaceful coexistence between metal and religion.

The album cover for Orphaned Land's album "All Is One", depicting the crescent moon of Islam, the star of David and the cross superimposed on each other as one entity without it being clear which is "on top" - adding to their message.

The ancient pagan religions like Ásatrú also enjoy a reasonably large presence in metal, mostly due to the desire of bands to be unique or to stand apart from topical themes such as heaven, hell, God the Devil and all things springing from the Judeo-Christian roots. However, it is rare for pagan or non-Abrahamic religious references in metal to originate from songwriters who actually believe in the relevant deities or entities. In such cases, religion is inserted into the music as promoting a certain philosophy or attitude, such as the warlike culture of ancient Ásatrú or the serenity-seeking teachings of Buddha.

In the end, metal and religion usually tend to walk different avenues, and in different directions, but as demonstrated by some religious metal bands, it's not always a complete car wreck when they do meet.

When speaking of religion and metal, it's important not to lose sight of this very important fact...

Women in Metal

There has been a long-held view, sometimes expressed as criticism, other times merely as speculation, that the world of metal is a men's club created by males, ran by males, for males, and frequented and enjoyed by males. Without exercising any serious amount of brain power, it's fairly self-evident how this view could develop and has developed. Typically, each and every band is comprised of 4-6 guys playing instruments way louder than they're played in any other genre, with one of them screaming, growling, shrieking, rasping, and every so often singing into a microphone. A cursory glance of the crowd at any metal show will reveal an active, borderline violent mass of very long hair and overwhelming amounts of black fabrics and leather attached to evidently male bodies.

So the $64 question here would be "is this view of metal and its relationship with females - or lack thereof - justified?"

First off, I believe it's necessary to separate female participation in the phenomenon that is metal between those making the music and those being its patrons - i.e. the female metal musicians and the female metalheads. Speaking of them and gauging them separately helps to avoid confusion.

In terms of women in metal bands making the music, there is no shortage of examples I could bring up, but there are a few things that are noticeable that should be addressed.

The first thing of note is this: although there is an undeniable female presence in metal, they are, for the most part, isolated individuals. What I mean is this: rarely do you see more than one woman in a metal band. I've lost count of the number of times when, in the process of looking up a band's history, I read about the band's origins being traceable to the friendship and mutual interest in metal of two or more male members in high school or post-secondary education. In contrast, I have to this day never come across a band with two or more female members who bonded over a love of metal and started a band from it. This is not to say that there are no metal bands with more than one female. However, for the most part, women in metal bands tend to be alone (in the sense of being female) in their chosen band, though there are women from other bands.

Another interesting tidbit about women in metal is the fact that a substantially large number of them are vocalists. Combined with the previous observation that most of them tend to be alone as females in metal bands, it so happens that very often, the female vocalist is responsible for that role and nothing more. Examples of this include Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Epica, Arkona, and Arch Enemy. This may perpetuate the blatantly sexist idea that women can't play instruments as well as men. It also seems at odds with the other sexist idea that women can multitask better than men. However, knowing that neither of these ideas can hold up to objective scrutiny in reality, the reason why this situation exists remains to be seen. I think that women aren't relegated to the default role of female vocalist because that's their only use, as some seem to believe. To me, women are given the role of female vocalist because that's where they are most valuable and how they can take the band farther. Often, a band will have a male and a female vocalist, creating an interesting interplay, sometimes telling a narrative with a male and a female perspective. Women can generally hit much higher notes with their voices, and with the drive to always be more extreme than the band before yourself, metal bands turned to women when they realized that they'd reached the standard upper limits of male shrieks and found them lacking. Female vocalists also add an element of elegance and feminine charm to some bands, serving as a counterpoint to the aggressive testosterone-driven music - this change is welcomed by male and female fans alike. But it's also important to note that it's not always the case that women fill the role of "female vocalist". Masha from Arkona and Angela Gossow, previously of Arch Enemy, are both examples of women who are capable of a death metal growl that would put any man to shame.

Simone Simons of Epica

Angela Gossow, previously of Arch Enemy

Other than the isolated women scattered here and there in metal, there are the all-girl bands that I don't always agree with. The reason all-girl metal bands can sometimes be a problem is the fact that many of them use the fact that they are an all-female band as an actual theme and marketing angle. Bands like Hot Chili Girls, Girlschool, AC/DShe, Dia, The Iron Maidens, and Judas Priestess are all-female bands that draw attention to the fact that they are female bands, creating a gender issue. In my view, there should be no gender issue. What do I care if you're a girl or a boy, or self-identify as anything else? If you like metal, you can consider yourself my friend. The fact that so many of these bands are tribute bands is also problematic (AC/DShe - AC/DC, Dia - Dio, The Iron Maidens - Iron Maiden, Judas Priestess - Judas Priest) because it limits their creative horizons and they are piggybacking on the success of bigger, all-men bands which actually undermines the powerful feminine presence in metal by implying that men do it better, and that these women are only capable of following in their footsteps and not blazing their own trail, which I think is so very important in metal and in life. The fact of the matter is, there are next to none all-men metal bands who create ridiculous names for themselves like Boyschool, Hot Chili Boys, or Men Can Multitask Too, so when women do something in that vein, it 1. forces a gender issue where none previously existed and 2. implies that women have something to prove in metal whereas men don't, which isn't the case. Everybody who plays metal has to prove that they're passionate about the music - that's it.

The female audience in metal is still small, but consistently growing. More and more, it's not girlfriends going to metal shows with their boyfriends, holding their jackets while the guy jumps into the pit. It's the girlfriends jumping into the pit while the boyfriend waits, terrified. Or both of them jumping in together. Or the girl without a boyfriend or a friend, giving herself up to the music that supersedes all other considerations at that moment, which is what metal has always been about. The problem of female patron-ship in metal does exist, it has existed since it began, and it has not been eradicated, but progress is underway.

An all-female mosh pit

One point that is consistently used against metal is the groupie movement. Particularly in the 80s, much attention was given to the persistent idea that bands were taking advantage of young, impressionable women while on tour, in and out before the aggrieved fathers could grab their shotguns and take the law into their own hands. However, it should be noted that the reason why groupies are used as accusations regarding the perceived immorality of heavy metal is that everyone was asked for an opinion of the groupies except the groupies themselves. Luckily, ex-groupies such as the legendary Pamela de Barres have stepped up and corrected the view of groupies that the media of the time managed to create. She asserts that no one coerced groupies to do what they did. Like her, they went along with metal bands of their own free will, eager to be a part of such a powerful, spontaneous and ultimately wild and free phenomenon.

Pamela de Barres, "Queen of the Groupies"

Regarding metal's accessibility to women, it's always been an inherent problem that there's not much in metal that would appeal to any woman who subscribes to any of society's expectations of a woman. The music is loud and aggressive, the lyrics are dark and violent, some of the men play fast and loose with everything from money to their lives. However, that is precisely why the comparatively few women who partake in the metal lifestyle are important - they are, each and every one of them, individuals with interesting stories to tell and unique reasons why they turned to metal, and it's easy to find oneself wishing it was possible to talk to all of them about why metal is important to them. It's not that metal has at any point actively tried to bar women from its fan base or musical echelons - it's the fact that gender is more or less a non-issue in metal, everything being secondary to the music.

The bottom line is - if you're a metalhead, then you're taken in without question and accepted for who you are. If you're not a metalhead, you can go on your merry way. Metalheads always have, still do and always will take care of their own.

Black Musicians and Fans in Metal

To start off this post: things mentioned here may touch upon, or resemble a discourse on, racial issues. This is neither the focus nor the intention. The focus is on the possible reasons why the black population shies away from metal and the intention is to express the observations as delicately as possible without offending anyone by happenstance. The use of terms commonly seen or heard in racist language (i.e. speaking of peoples in terms of skin colour) is due to the fact that it is inaccurate to suggest that the "black" population and "African" population are synonymous, seeing as people with dark skin living elsewhere may self-identity as belonging to other nationalities/origins.

The fact that the sub-genre called "black metal" consists almost entirely of white males as both the creators of the music and the audience is an ironic tidbit not lost on me, and has always been a topic of fascination to me. But the predominance of white people in metal originally, and now every nationality, race, culture and skin colour except those of the darker complexion, is not limited to only black metal.

There is another irony to be found here. Other than its most obvious musical ancestor, being rock music, metal owes its existence, such as it is, largely to blues music. Indeed, Black Sabbath started out in 1968 as a blues band by the name of Earth. Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin also had blues influences from his time with The New Yardbirds. Obviously, blues music has been associated with African Americans since the time of its creation, and the demographics of fans and musicians in that genre seem to be the inverse of those of metal. Perhaps the connection between metal and blues is too tenuous and seems too contrived to those who listen to either. Perhaps there is the element of the unsaid - that despite its roots in blues, metal is essentially rock and roll (itself a form of blues processed through the modern sensibilities of the typical working-class white man). Try as we might, there is no denying that for a long time, the everyday existence and experiences of black and white people anywhere they lived together have differed greatly for a long time; the improvement of the situation and progress towards equity are relatively recent phenomena. Whatever the reasons, it remains a truism to this day that few black people exist on the metal stage or in the metal crowd.

Different things must be brought into consideration before some ignoramus or individual with a parti pris jumps the gun and utters the horrible untruth: "metal is racist!" That statement could hardly be farther from the truth. However, let it be said, plainly and without excuse, that there are indeed racist bands and even underground movements within metal - as there are sexist ones, classist ones, and so on. Despite this, it remains the hallmark of a meaningful and legitimate intellectual discussion that not only rational and well-thought out, but also diverse possible reasons for something must be considered.

One such possible reason for the near total absence of black people in metal has already been brought up: the idea that metal is too distant from the familiarity and comfort of blues, R&B, and hip hop for anyone with a disposition towards those genres to enjoy. That, however, cannot possibly account for the whole reason, because there will inevitably be black people who cannot stand blues, R&B and hip hop and will actively seek other music. It would be ridiculous to suggest that black people must listen to or make those forms of music, just as it would be absurd to suggest that white people must listen to or make rock, country, or metal. At best the murky relationship between racial/national/cultural identity and musical preference can be used as a very generalized and potentially faulty guideline.

That being said, we must still ask ourselves the question of identity. Is there a sense of belonging and solidarity associated with certain types of music that links people by culture or even skin colour? This is no doubt a sensitive issue, but to not address it would be to give up on the hard questions that need answering. If the answer is yes, then perhaps there is a psychological vocal barrier somewhere in the back of a black individual's mind when they think of heavy metal that says to them "That's not for you, because you are black". This would be problematic, but if true, then at least it can be addressed and fixed as part of the racial issues that are still present in society. The simple cure would be to erase those racial ideas and make people realize that belonging to a certain culture, skin colour or history in no way prevents one from being his or her own person. If the answer is no, then we must turn elsewhere.

If it's not a problem of metal pitted against "black" music for the loyalty of black fans or musicians, then could it possibly be a case of the lyrical content of metal not appealing to black people in general, or black people not being able to relate to the lyrics? Yet at once this appears not to be a viable reason, and if it is, it is unlikely to be the dominant factor, and in no way can it be causal. The reason is that metal has largely steered away from the topics of race and skin colour in general in favour of sociopolitical commentary about war, wealth discrepancy, corruption, technology and nature, religion and personal relationships. There is nothing actively preventing black people or any other people from appreciating the messages expressed in songs that deal with those topics.

Could the reasons then be historical only? That is to say, "because metal was started by white people, it should remain a music made by white people for white people"? But this simply isn't true. There are now legions of bands from Asian countries such as Japan, China, and India, as well as South American nations including Brazil and Argentina. Oriental Asians, Hispanics, and Semites from the long-conflicted Middle-East (including both Israel and Palestine) have representatives in the metal world. So where are our African friends?

The last possible reason I can come up with is that the way society works is that metal is just so far removed from everything advertised to black people in the media and elsewhere that even if one person were to develop interest in metal, the lack of support or understanding from those around him or her would discourage further delving into the music. This is understandable, as it can happen to anyone trying to reach out for anything strange to them, not limited to questions of music or racial self-identity.

A noteworthy observation is that when black people partake in metal, they tend to do so as individuals rather than in groups of other black people. That is to say, it is more far more likely to see a black person playing in a metal band or headbanging in a crowd alone than to see an entire band comprised of black individuals or a group of black friends enjoying a metal concert together. This, of course, is also a good thing as it shows that individuality can and will triumph over herd mentality, but it also means that it remains difficult for a black fan of metal to be socially accepted - unfortunate, but, I think, the only thing I can be sure of at the end of the day.

I leave you with the only example of a metal band comprised entirely of black (or African-American, which is actually the case this time) members that I am familiar with: Black Death. But I also ask you a question: why do you think there are still so few black people participating in the dynamic world of metal?

Metal and its Extremities

Since its very creation, metal has polarized audiences. The rabidly loyal following that bands like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin garnered were countered often by groups who believed it to be the "music of the Devil", or otherwise held it responsible for disturbing crimes such as suicide (in the case of Judas Priest) and the infamous Columbine massacre (in the case of Marilyn Manson). Yet as publicized as this controversy was, and as deeply as the resultant stigma associated with metal still runs in some parts of society, bands and musicians on the outermost fringes of metal continued to push the boundaries in terms of both sound and lyrical content - some going as far as actually embracing Satanic messages and adopting Satanic or blasphemous (from a religious standpoint) personas, some delving deep into the human psyche to bring out ever more primal, raw and dark sounds.

There is a continual competition among each successive generation of metal bands everywhere to play heavier, darker, faster and/or more evil-sounding music than their predecessors. It is because of this persistent phenomenon in metal music that the loosely named "extreme metal" sub-genres were born. Within this vague umbrella classification are a diaspora of sub-genres that polarize metal fans themselves. Some love the distinction that the label of "death metal" (as an example) gives it from thrash metal, black metal, power metal, folk metal, etc. Some feel that the sub-genre labels are excessive and contrived, not serving any purpose other than to unnecessarily divide adherents of all music that is considered metal.

Each sub-genre has taken on its own peculiarities and styles, both auditory and visual, and sometimes ideological. Speed metal and thrash metal embraced the idea of putting lightning-fast and crunching guitar riffs on a pedestal, appealing mostly to the similarly energetic and turbulent youth of its heyday and the working class that often were looking for a good time with a beer in hand. Black metal, perhaps the most controversial sub-genre to the public eye (though it's not often that that eye is turned on the reclusive niche), is often thought of as being characterized by the sound of tremolo picking, heavy distortion, shrill vocals and a sustained assault on the uninitiated ear by sustained and rapid blast beat drumming. The controversy associated with black metal comes from the association of the sub-genre with Satanic lyrics and actual crimes committed by some of its musicians including murder of fellow musicians and arson of churches. Death metal, considered by some to be on the opposite side of the spectrum to black metal and by some to belong side-by-side with black metal as "extreme metal", focuses on low, growled vocals, a mixture of the guitar styles from thrash and black metal, and often complex compositions that stand as contradiction to the misconception that metal is for unsophisticated members of what is considered the lowest rungs of society (criminals, shady characters and uneducated degenerates, essentially).

These are only a few of the sub-genres that have come into being over the years, and are themselves subject to further subdivision by those who deem it appropriate.

But in contrast to the idea of rigid conformity to convention and in the spirit of being and expressing one's true self in spite of all other considerations, there are plenty of bands that refuse to be classified under the complex and often confusing sub-genre system, and merely consider themselves to play "metal". As such it is important to remember that enjoyment of the music is the ultimate good in the end.