Head Banger's Ball: Heavy Metal for the Christian

As an old skool metal head, I know it is hard to find good metal that isn't a total waste of energy. This is just a little research I did on some of the bands you'll find in my iTunes. I am also including an article from Loudwire that has a few more in it.

1.) Demon Hunter

Don Clark stated, "I guess we liked to ride the fence. Then we got a little older, maybe wiser, and you know what, we're a Christian band. We're five dudes, we're all believers, we really don't want to ride the fence anymore." Ryan Clark claimed, "When we officially started we wanted to be very bold about it, we didn't see any purpose of just beating around the bush." Fans who are Christians are supportive of the band's bold faith position. "They respect that we don't walk the fence between a non-Christian and Christian band." Demon Hunter's official website stated in 2008 that they are "absolutely" a Christian band and the band members "are all Bible believing followers of Jesus Christ."

2.) War of Ages

The band is known for their strong Christian faith which is expressed in their lyrics. In a 2009 radio interview with The Full Armor of God Broadcast, Leroy Hamp professed that as Christians the band wants to "Make a difference in a world that's covered in darkness."

3.) Love and Death

Love and Death is an American Christian metal band formed by Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. The group was officially announced in February 2012 as a re-branding of Welch's solo music project. Love and Death was formally announced in February 2012 through an official statement made by Welch. In the statement, Welch explained that "I have wanted to use a band name for branding my music for a few years. It has been an ongoing discussion with my management, but we were just starting to tour and I was in the middle of supporting my third book and it seemed like a bad time to switch names. Now with the new music coming out, it's time to really separate the things I do. I want the music to be about music. I will still be doing public speaking under Brian Head Welch. I am happy that all the confusion will be over".[4] The name Love and Death was chosen because love and death are the two most significant things you can go through in life.

4.) Scott Stapp

Stapp is a Christian. "I would feel a connection with God when I wrote the words and then when I would sing the songs, learning the songs, I would feel the Holy Spirit," confirmed Stapp in a 2013 interview. He wrote a memoir, Sinner's Creed, which was released by Tyndale House on October 2, 2012. Stapp was ranked as the 68th greatest heavy metal vocalist of all time by Hit Parader in 2006.

5.) Mortification

Mortification is an Australian Christian death metal band which was formed in 1987 as a heavy metal group, Lightforce, by mainstay Steve Rowe on bass guitar and vocals. By 1990, in the Melbourne suburb of Moorabbin, they were renamed as Mortification with the line-up of Rowe, Michael Carlisle on guitar and Jayson Sherlock on drums. Mortification has released fourteen studio albums, three compilation albums, three extended plays, six live discs, one demo album, one box set, and several videos on major record labels such as Nuclear Blast. As one of the earliest internationally successful Christian death metal bands from Australia, they served as an inspiration for later similar groups.

6.) Phinehas

Like several of the bands on this list, Phinehas are signed to the prominent Christian label Solid State Records—a label that almost single-handedly introduced the concept of heavy Christian music since their inception as Tooth & Nail Records in the mid-90s. Phinehas is one of the best melodic metal bands currently on the scene thanks to their prominent guitars and heartfelt lyrical content. Their most recent record, ‘Dark Flag,’ was released in 2017 and detailed the harrowing stories of people tortured and kept as prisoners in despotic nations such as North Korea.

7.) Skillet

The Nashville rockers in Skillet are hitting the road with Breaking Benjamin, Underoath and Fight the Fury this March, which is already a strong enough testament to how widely loved they are. Since the beginning of the 2000s, the hard rock powerhouse have come out with hit after hit (“The Last Night,” “Monster,” “Feel Invincible”) and it doesn’t look like they’ll be slowing down. The quartet’s 50-50 male/female ratio is also part of what has made Skillet so dynamic and impressive.

8.) The Devil Wears Prada

From “Hey John, What’s Your Name Again?” to “8:18,” TDWP have never minced words about their faith, which is always at the core of their music. Even when they’re writing about apocalyptic takeovers (‘Zombie’ EP) or galactic adventures (‘Space’ EP), they remain true to their philosophical approach, which makes their religious beliefs so accessible to people of all creeds.

9.) Oh, Sleeper

This band is absolutely not subtle about its faith. Oh, Sleeper dedicate entire albums to biblical references and religious affairs. Their last full-length, ‘Children of Fire,’ was saturated with religious stories, from “The Family Ruin” to “Hush Yael.” The band released an EP in 2013 and then went dormant. However, they released a new single at the end of 2018 (“Decimation & Burial), and it looks like they have a new record coming for 2019.

10.) RED

One of the bands Demon Hunter has toured with is none other than RED, a fellow Christian hard rock band. They came onto the scene with their debut full-length ‘End of Silence’ in 2006 and have since been releasing new records every two years like clockwork. RED have received multiple Grammy nominations for the Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album category.

Sources:

https://www.wikipedia.org/

https://loudwire.com/best-christian-rock-metal-bands/