The ‘double controversy’ of Christian metal
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v6i1.85Keywords:
Christian metal, Christian Youth Culture, evangelical popular musicAbstract
The phenomenon of Christian metal music has always been precariously located on the borderline between the worlds of evangelical Christianity and metal music and culture. Ever since its inception in the early 1980s, Christian metal has provoked controversy in both of these often opposing camps for different yet closely related reasons. This article discusses the historical development of Christian metal in light of its ‘double’ controversies. Looking at contemporary discursive representations within today’s transnational Christian metal scene, the article also highlights how Christian metal culture has internalized its ‘doubly’ controversial character, making it key to an adequate understanding of the phenomenon of Christian metal as a whole.
References
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Williams, Rhys H. 2003. ‘Religious Social Movements in the Public Sphere: Organization, Ideology, and Activism’. In Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, ed. Michele Dillon, 315–30. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Clark, Lynn Schofield. 2003. From Angels to Aliens: Teenagers, the Media, and the Supernatural. New York: Oxford University Press.
Danne. 2001. ‘Note from the Editor’. Devotion Hardmusic Magazine 3. ‘Editorial’. 2005. Extreme Brutal Death 1: 4.
Glanzer, Perry L. 2003. ‘Christ and the Heavy Metal Subculture: Applying Qualitative Analysis to the Contemporary Debate about H. Richard Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture’. Journal of Religion & Society 5. http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2003/2003-7.pdf
Godwin, Jeff. 1988. Dancing with Demons: The Music’s Real Master. Chino, CA: Chick Publications.
Hendershot, Heather. 2004. Shaking the World for Jesus: Media and Conservative Evangelical Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hunter, James D. 1991. Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America. New York: Basic Books.
JesusMetal. ‘Welcome to the Extreme Side of Christianity’, http://members.ziggo.nl/kemman/homer.htm (accessed 28 June 2010).
Kahn-Harris, Keith. 2007. Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge. Oxford: Berg.
Luhr, Eileen. 2009. Witnessing Suburbia: Conservatives and Christian Youth Culture. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Manza, Jeff, and Nathan Wright. 2003. ‘Religion and Political Behavior’. In Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, ed. Michele Dillon, 297–314. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
The Metal for Jesus Page. ‘Christian Rock—Friend Or Foe?’ and ‘Frequently Asked Questions about Christian Metal’. http://www.metalforjesus.org/friorfoe.html (accessed 28 June 2010).
Miller, Donald E. 1999. Reinventing American Protestantism: Christianity in the New Millennium. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Moberg, Marcus. 2008. ‘The Internet and the Construction of a Transnational Christian Metal Music Scene’. Culture and Religion 9: 81–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1475 5610801963269
—2009. ‘Faster for the Master! Exploring Issues of Religious Expression and Alternative Christian Identity within the Finnish Christian Metal Music Scene’. ThD dissertation. Åbo: Åbo Akademi University Press.
Raschke, Carl A. 1990. Painted Black: From Drug Killings to Heavy Metal: The Alarming True Story of how Satanism is Terrorizing our Communities. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Romanowski, William D. 2005: ‘Evangelicals and Popular Music: The Contemporary Christian Music Industry’. In Religion and Popular Culture in America, 2nd edn, ed. Bruce D. Forbes and Jeffrey H. Mahan, 103–122. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Stout, Daniel A. 2001. ‘Beyond Culture Wars: An Introduction to the Study of Religion and Popular Culture’. In Religion and Popular Culture: Studies on the Interaction of Worldviews, ed. Daniel A. Stout and Judith M. Buddenbaum, 3–17. Ames: Iowa State University Press.
Swaggart, Jimmy. 1987. Religious Rock ‘n’ Roll: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. Baton Rouge, LA: Swaggart Ministries.
Walser, Robert. 1993. Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music. Hanover, MD: Wesleyan University Press.
Weinstein, Deena. 2000. Heavy Metal: The Music and its Culture. New York: Da Capo Press.
Williams, Rhys H. 2003. ‘Religious Social Movements in the Public Sphere: Organization, Ideology, and Activism’. In Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, ed. Michele Dillon, 315–30. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wright, Robert. 2000. ‘“I’d Sell You Suicide”: Pop Music and Moral Panic in the Age of Marilyn Manson’. Popular Music 19: 365–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0261143000000222
Published
2012-05-14
Issue
Section
Controversies
How to Cite
Moberg, M. (2012). The ‘double controversy’ of Christian metal. Popular Music History, 6(1-2), 85-99. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v6i1.85
