Metal War

I'm beginning to think that the most important type of music in the U.S. right now is Christian metal. Those who disagree should watch the film Jesus Camp to see what I'm talking about. This genre has become a real phenomenon; doing for Christian youth what hip hop has done for so many other young demographics. Coming out of suburban America, bands like Demon Hunter, As I Lay Dying, and War of Ages have become wildly popular. The music is ferociously loud-mouthed and abrasively masculine, and it preaches (or sends messages about) the word of God. War of Ages is from Erie, Pennsylvania, and they look like a fairly run-of-the-mill rock band. And at first listen, they sound like your average screaming metal band. But then there are the lyrics: "We clench our fists and bare our arms/Only to cry out in Your presence/oh God to all who try to end my life/I stand firm and now I've been set free saved by Him/Whom I call king." The warlike cover art for the album "Pride of the Wicked" and band's name are apparently drawn from the idea that humans must fight their own weaknesses such as pride and greed to be closer to God.

But references to militancy appear in much of the Christian metal I've heard, and I have to wonder how much of this is sentiment is aimed at the "Islamic enemy." The term jihad does not refer to "holy war," as so many have said, but for most Muslims it means to struggle to improve oneself in the eyes of God. So - maybe there are more parallels between the two religions than we've been led to think. Anyway, for me there's still something disconcerting about the metaphor of war that is used so often in Christian metal bands' lyrics. Demon Hunter's latest album The Triptych includes a track called "Soldier's Song," which says, "Turn over the tables and watch them run/You’ll be the weapon they can’t outgun" (referring to Jesus, I assume). As Jesus Camp points out, most Evangelical Cristians believe that Jesus will soon return to judge all of humanity, and those who are not saved will burn in hell. I guess the violence of the impending apocalypse is impossible to avoid.