DontTreadOnMike
Eddaic Literalist
Well I don't. I'm not a christian. I don't believe it's demonic because I don't believe in demons. I will agree with you that the imagery isn't positive or happy but I don't see why that's a bad thing. (On a side note, I'll also agree with you that AS I Lay Dying's music and art aren't very good in the artistic sense either. It's very bland, boring, and generic. But that's irrelevant)
Anyway, yes, I agree that the imagery isn't positive or happy but I don't know why that's a bad thing. Christians sometimes feel down too. I know I did sometimes. It's not unchristian to feel sad or angry or to express sadness or anger. Christ did it himself. On the cross he expressed despair. In the garden of gethsemane he wrestled with his faith. At the temple he gave in to his anger and (rightfully) kicked out the money changers with a whip. I remember when I was younger, I would often be looked down upon by the Christians at church for not being 100% happy 100% of the time as if that were some command from God. But the sad part is, I knew that the people who pretended to be happy all the time felt sad too and sometimes wrestled with their own faith. Instead of expressing it or talking about it, they put on a face and acted like nothing was wrong.
Now, I was never a depressed person. I'm happy 99% percent of the time. But I'm also a realist; I didn't want to have to pretend I was happy when I wasn't. So Christian metal let me express that through songs which I wrote to God. Some of the songs were happy as well despite what the untrained ear might believe. But I remember having to tell people all the time like I'm telling you now, Christian metal isn't praise and worship music. It's not intended to be. And I agree, in heaven we probably won't be shredding out sweet licks on a flying V. Metal, to me, was a prayer rather than worship. For me it was a musical equivalent of Christ's desperate prayers in the garden of gethsemane. Or the musical equivalent of "A Grief Observed" by C.S. Lewis. Have you read that? It's a very powerful book where Lewis describes, in journal form, how he teaters on the edge of loosing faith after his wife dies, and then is pulled back right at the last minute. Things like that resonate with me. They are real. Christians sometimes struggle with faith. Why should they have to pretend everything is fine? In my case, I struggled against my faith and won
And like I said earlier, don't take my current state of non-belief as evidence that metal leads people astray. My years in the Christian metal scene were my strongest years spiritually. I met the strongest Christians I know and I'm still friends with them and they still influence me. It wasn't until a long time after I left the metal scene that I stopped going to church. And that was because I was in the worship band and they wanted me to play a Michelle Branch song haha. I didn't think is was very Christian to play a secular love song so that was my last day at that church. I tried a few more out after that but never found one to call home so eventually I stopped going. It had nothing to do with metal.
I'll leave you with some lyrics that talk about just this very thing. I won't post the song because I know you won't listen to it.
Edit: Also, their first language is not English so forgive any weird grammer haha
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