(Hi, I'm new here ^.^ )
To address the OP:
I'm surprised you listed Of Mice & Men and In Fear and Faith. When I listened to OMM's debut album, I really liked it, though had no idea of their band members' religious beliefs. After listening to their second album, I was disappointed with the foul language. I had a feeling they weren't very Christian, and after a quick Google search I found a certain page (Since I'm new, I'm not allowed to post links.) The page, after searching "Is Of Mice And Men Christian" on Google, is the first link, should be a Enoch Magazine website.
However, that's as much as I know about them. I stopped listening to them quite some time ago.
On the other hand, In Fear and Faith is not Christian, either. They were my favorite band for years, and I did like the positive lyrics in their first "real" album, Your World On Fire. Then they moved on to the Imperial album, and I noticed that they endorsed drinking. A lot (Even now, they sell skateboard tops with the decal "In Beer & Faith"). The lyrics became generic.
IFAF's teaser song, A Creeping Dose, for their upcoming album contains f-bombs and little else; just generic lyrics... "You're all f***ing guilty"... and so on.
Frankly, I'm much more than disappointed about IFAF. They used to be a great band (However, Ramin Niroomand, their very talented pianist, still gives me hope).
Moving on...
If you're wondering what "not to listen to", in regards to Christian bands, I noticed a lot of raging negativity from Corpus Christi's "A Feast for Crows" and Oh, Sleeper's "Children of Fire". I had the privilege of speaking to one of CC's members over a Facebook post about an album they wanted to work on, and when they mentioned how they wanted it to be a worship album, I commented about their other album. They admitted to it! It was a long time ago, but I believe they said that it was an "angry" time for them. If you know about the negativity, then you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, Google "Shepherds In Sheep's Clothing lyrics" (I still can't post links).
However, because of that post, I'm glad they've decided to take a different direction. A Feast for Crows was an excellent album, both lyrically and musically.
Now, Oh, Sleeper's new album is very good, but also possibly a bit negative and maybe a bit morally shady. They use real events as inspirations for their songs, such as "Hush Yael" and "Dealers of Fame". "Hush Yael" is a GREAT song, absolutely, but depending on your own beliefs, it can be... shady. If you're interested in the story and have time to kill, the Washington Post article about the event should be read to understand the context of the song. Hey--you guessed it--I can't post links. So Google "Washington Post the world should know". Should be first link.
The song itself tells the story, and at the end, the narrator (so to speak) says about the terrorist, who killed a family of innocent people, "Make him beg for his life / He made me watch as my family died / He'll never know what it's like / So cut him slow until his soul takes flight / ... End him slow". That last phrase is repeated over and over again, and I must say, it is really intense--I can't imagine what that must be like in concert.
The point is, to some people I could see that as negative... "An eye for an eye", I guess. Though many would be glad if the above lyrics came true, the fact is that, as far as I know, it isn't a very Christian thing to say.
I don't know. What do you think? Is it amoral for a Christian band to be so negative?
To address the OP:
I'm surprised you listed Of Mice & Men and In Fear and Faith. When I listened to OMM's debut album, I really liked it, though had no idea of their band members' religious beliefs. After listening to their second album, I was disappointed with the foul language. I had a feeling they weren't very Christian, and after a quick Google search I found a certain page (Since I'm new, I'm not allowed to post links.) The page, after searching "Is Of Mice And Men Christian" on Google, is the first link, should be a Enoch Magazine website.
However, that's as much as I know about them. I stopped listening to them quite some time ago.
On the other hand, In Fear and Faith is not Christian, either. They were my favorite band for years, and I did like the positive lyrics in their first "real" album, Your World On Fire. Then they moved on to the Imperial album, and I noticed that they endorsed drinking. A lot (Even now, they sell skateboard tops with the decal "In Beer & Faith"). The lyrics became generic.
IFAF's teaser song, A Creeping Dose, for their upcoming album contains f-bombs and little else; just generic lyrics... "You're all f***ing guilty"... and so on.
Frankly, I'm much more than disappointed about IFAF. They used to be a great band (However, Ramin Niroomand, their very talented pianist, still gives me hope).
Moving on...
If you're wondering what "not to listen to", in regards to Christian bands, I noticed a lot of raging negativity from Corpus Christi's "A Feast for Crows" and Oh, Sleeper's "Children of Fire". I had the privilege of speaking to one of CC's members over a Facebook post about an album they wanted to work on, and when they mentioned how they wanted it to be a worship album, I commented about their other album. They admitted to it! It was a long time ago, but I believe they said that it was an "angry" time for them. If you know about the negativity, then you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, Google "Shepherds In Sheep's Clothing lyrics" (I still can't post links).
However, because of that post, I'm glad they've decided to take a different direction. A Feast for Crows was an excellent album, both lyrically and musically.
Now, Oh, Sleeper's new album is very good, but also possibly a bit negative and maybe a bit morally shady. They use real events as inspirations for their songs, such as "Hush Yael" and "Dealers of Fame". "Hush Yael" is a GREAT song, absolutely, but depending on your own beliefs, it can be... shady. If you're interested in the story and have time to kill, the Washington Post article about the event should be read to understand the context of the song. Hey--you guessed it--I can't post links. So Google "Washington Post the world should know". Should be first link.
The song itself tells the story, and at the end, the narrator (so to speak) says about the terrorist, who killed a family of innocent people, "Make him beg for his life / He made me watch as my family died / He'll never know what it's like / So cut him slow until his soul takes flight / ... End him slow". That last phrase is repeated over and over again, and I must say, it is really intense--I can't imagine what that must be like in concert.
The point is, to some people I could see that as negative... "An eye for an eye", I guess. Though many would be glad if the above lyrics came true, the fact is that, as far as I know, it isn't a very Christian thing to say.
I don't know. What do you think? Is it amoral for a Christian band to be so negative?
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