Growing up, I listened to whatever my family listened to. I drew from my mom’s taste on radio, my dad’s love of classic rock and country (I often remark that I was raised on Journey’s Greatest Hits), and my older cousin Stephen’s taste for hip hop and rap. He gave me his old iPod, and I listened to the music on that from about 4th until 8th grade: T-Pain, Jay-Z, Akon, and many others.
My own tastes were also influenced by playing Guitar Hero III and Guitar Hero: World Tour, where I fell in love with guitar-driven music. But it wasn’t until my freshman year in high school that I found my own distinct taste.
At the time, the music of my youth was not really doing it for me anymore, and I thought that the music on the Top 40 Pop Charts was not good. Charlie XCX and The Chainsmokers had “hits” that were on the top of the charts for what seemed like an eternity, and I saw that modern music was quite shallow—all based on four chords, and really simple, processed, and churned out to give a hit to the masses.
So when I took music class during high school, and Mr. McCluskey said, “today’s music is really poorly made,” I resonated with that. More than just a descriptive statement, I saw that as a cri de cœur—I needed a new playbook.
I went for what I thought he would have liked to listen to: classic rock from the ‘70s and ‘80s. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses was the first song I listened to, and when the solo kicked in, I was transported back to my time with Guitar Hero. I was hooked.
Over time my tastes developed from hard rock to more heavy metal music. I desired music that was heavier, faster, and more intense. I have since become a connoisseur in metal music and the culture of “Trve Kvlt,” which is the designation of the most devoted metalheads.
But once rejoining the Church in college and taking my faith seriously, I began to reconsider what I could listen to, and what I had to give up. As is commonly assumed, there is a connection between some sub genres of metal and various forms of occultism, paganism, and satanism. In those cases, I simply had to recognize that those “faiths” were squarely contradictory to the One True Faith. I now find such music offensive to my religious sensibilities.
So to answer the question of this article, no, a Christian cannot be “Trve Kvlt,” as we cannot in good faith enjoy a significant portion of what the genre has on offer. But despite what is commonly assumed, there is a ton of metal music that is not anti-Christian, and despite most of it being non-Christian, I think there’s a certain complementarity there.
Metal lyrics tend to share a certain angst about this world. Take for example this line from Wage War’s “Southbound”: “This world will never be enough for me.” (For full effect, imagine it screamed!) And it is very much true: our home is in Heaven, and so there cannot be a perfect happiness in this life. Considered in this light, we can see how metal explores the themes of sin, fallenness, and the disorientation of the human soul in this world. Indeed, we will never be satisfied until we reach the Beatific Vision.
But my point in bringing up the most depraved elements of the genre is to point out that most of the music is not like that. And even though occultist imagery is a large part of the culture, it’s only a cultural phenomenon, devoid of any serious spiritual assent. Rather, metal points to a troubled Christian age, where we are dealing with the angst stemming from the abandonment of our traditions—though the traditions never leave us behind.
Tom is a senior in the Lynch School, where he is studying Secondary Education, History, and Philosophy, with a minor in Restorative Justice. He is President of the Boston College Republicans, and President emeritus of the St. Thomas More Society. When not taking too many classes or writing for The Torch or The Free Press, Tom loves to watch sports, listen to metal music, and defend Leo Strauss against (unfair) accusations of Gnosticism.
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There’s also a lot of very good Christian metal. I suggest you check out the symphonic power metal band Theocracy, particularly their songs “I AM” (from their album _As the World Bleeds_) and “Easter” (from _Ghost Ship_).