Meh, let's stick with Christian Metal for a bit. Bloodgood are apparently one of the oldest and well known of the bands on the Christian Metal front, defiantly denying that the biggest of them, Stryper, had any influence on them at all.
Bloodgood --- Bloodgood --- 1986
The below is a track entitled "Demon on the run", taken from the above album, which was their debut. They had five albums before disbanding in 1994, but then got together again in 2006, and released a sixth album last year.
I suppose the thing about Christian Metal is that it always seems so odd to be associating the two. Metal --- indeed, rock and/or roll --- has traditionally been labelled "the Devil's music", so it's strange to hear bands praising Christ rather than Satan and advocating a life of abstinence and penance (do they?) when we're used to being exorted to drink and **** and basically misbehave, often in the very name of Satan. But as I discovered with Narnia, Christian Metal bands can kick just as much ass as normal, or even Black Metal can.
However I always have a little discomfort listening to CM. When you play Black Metal, much of the time you're laughing at the lyrics (assuming you can make them out!) because who really --- other than a very small percentage of the listening population --- is actually going to start worshipping the Devil after listening to Black Metal? And do the bands involved expect that to happen? Hell no (well, bands like Watain excepted of course): they just want to be controversial and piss people off mostly. But Christian Metal acts do give you the impression that they want everyone who isn't already praising God to start doing so, and hope their music will cause this sort of conversion.
That's what worries and irks me about CM: it's almost like they;re trying to convert you through their music. And I don't want anyone doing that. Not that they would. But it's odd to be singing "Praise the dark one" and then "Living water from the father" or "God is the saviour" when you listen to the likes of Narnia.
All that aside though, I guess the main and most important thing is, can these bands play and do you enjoy their music? Well this I do: much more traditional metal than that death metal I featured yesterday. The lyric is cheesy of course but what do you expect? Good stuff. I've seen the light! Hallelujah!
(Not really...)