Topic: Orthodox Folk/Death Metal?

[Alveus Lacuna]

I have been involved in the protestant extreme metal scene for years, and one Christian band I encountered over the years is from the Ukraine.  I am not certain that anyone in the band is actually Orthodox, but they do that some Bishops and Orthodox Churches in their thank-you list, so I suspect that at least some of them are.  Also, this video is shot outside an Orthodox Church.

Anyway, don't many Orthodox have a strong aversion to rock music in general?  If so, would this kind of thing just totally freak them out?  Here's a music video, by the way.  The band is called Holy Blood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOJtsF6-2S0

Someone posted this translation of the chorus (from Ukrainian):

Our land groans from pain,
The Slavonic motherland cries.

Hey, Slavonic brother, our motherland waits,
Raise your sword as a patriot,
Protect the Slavonic land from evil,
From devilish intrigues, from heathen lies.

Wind carries the war call,
Be without pity, in the struggle with Satan.

Time of battle has begun already,
Raise your sword, throw away doubts,
God is with us in this war,
In the battle for souls in the Slavonic land.

The final of the battle is decided:
Good wins in the struggle with the evil....

Here's another video as well off an earlier album:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93kQXY-NWf0&feature=related

The band is actually on the same record label as my band, so it's sort of ironic that I'm realizing it is Orthodox far after the fact.  I have been listening to them for years...

[SolEX01]

Judas Iscariot thought that Christ was going to overthrow the Romans and reclaim the Throne of David....

[Alveus Lacuna]

Judas Iscariot thought that Christ was going to overthrow the Romans and reclaim the Throne of David....

What are you getting at?

[LBK]

The lyrics of that song speak of belligerent nationalism, not Orthodoxy.

[mike]

EXORCIST - Russian industrial metal band, they've got hieromonk as vocalist

[SiviSokol]

EXORCIST - Russian industrial metal band, they've got hieromonk as vocalist

Not bad!  Used to listen to Front Line Assembly, Laether Strip, Mentallo and the fixer, etc. back in the day.   Certainly much more "positive" lyrically.

Another group that I've just recently found is Isihia from Bulgaria.  They mix ethno music, Orthodox chant, with hints of darkwave and industrial into a heavy-hitting, compunction-inducing mix.

Chernomen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivUTeM_17-k&feature=related

Gospodi Vozzvah:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDK0-hB8y64

[Asteriktos]

Interesting. I've also been listening to Christian metal for years, and have wondered about Orthodox metal bands. I've searched the metal archives (Encyclopedia Metallum) looking for good metal bands from Orthodox countries that have Christian-oriented lyrics, but came up mostly empty. As for Holy Blood, I'm afraid it's not really my thing.

[Alveus Lacuna]

The lyrics of that song speak of belligerent nationalism, not Orthodoxy.

Well, the song is called "The Patriot."  The last time I checked, Orthodoxy tends to be belligerently nationalistic. 

[SolEX01]

Well, the song is called "The Patriot."  The last time I checked, Orthodoxy tends to be belligerently nationalistic. 

I hope you reconsider....   

[SolEX01]

The lyrics of that song speak of belligerent nationalism, not Orthodoxy.

Thanks.   

[Heorhij]

I, for one, can't stand heavy metal or hard rock, it just disgusts me. But if somebody else likes it, fine with me, I don't mind (as long as I have earplugs or can escape to a different building/city/state/galaxy).

[Entscheidungsproblem]

EXORCIST - Russian industrial metal band, they've got hieromonk as vocalist

Thanks for the link!  The song March/Марш really gets stuck in your head.

[Fr. Alexis]

All this is very strange indeed. I wondered if any members of Holy Blood were Orthodox too. If memory serves me, they are now defunct. The lead singer seems to know the lead singer of the Polish Christian metal band Illuminandi.

All the screaming, growling and screaming makes me laugh.

[VirSpeluncaeOrthodoxae]

There are more punk rockers and headbangers in the church than you think.

[PeterTheAleut]

The last time I checked, Orthodoxy tends to be belligerently nationalistic. 

Well, I'm not sure it's accurate to say that Orthodoxy tends to be belligerently nationalistic, but I will say that, for better or for worse, Orthodox Christians have tended to be so inclined.

[Fr. Alexis]

There are more punk rockers and headbangers in the church than you think.

Now if we could just get some of them to put something awesome together (a band?).

[Lily]

There are more punk rockers and headbangers in the church than you think.

Now if we could just get some of them to put something awesome together (a band?).

Yes indeed (to both statements!)

[Asteriktos]

I'm sure there are lots of heavy bands with Orthodox members in them... but it's probably harder to get 4 or 5 members who are all Orthodox together, especially in the west. And besides, many people have pre-conceived notions about how all Christian metal or Christian rock is awful, so probably quite a few people don't want to be associated with it and would rather just be seen as Christians playing in a (secular) band. This is actually something I'm struggling with at the moment. I recently got back in contact with a guy I used to play in a garage band with back in the 90's, and we've decided to put something together. But even though we are both Christians, should it be "Christian metal" that we are making? There are a number of factors that play into that decision, and I've found that it's not a question with a simple answer.

[Alveus Lacuna]

I would honestly probably never do an "Orthodox-themed" metal band.  It's just seems like it would cheapen something sacred.  Orthodoxy doesn't need to be cool, metal, or punk-rock. 

Blast-beats + Akathists = Cheese-ball.

[Arystarcus]

EXORCIST - Russian industrial metal band, they've got hieromonk as vocalist

Shouldn't he be praying or something? 

[BrotherAidan]

I'm sure there are lots of heavy bands with Orthodox members in them... but it's probably harder to get 4 or 5 members who are all Orthodox together, especially in the west. And besides, many people have pre-conceived notions about how all Christian metal or Christian rock is awful, so probably quite a few people don't want to be associated with it and would rather just be seen as Christians playing in a (secular) band. This is actually something I'm struggling with at the moment. I recently got back in contact with a guy I used to play in a garage band with back in the 90's, and we've decided to put something together. But even though we are both Christians, should it be "Christian metal" that we are making? There are a number of factors that play into that decision, and I've found that it's not a question with a simple answer.

Kings X brother - be a Christian band without being a "Christian" band

[BrotherAidan]

I would honestly probably never do an "Orthodox-themed" metal band.  It's just seems like it would cheapen something sacred.  Orthodoxy doesn't need to be cool, metal, or punk-rock. 

Blast-beats + Akathists = Cheese-ball.

Depends on motive. If Orthodox Christians like a certain genre and play authentic music within that genre, whether they write specifically Christian lyrics or lyrics that reflect the Orthodox world view but are not explicitly religious, if their motive is to create art that glorifies the Holy Trinity and to pursue their artistic vision then that does not cheapen anything, even if you or I don't particularly resonate with it or like it.

If it is done because demographic A likes genre B so Christian band C will write strained evangelistic lyrics to music in that genre and spend half their concert preaching instead of playing music to domographic A then that is just plain BS anyway and we don't have to concern ourselves with it (in my prostestant days, the only CCM performer who could get away with that and not make you sick was Mylon LeFevre).

[Alveus Lacuna]

EXORCIST - Russian industrial metal band, they've got hieromonk as vocalist

Man, that is terrible.  If you want some great Christian industrial, listen to Mental Destruction or Sanctum.

[mike]

I don't like industrial personally. I just post it as interesting detail.

[Seraphim98]

I think this might be the sort of thing you are looking for:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flgyj_m4qBM


Epizod, a Bulgarian Metal band who are also Orthodox.  They took a collection of poems by one of their national poets who wrote about the Ottoman conquest and the Bulgarian resistance and used them as lyrics in rock opera staged at the castle where a number of the events in the opera took place.

This video is about Czar Martyr St. Shihman handing over of the care of the Bulgarian people to the athonite monk Evtimi called to serve as the Patriarch of the country.  It is a kind of musical dyptich with St. Evtimi's prayer which you can also find on you tube.  If you go to their website they used to have a section somewhere with their lyrics in English.

[Rosehip]

It's hard for me to imagine how anyone could possibly enjoy and listen to this metal music. To me it seems so violent and frightening-almost psychotic. I dislike these videos of exorcisms too. Reminds me of those "slain in the spirit" Toronto blessing type of thing. But the above link I listened to and enjoyed!

[Ian Lazarus]

I dont think "Death Metal" as a genre is entirley unwelcoming to Orthodox Themes.  Black Metal, however, with it's beligerantly satanic message, is.

[Asteriktos]

I suppose this is as good a place as any to post my favorite albums put out this year. I've investigated who else is putting out albums, and I've not found any that I plan on buying. I bought twenty-one albums this year, which is by far the most new albums that I've ever bought in a year. Normally I wait till the end of the year, figure out which ones I might be interested in, and then buy those albums the following year. This year I decided to be a bit more active. On my list, numbers one through three I thought were great. Numbers four through six I thought were good. Numbers seven through twenty I thought were just average. And number twenty-one was the only album that I thought was bad. It's sort of an interesting coincidence that the list begins with a Christian group and ends with a Christian group.

1. Believer - Gabriel
2. Mastodon - Crack the Skye
3. Lazarus A.D. - The Onslaught
4. Megadeth - Endgame
5. Kreator - Hordes of Chaos
6. Havok - Burn
7. Shadows Fall - Retribution
8. Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage 2
9. Obscura - Cosmogenesis
10. God Forbid - Earthsblood
11. Obituary - Darkest Day
12. Lamb of God - Wrath
13. August Burns Red - Constellations
14. Zao - Awake?
15. Suffocation - Blood Oath
16. Napalm Death - Time Waits For No Slave
17. Amorphis - Skyforger
18. Darkest Hour - The Eternal Return
19. Cannibal Corpse - Evisceration Plague
20. Goatwhore - Carving Out the Eyes of God
21. The Ascendicate - To Die As Kings

[mike]

Bunch of Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox Metal songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fag_yj4doC4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBILtgd_9MU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap1_qbWL1D0 - my favourite song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7GjA3OnbS0

[Iconodule]

The last time I checked, Orthodoxy tends to be belligerently nationalistic. 

Well, I'm not sure it's accurate to say that Orthodoxy tends to be belligerently nationalistic, but I will say that, for better or for worse, Orthodox Christians have tended to be so inclined.

Some have, others have not. I also think there is a difference between loving your nation because it is Orthodox, and loving Orthodoxy because it's part of your national identity. For some folks, the faith comes as part of a nationalist "package deal." But I think there is also a kind of patriotism that is contingent on the nation's adherence to Orthodoxy. As a US citizen, I am not particularly patriotic, because I consider the US to be, historically and politically, basically anti-Christian.

Going back to the lyrics posted- well, they're really bad, irrespective of their ideological content. The nice thing about death metal and black metal is that you can't hear the (usually) dumb lyrics because the vocalist just rasps and growls his way through the song.

BTW, while many foundational black metal bands are Satanic, the genre is not inherently Satanic. Many of the bands are pagan or not even particularly interested in religious themes at all.

[Vzldrb]

I know I'm reviving an old thread, but in my mind Black Metal and Orthodoxy go hand in hand. They are "against the grain".

That being said, take a band like Mutiilation - very Satanic.

Yet in their references to Satan, they describe him as "cold, and hate filled" ... and in fact, the vocalist of the band hates being under Satan!

Yet he knows he is stuck with him due to a pact.

Anyways, in any case, many "Satanic" bands actually arent Satanic, and if they are, they use Satan as a metaphor for an outside source of inescapable (to them) suffering.

That being sad, I'm off to go write some more music for my black metal album.

[Alveus Lacuna]

I know I'm reviving an old thread, but in my mind Black Metal and Orthodoxy go hand in hand. They are "against the grain".

That being said, take a band like Mutiilation - very Satanic.

Yet in their references to Satan, they describe him as "cold, and hate filled" ... and in fact, the vocalist of the band hates being under Satan!

Yet he knows he is stuck with him due to a pact.

Anyways, in any case, many "Satanic" bands actually arent Satanic, and if they are, they use Satan as a metaphor for an outside source of inescapable (to them) suffering.

That being sad, I'm off to go write some more music for my black metal album.

Aren't you the poster with the National Socialism fetish? Seriously, get some help.

[biro]

I did hear a little from a band called Slavonic Thunder. They seem to be dealing more with historic and cultural themes than Orthodoxy, though.

 

[Vzldrb]

I know I'm reviving an old thread, but in my mind Black Metal and Orthodoxy go hand in hand. They are "against the grain".

That being said, take a band like Mutiilation - very Satanic.

Yet in their references to Satan, they describe him as "cold, and hate filled" ... and in fact, the vocalist of the band hates being under Satan!

Yet he knows he is stuck with him due to a pact.

Anyways, in any case, many "Satanic" bands actually arent Satanic, and if they are, they use Satan as a metaphor for an outside source of inescapable (to them) suffering.

That being sad, I'm off to go write some more music for my black metal album.

Aren't you the poster with the National Socialism fetish? Seriously, get some help.

Okay, if you mean before being Christian, yes, I was National Socialist. Which I learned about from bands like "Waffen SS" from Italy. Stuka Lied is a great track. But ANYWAYS...

I gave that up for Commun(al)ism.

Anyways, take your own advice bro. But it seems like you barely know the difference between National Socialism and Communism in the first place, so I doubt it really matters. You just like being right and telling other people what to do, it seems.

Oh, and God forbid a Catechumen doesnt drop all of his interests in an instant upon entering the Church.

Anyways, i'll be away from here awhile longer... Clearly not worth my time.

[Libertas]

There are more punk rockers and headbangers in the church than you think.

This was interesting to read. My friends and I are into punk rock, heavy metal, etc. I was wondering at one point whether or not I would run into a situation, when I convert, that I would have to give it up. It appears to be less likely than I thought. 

[Saint Iaint]

Merriam-Webster/Punk

1punk noun \ˈpəŋk\

Definition of PUNK

1archaic : prostitute

2[probably partly from 3punk] : nonsense, foolishness

3a : a young inexperienced person : beginner, novice; especially : a young man b : a usually petty gangster, hoodlum, or ruffian c slang : a young man used as a homosexual partner especially in a prison
4a : punk rock b : a punk rock musician c : one who affects punk styles

Origin of PUNK

origin unknown

First Known Use: 1596 (Punk = young male homosexual prostitute.)

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

†IC XC†
†NI KA†

[FormerReformer]

FormerReformer/Punk

punk noun

1 A form of music typified by 3 chords and a do-it-yourself approach to recording with a complete disregard for corporate influence.  This music is totally awesome and should be enjoyed by everyone. 

2 All other definitions are to be disregarded, as they do not define the awesomeness that is punk rock

[dcommini]

FormerReformer/Punk

punk noun

1 A form of music typified by 3 chords and a do-it-yourself approach to recording with a complete disregard for corporate influence.  This music is totally awesome and should be enjoyed by everyone. 

2 All other definitions are to be disregarded, as they do not define the awesomeness that is punk rock

Really, Mike, really? You are the least punk rocker I know. I remember you taking your jeans and my knife to make the knees frayed so you could look punk. Poser. J/K I love you, bro. BTW I am totally missing my Ramones shirt... what was that site I got it from?

[Alveus Lacuna]

I wish I had never started this thread, just so we're all clear on that. This will be my last post in the thread, in the sincere hope that it will die a quick death.

[Asteriktos]

I wish I had never started this thread, just so we're all clear on that. This will be my last post in the thread, in the sincere hope that it will die a quick death.

"If you do not like metal, you are not my friend" 

[Iconodule]

I wish I had never started this thread, just so we're all clear on that. This will be my last post in the thread, in the sincere hope that it will die a quick death.

"If you do not like metal, you are not my friend" 

Got to make it louder, all men play on 10:
If you're not into metal, you are not my friend!
HEAVY METAL, OR NO METAL AT ALL!
WIMPS AN POSERS, LEAVE THE HALL!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyOy5YnE8G4

[Fabio Leite]

There are more punk rockers and headbangers in the church than you think.

This was interesting to read. My friends and I are into punk rock, heavy metal, etc. I was wondering at one point whether or not I would run into a situation, when I convert, that I would have to give it up. It appears to be less likely than I thought.  

Libertas, you might want to see this site and maybe even getting in touch with them:
http://www.deathtotheworld.com/

[Saint Iaint]

There are more punk rockers and headbangers in the church than you think.

This was interesting to read. My friends and I are into punk rock, heavy metal, etc. I was wondering at one point whether or not I would run into a situation, when I convert, that I would have to give it up. It appears to be less likely than I thought.  

Libertas, you might want to see this site and maybe even getting in touch with them:
http://www.deathtotheworld.com/

That's funny... I've had this as my desktop background for months now:



But I never knew where it came from... so thanks for the link - it's interesting. I may subscribe myself.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

As for my previous post - just to clarify I was not trying to be insulting to anyone who enjoys a certain style of music (I too was a 'headbanger' in my youth)... Rather I only wanted to show the origins and meaning of the word.

Knowing that now - I would never call myself a punk.

†IC XC†
†NI KA†

[xariskai]

I wish I had never started this thread, just so we're all clear on that. This will be my last post in the thread, in the sincere hope that it will die a quick death.

[Asteriktos]

I wish I had never started this thread, just so we're all clear on that. This will be my last post in the thread, in the sincere hope that it will die a quick death.

Don't cry, we shant let this thread die.

"They try to test our spirit
They'll taste steel, before we are done!"