Christian metal, also known as white metal, Jesus metal or heavenly metal, is heavy metal music distinguished by its Christian themed song lyrics and the dedication of the band members to Christianity. Christian metal is typically performed by professed Christians, principally for Christians and is often produced and distributed through various Christian networks.
To Hell with the Devil is the third studio album, by the Christian metal band Stryper, released in 1986. It was the first Christian metal album to achieve platinum status, selling over one million copies. It remained the best-selling Christian metal album until P.O.D.'s Satellite in 2001.
Living Sacrifice is an American Christian metal band formed in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1989. The band has released eight studio albums, out of which the first three were recorded under R.E.X. Records with their original vocalist Darren Johnson as a more thrash metal and death metal oriented band. The band evolved into a groove metal and metalcore style beginning with Reborn (1997) under Solid State Records with the original guitarist Bruce Fitzhugh on vocals. In 2003, the group disbanded due to other projects and later their label, Solid State, released their best-of album, In Memoriam (2005). In 2008, Living Sacrifice reformed and released a two-song digital only single called Death Machine. They then began working on The Infinite Order which was released on January 26, 2010. Lance Garvin and Bruce Fitzhugh are the two remaining original members.
Ascendancy is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Trivium. It was released on March 15, 2005, through Roadrunner Records and was produced by Jason Suecof and Matt Heafy.
Tourniquet is an American Christian metal band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1990. The band was founded by Ted Kirkpatrick, Guy Ritter, and Gary Lenaire. The band primarily performs a mixture of thrash, progressive, and neoclassical metal, and is influenced by additional, non-rock forms of music such as classical and world music. It has earned six GMA Dove Award nominations and won multiple recognitions from the readers of HM Magazine, including "Favorite Band of the 1990s" and "Favorite Album of the 1990s" for Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance (1992). It has released ten studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, one EP, and several video releases. Tourniquet has sold more than 300,000 albums. In addition to its use of classical music, the band is known for frequently using medical terminology in its album and song titles and lyrics.
Psycho Surgery is the second studio album by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was originally released on Intense Records and Metal Blade Records in 1991. A remastered version was released on Pathogenic Records in 2001 and includes revised artwork, an expanded album booklet, and bonus tracks that include live versions of songs featuring then-lead vocalist Luke Easter as well as demos. Retroactive Records released a remaster on June 26, 2020, retaining the original album title and including an extended booklet as well as different bonus tracks. Considered by critics to be Tourniquet's most balanced of the band's first three albums, Heaven's Metal fanzine ranked Psycho Surgery Christian metal's second-best album of all time.
Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance is the third studio album by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was originally released on Intense Records in 1992 to the Christian market and later released on Metal Blade Records in 1993 to the secular market. It is the last Tourniquet album to feature vocalist Guy Ritter, who left the band after the recording of the album. It was independently re-released on Pathogenic Records in 2001 with digital remastering, two bonus live tracks from the 2000 Dutch Flevo Festival featuring then-lead vocalist Luke Easter, and new cover art. Another remaster was released, by Retroactive Records, on June 26, 2020 with the original cover art, an expanded album booklet, and four different bonus tracks. Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance was voted as the "Favorite Album of the 1990s" by readers of HM Magazine. In 2010, HM Magazine ranked it #23 on the Top 100 Christian metal albums of all-time list.
Deliverance is an American Christian thrash metal band which later shifted more towards heavy metal and progressive metal. Founded by Jimmy P. Brown II in 1985, many members have either stayed in the lineup for a number of years, or left and returned to the lineup. Jimmy P. Brown II has been the only constant member of Deliverance.
Vengeance Rising was an American Christian thrash metal band from Los Angeles, California. Fronted by vocalist Roger Martinez, they originally formed as Vengeance in 1987, but changed their name in 1989 to avoid conflict with another band from the Netherlands. Band members Larry Farkas, Doug Thieme, Roger Dale Martin, and Glen Mancaruso left following Once Dead and formed the band Die Happy. Roger Martinez stayed on to record two more studio albums, but aside from him, Vengeance Rising's lineup changed for each subsequent album. While the group was a ground breaking Christian metal band, today Vengeance Rising is known for vocalist Martinez's turning from Christianity to Satanism to atheism. AllMusic describes Vengeance Rising's history as "one of the most entertaining and bizarre stories in the realm of heavy metal."
Scrolls of the Megilloth is the second studio album by Australian Christian extreme metal band Mortification. The band's most famous release, this album is full-on death metal, with the thrash metal roots barely showing, and possibly their most extreme album to date. According to AllMusic, the album "garnered the band some attention from the heavy metal underground" and contains "some of the most frightening vocals ever recorded." In 2010, HM Magazine ranked Scrolls of the Megilloth number 17 on the Top 100 Christian Metal Albums of All Time list with Van Pelt stating that "Though the band has been living it down ever since, this album raised the standard of Christian grindcore to almost unattainable levels."
Post Momentary Affliction is the third studio album by Australian Christian metal band Mortification, released in 1993. The album's sound has Mortification returning to their thrash metal roots, but with death metal elements still showing. It contains an alternate recording of the track "Impulsation" from the band's Break the Curse demo album. Post Momentary Affliction was bundled with Mortification's 1992 album Scrolls of the Megilloth on Nuclear Blast and included "Butchered Mutilation" as a bonus track, releasing on 18 November 1996. Reissues of the album were released on Metal Mind Productions in 2008 and on Soundmass in 2020, respectively, with both including "Butchered Mutilation" and three live bonus tracks. In 2010, HM Magazine ranked Post Momentary Affliction No. 70 on the Top 100 Christian metal albums of all-time list.
Kekal is a heavy metal and electronic music band formed in 1995 in Jakarta, Indonesia. According to AllMusic, Kekal was one of the first heavy metal bands from Indonesia to make international inroads, and according to sociologist of heavy metal, Keith Kahn-Harris, was one of the few extreme metal bands from Southeast Asia to ever make more than a minimal impression on the global scene. Founded by two musicians known simply Yeris and Newbabe, the band underwent some shifts in lineup in its early years, but emerged with a consistent lineup of three key-members, guitarist/vocalist Jeff Arwadi, bassist Azhar Levi Sianturi, and guitarist Leo Setiawan. Frequently labeled as black metal, progressive metal, and avant-garde metal, Kekal plays a very diverse range of music styles within the frame of metal and rock, incorporating many other music genres such as ambient, electronic, jazz fusion, and progressive rock. Over the course of its career, Kekal has transitioned from a heavy metal-based style to a more experimental and electronic sound.
Sanity Obscure is the second studio album by the American Christian thrash metal band Believer. It was initially released in 1990 on R.E.X. and later in 1991 on Roadrunner, marking the band's label debut for Roadrunner. Several mainstream magazines praised the album.
Undeceived is the second LP and third studio release by Norwegian Christian metal band Extol. It was released in 2000 on Solid State Records and re-released in 2002 on Century Media; all releases of the album other than the Solid State version switch the two opening tracks, such that "Undeceived" is the first track on the album.
Mortal was a Christian industrial/dance band fronted by Jerome Fontamillas and Jyro Xhan. Both members went on to found the alternative rock group Fold Zandura, and for a time were members of both bands simultaneously. The band is known for its lyrical intelligence, incorporating advanced theology with what has been billed as "Industrial Praise and Worship." According to CCM Magazine "Mortal has had a much greater influence... on industrial music than its modest output would suggest."
Extraction from Mortality, also known as Extraction, is the debut studio album by the American Christian thrash metal band Believer. It was released on R.E.X. Records in 1989. In 2010, HM Magazine ranked it #33 on the Top 100 Christian metal albums of all-time list.
Human Sacrifice is the first studio album by the Christian death and thrash metal band Vengeance Rising. It is the first full length Christian thrash metal album as it was released in 1988. Though controversial, Human Sacrifice and the following album, Once Dead were huge successes in the world of Christian music, making Vengeance Rising one of the few bands in the genre to cross over into the secular music scene. Dave Caughney of Cross Rhythms magazine wrote in 1990 that this "legendary classic debut [...] breathed much needed freshness into the somewhat stale white metal scene". HM Magazine editor Doug Van Pelt called Human Sacrifice "the most radical Christian album ever released". In 2010, HM ranked Human Sacrifice the best Christian metal album of all time on its Top 100 list because it "tilted the Christian metal world on its ear".
Whitecross is the eponymous debut album from the Christian metal band Whitecross, released on September 5, 1987. It reached No. 17 on Billboard's Top Contemporary Christian Albums chart. In 2010, HM Magazine listed Whitecross No. 29 on its Top 100 Christian Rock Albums of All Time list stating that "listen to this album. It'll blow your mind. It's simplistic '80s metal to a fault, but the shredding lead guitar by Rex Carroll in every fill, nook and cranny is primo." Heaven's Metal fanzine ranked it No. 4 on its Top 100 Christian metal albums of all-time list.
Once Dead is the second studio album by Christian death and thrash metal band Vengeance Rising, released in 1990 on Intense Records and re-released in November 2010 on Intense Millennium Records.
Larry Farkas is an American musician who primarily performs thrash metal. Farkas was a member of Christian bands Vengeance Rising, Deliverance, Holy Soldier, and Once Dead, many of which he started.
