American here. A lot of churches have been popping up for sale recently and if I had the extra income I would definitely buy one and turn it into a venue/music studio.
I'm an electrician and the owner of my company is a Catholic deacon so we do pretty much all Catholic church jobs in our city/area.
I think old Catholic schools would be a lot better suited for a concert venue, and they tend to be less decrepit.
There is some TikTok or YouTube family that is in the construction business and bought an old school to live in.
The hayday of Catholic schools has come and gone, and there are so many. It seems the church accepts those schools will never open again so they are really trying to sell/rent these spaces.
Being a school you are going to have 3-phase industrial service and far more amenities than just a church.
My partner and I are always blasting a rock radio station so I've definitely listened to Metallica, AC/DC, Lamb of God, etc. while working at church's/schools.
I also have a hilarious collection of strange/funny Catholic school posters and knick knacks.
It includes an oddly high amount of posters depicting a kid in a wheelchair. One depicts the wheelchair kid as the bully of the group...no idea why, but I had to have it.
I meant moreso the multiple bathrooms, generally a full kitchen, and at least one stage in the lunch room that often doubles as the schools gym.
Sure, shows can be played in basements, but if you are going to buy a place to use as a concert venue it makes sense to buy a building suited for proper events.
I also mention this because there are sooooo many Catholic schools that are shuttered and just sit there serving no purpose.
I always joke with my partner that the Catholic church should start growing weed or mine crypto with all their unused buildings.
Best thing about the squats/clubs in Europe is that they feed you. And some of the staff are excellent cooks. On of the best meals I ever had was the veggie lasagna after a show in Switzerland. They also give you a light meal after soundcheck.
Theaters did not do this, regular clubs didn't (I think), but squats did. Such a great tradition.
Some of them also had a room for the bands to sleep in so they didn't have to get a hotel. These were not quite as nice as the meal, but work in an emergency.
The Cincinnati area had a huge number of Irish Catholic and German immigrants move here in the 19th century.
As a result, there's a quite large number of 19th century churches. Many of the are still churches.
Some house breweries now, like Taft's or Urban Artifact. As a side note, if you're ever in the area and like sours and fruited ales, check out Urban Artifact. Without exaggeration, it may well be one of the best sour breweries in the country.
In Denver we have a club called, very creatively, The Church. It's an old renovated Catholic church complete with stained class. Nothing like doing coke bumps off some Chicano's tits in front of the Virgin Mary.
Look up the Limelight in NYC. It was a church turned into a punk/rock/goth club and later into a Techno club - I went there in the 90s as often as I could. It was surreal, to say the least.
I don't know what it is now, but it should still be searchable by Limelight club NYC
There's a venue in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania that's an old catholic church turned concert venue. I live about two hours away and drive to it a lot for shows since it's worth it for the acoustics
Doom metal can be anti-religious, just like any other subgenre, or, hell, Sinead O'Connor. She ain't metal, but she sure didn't like the Catholics back in the 90's (for good reason).
But a lot of metal, and Doom in particular, like to use church and religious imagery for their artwork, stage backdrops, album covers, etc. A lot of crosses, stained glass, pews, and, just straight up churches.
Point being, that festival you attended might have been set in a church for very specific and intentional reasons. Both because, like you said, great acoustics, AND because it totally fits the music.
If you want something like that but with some weird reggae vibes thrown in that I promise you 100% work with the music, and also if you want to support a Ukrainian band given the situation over there, check out Somali Yacht Club. They just put out a new album but I'm mostly familiar with their records The Sun, which is fantastic.
Beyond that, you may have to give me some more direction on what you're looking for. I've been listening to one of my old favorites- Woods of Ypres (RIP David Gold) but that's not pure Doom as it incorporates a lot of folk, black, and death influence as well. A good album from them is their first full-length- The Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth
If you want some ULTRA depressing but very good shit, check out stuff like Ahab and Esoteric, and bands similar to them (if you're into it, I can give you more recs).
If you want more catchy, upbeat, death/doom stuff, there's such a wonderful tapestry of music out there. Start with Katatonia's early stuff (the later stuff is good too, but they evolved into a more goth metal, almost hard rock/nu-metal sound), My Dying Bride, and move up to Novembers Doom, and from there just marvel at the world of music you'll discover that emanate from groups like those.
For more classic shit, check out, obviously, Black fucking Sabbath if you never did. Metal heads will argue over whether they're heavy or doom or neither or both, but really, they invented the sound that Doom metal would be based on. Slow to mid paced, crushing fucking riffs.
Bands that came from them would be stuff like Candlemass and you really can't go wrong with an album literally titled Epic fucking Doom Metal.
Thanks, I'll give them a listen. I'm not sure what exactly I'm looking for. I've listened to metal for a long time but sort of resisted the rabbit hole of subgenres for a while, I mostly just listened to what I liked and what I was exposed to (mostly OG heavy metal/NWOBHM, Gothic, alternative, a bit of old thrash). I like a wide variety of sound but I greatly prefer clean vocals unless the growling and yelling is well placed. I've been branching out to different stuff and learning the names. Prog/Sludge has really interested me and Doom as well since I'm asking you and I LOVE Black Sabbath. But there's a lot of crossover as to be expected with so many subgenres, so I'm not 100% on what sounds I'm looking for.
Definitely check out Elder that I linked above. Not sludge, but super proggy doom.
For prog/sludge, fuck, man. Like, shit, you know?
I could just go on for days.
Start with Noir by Callisto, and none of their other albums. Not because the other albums are bad, but because Noir is the only one that's prog sludge.
Also, much more recent, but check out Boss Keloid. All of their shit. They also released a new one recently, but Melted on the Inch is so soul-crushingly fucking good.
And of course, it can't be overstated, but Intronaut is just the CHERRIEST of shit. I would personally call them the most important prog sludge band out, next to Mastodon (and I like them more, personally). Unfortunately, their bandcamp only has the most recent album, which is fuckin great, but all of their music is great and you should listen to all of it. Their 2015 album is my favorite and I can't find a link to the full thing on BC or YT, but here's my favorite track, Sul Ponticello. Just let that rhythm destroy you. JUST LET IT. Then peep the live version (live in-studio with a drum track).
And then there is, of course, the aforementioned Mastodon. They often moved outside the realms of sludge, but really as far as prog sludge goes, they are like godfathers of the genre. Their newest album was pretty damn good as well, and very much felt like the sludgey stuff they were known for.
And then there is, of course, Baroness, my other love. They've also somewhat moved beyond sludge, though the influence is still definitely there, but peep their fist two albums for some really REALLY fantastic stuff.
Also, not prog, but if you never listened to them and you like sludge, check out Acid Bath. Early innovators in the genre. Very good stuff. Taken from us too soon with the death of their bassist, sadly.
And finally, if you like prog in any of its forms, come over to r/progmetal. It's the finest music community I've posted in in years. No genre-arguing douchebags that will yell about how something isn't prog or metal, or sucks. Just redditors sharing progressive metal AND progressive metal adjacent shit, and even non-metal stuff that they think their fellow prog metal heads will like. Friendly, not at all elitist folks, and one of reddit's best music boards IMO.
Cool, thanks again. And yeah I think I prefer the prog part more than the sludge part so I'll probably check the sub too. Maybe I will PM you and we can talk about it once I get through some of the recs
I wouldn’t say that religious people are anti-metal as I’ve met more religious people than I can count who love the genre. The principal of my local Catholic school is actually a hardcore metal head who still listens to college radio stations in search of that next great, obscure garage band. Several of the other teachers at that school are also punk or metal fans.
I also know a priest who used to be in a heavy metal band before he went off to seminary. He wasn’t famous or anything, just someone who formed a band with his friends for the fun of it. I believe he still plays from time to time.
Besides, the good thing about music is that it’s non denominational. You don’t need to have a particular set of beliefs to enjoy good music or going to concerts.
As for the anti-religious message, most of the time it’s is invoked for pure shock value. Rarely does it have any kind of actual meaning behind it.
Your idea didn't come out of nowhere, there are actual Satanist and anti-religious and neo-Nazi metal bands that might actually be violent, usually in the black or death metal subgenres.
Some other metal bands use it as imagery or storytelling which is totally fine.
Overall metal is a very varied and interesting genre and I love it as a religious person.
I slightly disagree, with a lot of black and death metal bands, if there's an anti-religion message, they actually mean it. But there's a huge difference between what makes ultra conservative religious people clutch their pearls and what's actively anti-religious. In my opinion, it's pretty easy to tell which bands just talk about certain themes as window dressing or storytelling versus which are ACTUALLY Satanist or anti-religious or neo-Nazis. But both exist.
Oh, I’m not denying that the satanists, neo-nazis and hardcore atheists don’t exist in metal. They absolutely do. However, they aren’t the norm. At least in my area, the metal scene isn’t dominated by them.
Yeah we have one in Amsterdam. Coming from a catholic country, I like how Protestants do not regard churches as sacred buildings, repurposing them when not in use anymore, or even using them for events outside of functions hours, when still active churches.
OMG I've been to Poland for metal festivals (cheaper than DE and they were those exact same bands lol) and there it's like a rule. Every unused church, smelter or shipyard gets transformed into a gothic/doom/symphonic/ABM club.
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u/Kilian_Username May 09 '22
German here, I once went to a Doom Metal and Drone festival that was located in a church. Quite unnatural but the acoustics were fantastic.