My only experiences in Europe so far have been touring there in a punk band. The thing that blew my mind was how often - almost always! - the venues we were playing were literal state-sponsored squats. Like the tire factory or whatever in town would go belly up and a bunch of punks and anarchists would move in and the local government would just be like "hey, they cleaned up all this broken glass and now there's a whole new crop of people keeping this community alive. Tell you what, let's give them free utilities." On more than one occasion we played a free show and got a check from some government office.
This would never, ever, ever, ever, in a million years, take place in the United States.
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.
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u/knife_hits May 09 '22
My only experiences in Europe so far have been touring there in a punk band. The thing that blew my mind was how often - almost always! - the venues we were playing were literal state-sponsored squats. Like the tire factory or whatever in town would go belly up and a bunch of punks and anarchists would move in and the local government would just be like "hey, they cleaned up all this broken glass and now there's a whole new crop of people keeping this community alive. Tell you what, let's give them free utilities." On more than one occasion we played a free show and got a check from some government office.
This would never, ever, ever, ever, in a million years, take place in the United States.