Christian Metal: History, Ideology, Scene [Hardcover]

Christian metal has always defined itself in contrast to its non-Christian, secular counterpart, yet it stands out from nearly all other forms of contemporary Christian music through its unreserved use of metal's main musical, visual, and aesthetic traits. Christian metal is a rare example of a direct combination between evangelical Christianity and an aggressive and highly controversial form of popular music and its culture.

Christian Metal: History, Ideology, Sceneis the first full exploration of the phenomenon of Christian metal music, its history, main characteristics, development, diversification, and key ideological traits from its formative years in the early 1980s to the present day. Marcus Moberg situates it in a wider international evangelical cultural environment, accounts for its diffusion on a transnational scale, and explores what religious meanings and functions Christian metal holds for its own musicians and followers. Engaging with wider debates on religion, media and popular culture,Christian Metal: History, Ideology and Sceneis a much-needed resource in the study of religion and popular music.

Marcus Mobergis a senior researcher and formerly held the position of Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Researcher in Comparative Religion at Abo Akademi University in Turku, Finland. His research interests include the sociology of religion, religion and consumer culture, and religion, media and culture studies. He has published widely on Christian metal and contemporary intersections of religion, media and popular culture.

Christian Metalprovides a welcome new treatment of a music culture understudied by scholars in the fields of ethnomusicology, media studies, and popular music ... and an important entry point for further scholarship. Sociology of Religion

Metal, a genre suffused with Christian imagery albeit with a blasphemous twist, spawned its own renegade, Christian metal. Metalhead religious slóZ