A NEW SEASON IN LIFE AND A LIFE OF VICTORY

The reason that I've choosen this is because that I want to tell you that Jesus is Alive. The reason also that I'm telling you this is because of the fact that in the month of June of this year I walked His promises never fail so believe me He will do what He says always. During the wait for me to fully walk I'm being a motivational speaker and it's really awsome to encourage others that are in need He did it for me He can do it for you because with God all things are possible. The next few min. your going to see just what I'm talking about enjoy .During the last few months God's been teaching me in how to be a Son and its just so cool to know that God is a loving Father and you can also have a deep relationship with your Creator. So during the month of November of 2007 of this year Jesus my Daddy came and showed His True Glory. The name of this conference was called the ELEVENTH HOUR and it was life changing for me because of the fact that the promises of God True and Real and I just know and Believe that I'm going to walk and do what I'm called to do that is preach the gospel and pray for people and nations


This is Bride's new CD that came out in 2006 and the reason why that I've choosen this cover to be on there is because I want you all to know that Jesus is Alive and well He is REAL MAN !!!!!!!!!!! BURN FOR HIM !!!!!!!!!!!!


Hi everybody, my name is Marco Alexander Pessoa. I'm an American Brazilian. I've been married for 6yrs and also I'm wheelchair bound . The reason that I've chosen to do this blog is because of the fact that I just want to encourage everybody that comes to my site know more about me and know where I've been and where I come from that is the truth . I've also been a New Born Christian for 15 years of my life and it's the most awsomest thing I ever did. Now you might be asking what is to be a New Born Christian? Well to me to a New Born Christian is to be in a relationship with Christ. If you are wondering in how you can have that relationship ? It's very easy to have that relationship with Him you just have to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is your LORD and believe that He ROSE on the third day you shall be saved. Now I'm not telling you that you have to . It's up to you if you want to or not I'm just telling my life and my joy that I have in my Wonderful Savior. The reason why I've chosen Jesus as my Savior is because I really had enough of living the life that I was living before. A life of just having that temporary joy for the moment, like for example trying to search for that special someone, and you think that you found that special someone but you've haven't found that one true love . Also I was addicted to Pornorgraphy even after I became a Christian, it was very hard for me to admit that I've had an addiction. I hope you don't think that Im cuz I'M NOT.......... I'm far from that !!!!!!!!!!! I'm Redeemed by His Grace and His Mercy and accepted into His Kingdom. I pray that you'll come too . Jesus is just one prayer away. The only thing you need to do is ASK. I'm also writing a book called A Victorious Life..... COMING SOON TO A BOOKSTORE NEAR YOU. I hope and pray that God will Bless you and help you understand of His Love and that you may know His Forgiveness once you confess HIM as your LORD and Savior. I know you might think I'm crazy,but I truely in my heart that I'm going to raise up and walk on my own two feet!!!!!!!!! I just want to leave a couple scripture that impacted my life. The first one is from the book of Isaiah53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions He was bruised for our iniquites The chastiment for our peace was upon HIM. And by HIS stripes we are healed. The second one is 1Peter2:24 Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree that we having to sins might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. The third is Philippians4:13 I can do all thins in CHRIST who strenghthens me. Those are the sciptures that I believe in my life that Jesus is going to heal me. I just ask you to really have faith and believe because I know that He'll do the same for you.


This band is from Melborne,Australia and they were formed in 1987, also if you like Death Metal,or Thrash is band rocks man. Also if you want to know more about this band you can go to http://www.soundmass.com and there you will know even more about the band and tour dates and more.

If you have any questions at all about what said and about my faith please feel free to ask.Also this is a picture of me at work and I've been working for Wal-Mart for nine years and I travel pretty much it's just amazing for what I've seen in my life. I just want you all to enjoy this site and be encouraged that you can do the same too. God bless all of you always and that may His Grace and Mercy be with all of you always.Let me te tell you a little more about me like you don't already know. Well anyway,I was an Easter Seal Poster child in the year of 1983-84 and it was really awsome and cool to able to participate in an organization like Easter Seals. During that time I've lots of celebs like Larry Bird,M.L.Karr,Robert Parish, etc... I was born in Marlboro,MA of 1974. I also went to Brazil in 1986 to 1994 it was just amazing to because also I fell in love with the Lord Jesus in the of 1992 that was the most amazing year of my life. If you want to know more please drop me an email and I will be gladly to answer you and please leave your comments if you wish to do so about this site.


This the year that everything is going to happen


Hello again, I hope that you had a awsome Christmas and a wonderful New Year I just want to tell you all that this is the year that everything is going to happen in my life. I'm believing that my wife is going to be pregnant and that I'm going to RISE UP AND WALK. So I pray that every believer that reads this web page begins to pray and BELIEVE with me that this is going to happen in the year of 2007. RISE ABOVE IT ALL everyone and BELIEVE with me ......... There will be more to come....... Also during the past past few weeks that I'm doing fast the scare the I had in the back of my head has been desolving and I'm still believing that my wife is going to be pregnant this year so I truely ask of you all that you believe the same with me because I believe that my God is going to do this for me because I've been asking Him and by His Grace I shall receive it . during this fast also that my wife and are doing for forty days God been giving me dreams and visions coming from Him and also you just have to believe in what I'm saying because it's going to happen more updates to come......... God Bless all of you. I know I've been away for a long while that because I just had so many going on at one time.

Well first of all, as I mentioned to all of you that the miracles in my life will happen in the year of 2007 and it's going to be quick as lightning touches the ground. The reason that I say this is because of the fact that a very special event at the church that I go to is called the Gathering and Pastors from across the globe comes to the church for an amazing weekend. In this particular weekend a pastor came from Uganda Africa and felt the urge to pray for me and he started to sing and pray in tongues and he touched my whole body and Pr Herbert got me out the chair and I started to walk (baby steps). Then he said that The Holy Spirit said that we needed to fast for three days and so we did fast During that fast Jesus came to me and said that He's proud of me and the first country that we meaning my wife and I are going Uganda Africa. Also my wife had a vision that I was walking before the month of June and by my birthday I am going to walk . This will be for the GLORY OF GOD and no one can tell me otherwise because this man and all I ask is for you to pray if you BELIEVE that this going to happen cool. if not that's cool too I'll pray for you. The END IS NEAR MAN. To those who have ears let him listen what the SPIRIT is SAYING. JESUS LOVES YOU .GOD BLESS YALL. It has been a while my friends, I just want to thank Daddy God for this New Season in my life that is a Life of Victory and of hope seeking the heart of the Father and His Love.This new season of my life is about not having hope in God but having Faith.As the Word says in --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Romans 10:17, Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. What is faith? Hebrews 11:1, Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. We know that without faith it is impossible to please God. We can only believe in the existence of God by faith. We can not touch or see him so in order to believe we must act upon our unfeigned faith to believe the impossible. The evidence of God rest is in our hearts, not material or temporal things. If you desire to live a just and righteous life you are required by God to live by faith and not by sight. The believers faith is that which overcomes the world. James 2:20, Faith without works is dead. The just shall live by faith but when we apply ourselves to work that is when we see the evidence or the "kinetic faith", faith in motion. Faith is important to establish patience in our life when we are waiting on God, however, if we practice faith whereas we could move mountains and have not love then we have nothing at all. In this life we live, there claim to be many experts on the subject of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Some hypothesizes that not all of the bible is to be believed because it does not line up with astrology. Others proclaim a contradiction because it does not collaborate ideology and scientific theory. I am writing this to encourage everyone to believe in the impossible and the invisible things of God "unvarnished truth" because all things are possible with God. People today still search for faults in the gospel, contradictions to disprove and pervert God's Word. The words of Jesus are both episodic and synoptic. I assure you that no amount of academic/detective work, what worldly evidence or proof anyone may show or invent will change my intrinsically steadfast and unwavered faith. Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Also Faith is believing in the reality of Heaven and I'm going to stand until it comes here on earth. Based on Hebrews 11:1 Faith is to believe in the unseen. Faith is to believe in the Reality of Heaven. During the past few years, and the last couple of months my faith has grown leaps and bounds. I truly thank Daddy God for this New Season in my life. There are only two scriptures that really burn in my heart, Isaiah 53:4-5 Surely He borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses)and carried our sorrows and pains[of punishment],yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy] But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [ that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole. The key is (made whole). That is how you would believe just repeat it and it will go into your heart In addition, the scripture that influenced me very deeply is Mark 11:23-24 Have faith in God [constantly], Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown in the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but belives that what he says will take place, it will be done for him. For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will get it. I truly believe that all of you that have any sickness or disease in your body, you can get healed by the way you speak and confess it with your mouth and truly believe in your heart. I just thank Daddy God for the godly men that are truly on Fire and Filled with the Resurrection Anointing. In addition, I want to thank Daddy God for the godly woman that are on Fire and filled. Thank you all for your encouragement and love. It’s natural to make requests to God and he invites us to do precisely this. But to grow in faith we must also give time, as we pray, to worship; consciously taking our eyes off ourselves and our long lists of problems, and fixing them instead on God. Faith grows by focusing on God’s goodness and greatness instead of our problems. For this reason, it’s a good idea to develop a rhythm in prayer; an easy ebb and flow between petition (asking God to do things) and thanksgiving (celebrating the things he has already done). No matter how many unanswered prayers we struggle with, there are always blessings too, for which we can be grateful and in which we can discern the faithfulness and goodness of God. The apostle Paul advises us to bring our ‘shopping lists’ before God with grateful hearts: ‘In everything,’ he says, ‘By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God’ (Philippians 4:6). So I do encourage everyone to countinuo to believe for everything that Daddy God has for you. Also receive and believe everything that Daddy God has for you . Don't just believe for me only, believe for yourselves. Because we are children of the most High God,that loves us so much,just countinuo to run into His loving Arms. Remain on FIRE 4 Him.

The History of Christian Metal

CHRISTIAN METAL HISTORY
On this section I list some groundbreaking events, albums and bands in the history of christian metal. I don't include all bands and albums but I try to focus on the groundbreaking and most influential bands and events. Feel free to mail any comments to hatfan777@yahoo.com




1978

RESURRECTION BAND
Resurrection Band also called REZ released their debut Awaiting Your Reply heavily influenced by a Led Zeppelin style of blues-based hard rock. Resurrection Band came from the Jesus Movement in the 70s and wanted to spread the good news about Jesus to young people that liked hard music. Their groundbreaking release Awaiting Your Reply opened the way for christian hardrock/metal bands to come.



JERUSALEM - Volume 1
Swedish band Jerusalem also saw the need to spread the word of Jesus through hardrock/metal music to a lost world. Their debut album Volume 1 was very groundbreaking and sold very well and people in Swedish gospel stores got very amazed that heavy music like this could sell so well.




1981

JERUSALEM - Warrior
One of Jerusalem's heaviest and most successful albums was released.




1982
DANIEL BAND from Canada release their first album On Rock showing that Canada too is a force to be reckoned with in Christian Hardrock. Musically the album has a progressive rock sound in the tradition of Boston and April Wine, but with a harder edge.




1983

STRYPER formes this year changing their name from Roxx Regime to Stryper. Besides the namechange they also adjusted the lyrics to point to Christ full on.




1984

STRYPER - The Yellow And Black Attack
Stryper's groundbreaking album that truly made Christian Metal came up from the underground and put it on the map for all the world to see. People were amazed that there was a christian band throwing out Bibles to the audience while at the same time playing real metal music. Stryper showed the world that it is possible to combine Jesus and Metal and opened the way for all the christian metal bands to come.



CHRISTIAN HEAVY METAL
This year also marks the birth of the term Christian Heavy Metal. Many Christian Metal bands were coming up from the underground and there was a need for a term for this new movement and as a result the term Christian Heavy Metal was born.



SAINT - Warriors of the Son
Saint enters the scene with their bonecrushing Heavy Metal and shows the world that there are christian bands that can rock just as hard as Judas Priest. Typical for Saint is besided their heavy music also their dark apocalyptic imagery that they use to warn people from evil and to point to the Master of Light, the Lord Jesus Christ.



HEAVEN'S METAL MAGAZINE
With an ever growing christian metal scene there was a big need for a Christian Metal Magazine. Heaven's Metal filled this need and has meant a lot for the christian metal scene throughout the years. http://www.hmmag.com/heavensmetal



SANCTUARY - The Rock'n'Roll Refuge
Numerous people came to know Christ through Christian Metal. Unfortunately though they were not welcome in many churches but were kicked out because their long hair and different style. To help these folks Pastor Bob Beeman started up the ministry Sanctuary. Through Sanctuary christian rock'n'rollers finally had a home and a church that understood and not condemned them. First worshipleader in Sanctuary was Michael Sweet of Stryper. Then Jim LaVerd, the bassplayer of Barren Cross took over as worshipleader and lead the worship in Sanctuary for many years. Throughout the years thousands of metalheads have come to know Christ and grown in faith through the ministry of Sanctuary. www.sanctuaryinternational.com



DANIEL BAND - Run From The Darkness
Daniel Band's heaviest and best release shows them at their best with catchy choruses, edgy guitars like AC/DC and vocals reminding of Rush.




1985

LEVITICUS - The Strongest Power
Leviticus critically acclaimed 2nd album was released. Brittish Metal Magazine Kerrang called it "One of the best records of the year"



STRYPER - Soldiers Under Command
With a heavier sound Stryper's popularity increased and this album even become one of the 100 best selling releases in the USA! Soldiers Under Command stayed on the Billboard top 100 chart for nearly 36 weeks!




1986

STRYPER - To Hell With The Devil
Very successful album that has sold over 1, 5 million copies! The cover shows how Satan one day will be thrown into the lake of fire. Stryper shot some videos for this album which became very successful on MTV. The videos for Free, Calling On You and Honestly were all on the MTV's top ten list, at the same time!! No other band had ever had three videos in the top ten at the same time, none! Each one of these three videos also topped the MTV's top ten list, Free stayed number one for 12 weeks straight! Needless to say Stryper's popularity skyrocked and on the upcoming world tour they sold out venues with 10 000 seats.



BLOODGOOD - Bloodgood
Bloodgood entered the scene lead by bassplayer Michael Bloodgood and singer Les Carlsen. Michael's real surname is Bloodgood and he thought it would fit perfect as bandname, that's why they chose to call themselves Bloodgood. Bloodgood's debut contains a mix of styles and even has a thrash track called Black Snake.



PURE METAL
This was also the year when the first christian metal label "Pure Metal" was formed. Many christian metal bands were signed to this label including Saint, Bride, Messiah Prophet and Whitecross.



MESSIAH PROPHET - Master of the Metal
Great Classic Metal release with a very cool cover from this underground band from USA. The band unfortunately broke up some time after the release of this album.




1987

METAL MARDI GRAS
The first big christian metal festival called "The Metal Mardi Gras" was held in Long Beach California. The festival was sponsored by the metal church Sanctuary. Over ten bands shared two stages. Metal Edge and Kerrang, two of leading metal magazines at that time wrote about the festival and solidified this new movement.



CALIFORNIA METAL
Regency Records soon thereafter released the first christian metal compilation called California Metal. All the bands featured on this album attended the metal church Sanctuary in California. This album was very groundbreaking and introduced us to great bands like Deliverance, Barren Cross, Guardian and Mastedon.



WHITECROSS - Whitecross
A christian guitar hero was born and his name is Rex Carrol. His blazing guitarsolo on the track Nagasake is an all time classic. The combination of Rex's guitarplay and Scott Wenzel's raspy voice immediately set Whitecross as one of the top bands in the christian metal scene.



BLOODGOOD - Detonation
This is the album many Bloodgood fans hold as their best featuring classics like The Messiah and the anti-suicide song Alone In Suicide.




1988

STRYPER - In God We Trust
The title says it all. Stryper are not ashamed to stand for Christ. The cool thing with this album is that the band used the text on american dollars which is something we meet everyday to remind people about a spiritual truth. Actually this album is almost like a theme album with many lyrics talking about not to trust in money and things of this earth but instead keep your trust in the One who will never let you down, God. Musically this album features a more commercial sound than other Stryper releases.



SAINT - Too Late For Living
Saint's heaviest and best album. Great Heavy Heavy Metal and one of the all-time-classics.



VENGEANCE RISING - Human Sacrifice
This was just as groundbreaking for the christian thrash scene as Stryper's The Yellow And Black Attack was to the Heavy Metal Scene. An album showing the world that christian thrash is just as good if not better than the satanic thrash bands. The album has a megacool cover showing how Jesus became a human sacrifice when he took our sins and died for us on the cross.



JERUSALEM - Dancing On The Head of The Serpent
An album showing Jerusalem at their best with heavy tunes mixed with ballads and loud'n'clear lyrics. The cover of the album is a picture of an army boot kicking Satan's head. Very cool cover but it caused plenty of controversy when it came and the album was banned from many gospel shops in Sweden because of it.



CALIFORNIA METAL - Volume 2
Another great release with more cool metal from the Sanctuary bands. This release introduced us to great bands like Recon, Soldier and many more.



SACRED WARRIOR - Rebellion
The debut of this great progressive heavy metal band that's always been very Christcentered which clearly shows, especially in the fantastic track He Died. Typical for Sacred Warrior is also Rey Parra's vocals that reminds of Geoff Tate.



JOSHUA - Intense Defense
Joshua's classic release featuring guitarist Joshua Perahia and singer Rob Rock. Great melodic metal with plenty of hooks.



INTENSE RECORDS
Many of the seculars labels didn't want to sign any christian metal bands because of the christian message while many christian labels didn't want to sign christian metal bands because the music was too hard. To overcome this problem a christian metal label called Intense Records was started. This label has meant more than any other label for the christian metal scene. Many of the best bands like Sacred Warrior, Vengeance Rising, Deliverance and Bloodgood has released albums on Intense Records.




1989

ANGELICA - Angelica
Dennis Cameron on guitars and Rob Rock on vocals made this album a melodic metal masterpiece.



DELIVERANCE - Deliverance
Deliverance took christian metal to a new level with their bonecrunching speed metal. Their selftitled album was a big success right from the start and took the world with storm delivering a bold christian message with real speed metal. They are also known for their motto Faster For The Master!



RAGE OF ANGELS - Rage of Angels
Commercial Metal was growing and one of the best bands in this genre was Rage of Angels. Unfortunately they only released this album before they broke up.



X-SINNER - Get It
X-Sinner's amazing debut was very groundbreaking and they blowed AC/DC away offering a faster, crunchier and heavier sound than AC/DC ever have had.



LEVITICUS - Knight's of Heaven
For this album the band got help with the production by John and Dino Elephante. They did a great job with the production and the result was a melodic metal album with plenty of hooks, harmonies and a sound in the vein of Europe.



SHOUT - In Your Face
Commercial Metal at it's finest. Incredible hooks and singalong songs with Ken Tamplin and the other members in Shout.



SACRED WARRIOR - Master's Command
Much heavier than their debut and one of the all-time-classics in christian heavy metal.



BARREN CROSS - State of Control
Wellproduced album showing progressive Heavy Metal band Barren Cross at their best with many hits like Crying Over You, Out of Time and the title track. This is Barren Cross most successful album when it comes to albumsales. The Crying Over You video was also played on MTV.



WHITECROSS - Triumphant Return
A classic album showing Whitecross at their best filled with melodic guitar leads, flashy solos and Scott Wenzel's cool raspy voice.



BLOODGOOD - Out of the Darkness
Bloodgood's heaviest album and one of the best christian heavy metal releases ever.



BELIEVER - Extraction from Mortality
The Progressive Thrashers Believer became wellknown to the public through this release.



PAKADERM RECORDS
John Elephante (known for his days in Kansas) and has brother Dino Elephante had a studio of their own and wanted to help promising christian bands to release their albums, so they started up their own label called Pakaderm Records on which they released bands like X-Sinner, Guardian, Mastedon and many more.




1990

RECON - Behind Enemy Lines
Recon's debut album filled with great Heavy Metal with plenty of crunchy rhythmes and guitarsolos.



DELIVERANCE - Weapons of Our Warfare
This is a real classic combining speed metal and strong spiritual lyrics or as the band said themselves "Bible study with music". A very strong release both musically and spiritually. A video was also made with the title track, which became successful and even made it to MTV! The cover of the album is one of the coolest ever done picturing the apostle Paul and behind his back the raging fight between an angel and a demon.



HOLY SOLDIER - Holy Soldier
Commercial Metal with plenty of hooks. A glam metal masterpiece.



GUARDIAN - Fire and Love
Melodic Metal with a bluesy feel and some of the very best ballads ever done made this album to an outstanding release.



MASTEDON - It's A Jungle Out There and Lofcaudio
The Elephante brothers entered the scene with a boom. John Elephante that previously sang with Kansas had some tunes ready and he got help by his brother Dino and plenty of guestmusicians to do two albums under the name Mastedon. The result is two critically acclaimed commercial hardrock/metal albums that got plenty of fans. Eventhough Mastedon was a studioproject they played live once, at the festival Cornerstone in 1991.



BELIEVER - Sanity Obscure
Believer's second album filled with Technical Thrash at its finest. Extremely tight album by great musicians.



SEVENTH ANGEL - The Torment
The groundbreaking debut of this brittish thrash band known for their heaviness and their to-the-point-lyrics.



TOURNIQUET - Stop The Bleeding
Tourniquet hits the scene with an unique mix of progressive thrash and classic music. Lead by drummer extraordinarie Ted Kirkpatrick their unique sound broke new ground and the band immediately got thousands of fans all over the world.



VENGEANCE RISING - Once Dead
Vengeance Rising's 2nd album taking off where their first release Human Sacrifice left us. Very brutal cover but extremely good music eventhough it's slower than their debut. The lyrics are like Bible studies and there are references to over 100 Bible scriptures!



TAMPLIN AND FRIENDS - An Axe To Grind
Fantastic guitar metal album with Ken Tamplin. For this project he got help from people like Ken Mary, Lanny Cordola, Joey Tafolla and many more.



CRYSTAVOX - Crystavox
Crystavox is latin for the voice of Christ and their lyrics are really Christcentered. Crystavox's selftitled debut is filled with great commercial metal with tons of hooks and singalong songs.




1991

MORTIFICATION - Mortification
First Christian Death Metal album. This album was extremely brutal when it came out and far more brutal than any other christian releases ever released at that time. Australian band Mortification is truly the pioneers of Christian Death Metal.



TOURNIQUET - Psycho Surgery
Tourniquet thrash's on with their progressive thrash. Many fans hold this album as their favourite Tourniquet album.



ONE BAD PIG - I Scream Sunday
The pig thrashers third and best album. With an unique mix of thrash and punk topped with Carey "Kosher" Womack's characteristic screaming voice this is a band that truly stands out from the rest.




1992

MORTIFICATION - Scrolls of the Megilloth
Very brutal death album and still unto this day considered a classic in death metal.



BRIDE - Snakes In The Playground
Bride's most popular album to this date. The dirty groovy sound Bride has on this album immediately got plenty of fans especially people into bands like Guns'n'Roses and Skid Row took this album to their hearts. An outstanding release of dirty groovy metal.



VENI DOMINE - Fall Babylon Fall
Veni Domine enters the scene with their slow majestic heavy metal sound containing a great deal of doom metal influences. Caracteristic for their sound is also Fredrik Ohlssons high pitched vocals that many say reminds of Geoff Tate. With an unique and heavy sound Fall Babylon Fall is truly a timeless classic.



DELIVERANCE - Learn
A really cool metal album from Deliverance with an unique style. Although it's not speed metal like their early albums it's definately heavy and melodic and overall one of their best albums.



HEAVEN'S METAL COLLECTION - Heaven's Metal Collection
A megacool Christian Metal box that Doug Van Pelt, the legendary editor of Heaven's Metal Magazine put together. Inside the box there are two cds covering christian metal classics chronologically from Christian Hardrock pioneers like Rez and Jerusalem to the brutal grinders of Mortification. But the coolest thing with this box is the big booklet that contains interviews from Heaven's Metal with all the featured bands. Definately a must have for anyone that want to know more about the Christian Metal bands and the early history of the genre.




1993

MORTIFICATION - Live Planetarium
A fantastic live album showing Mortification at their best. This show was also released on a fullength video. Live Planetarium was the last release where excellent drummer Jayson Sherlock played the drums.



TOURNIQUET - Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance
Tourniquet's heaviest album. Full on progressive thrash with lots of timechanges.



GUARDIAN - Miracle Mile
Bluesy melodic metal with Jamie Rowe's raspy voice made this album a winner.



XT - Taxfree
Guitarist Björn Stigsson from Leviticus teamed up with talented vocalist Sonny Larsson and released three albums with XT. This is their 2nd release and in my opinion also their best filled with harmonies, hooks and guitarsolos.



CHRYSTYNE - Tales of Paradise
Great release with this melodic metal band hailing from Germany. Superb production and tons of hooks and hittunes. Truly melodic metal at its finest. Unfortunately though, this is the only album the band released before it disbanded.




1994

MODEST ATTRACTION - The Truth In Your Face
Cool mix of 70s and 80s Metal. Vocals were done by Christian Rivel who a few year's later would be one of the forming members of Narnia.



HORDE - Hellig Usvart
First christian black metal album. Extremely raw, brutal and groundbreaking when it came. All the tracks were made by one person called Anounymous. Later on it was found out that the drummer Jayson Sherlock (Paramaecium, Mortification) was the man hiding behind the name Anonymous.



ROWE PRODUCTIONS
Steve Rowe from Mortification wanted to help all the up'n'coming christian hardrock/metal bands in Australia, so he decided to form the label Rowe Productions that is still active to this day.



RAISE THE DEAD - Australian Metal Compilation
A good collection of brutal Christian Metal bands in Australian featuring bands like Metanoia and Ethereal Scourge.



DAVID BENSON - Holy Psychotherapy
David Benson's cool debut cd that combines Biblical truths with a doom metal sound a la Ozzy Osbourne.



VENI DOMINE - Material Sanctuary
Another cool album with Veni Domine filled with mighty choirs and plenty of heaviness.



EXTREMELY LOUD GUITAR DISC - Extremely Loud Guitar Box
One of the best christian metal collections ever filled with lots of guitar solos and great tunes. But that is not all, cause what makes this cd outstanding is that a special tablature book with all the tunes also was made to this disc. So with this disc and booklet you can jam to some of the best christian metal tunes. Truly an excellent tool for all guitarplayers out there.




1995

SEVENTH AVENUE - Rainbow Land
Classic Metallers Seventh Avenue from Germany enters the scene and release their first fullength album.



LIGHTMARE - Vampires
Lightmare, another cool Classic/Power Metal hailing from Germany shows their talent in this 4-track EP. One outstanding track is Bachtro that sounds like Bach on electric guitar. Lightmare truly gives the term Classic Metal a new defination.



XT - Extended Empire
XT's heaviest album. Björn Stigsson's guitarplay has never sounded this heavy before.



SILOAM - Dying To Live
A Melodic Metal release that gave some fresh air and hope for all starving metalheads longing for some real metal.




1996

SCHALIACH - Sonrise
A very groundbreaking album from the Norwegian masters of Melodic Death Metal. The combination of the brutality and heaviness of death metal with the harmonies of classic metal makes this album to a timeless classic. One of the members Ole Borud would a few years later be a part of the band Extol.



NORTHERN LIGHTS - Northern Lights
Very good collection with four brutal bands from Norway. It contains the first and very rare tracks of Extol as well as tracks with Antestor, Groms and Schaliach.



IMPELLITTERI - Screaming Symphony
Impellitteri's best release. The combination of Rob Rock's great vocals and the megafast guitarshredding of Chris Impellitteri made this album to a melodic metal paradise with some of the best guitar solos ever done.



MODEST ATTRACTION - Divine Luxury
This is 70's Metal to the bone. Anyone into bands like Uriah Heep, Sweet etc shouldn't miss this quality release.



SEVENTH AVENUE - Tales of Tales
Seventh Avenue's second album that among other hits also contains the tune Time, a megahit that really opened the eyes for me and many others of how talented this melodic metal band is.



JERUSALEM - Volüm 3
A really cool release from the Swedish hardrock pioneers featuring unreleased tracks from back in the day. It was first released in the Swedish language only but later on the band also released an English version titled Those Were The Days (Volume 3).



HEARTCRY - Heartcry
Heartcy, that like Jerusalem also hails from Sweden has been together for many years. This album is their best with plenty of melodic hardrock tunes to enjoy.




1997
This was kind of a lost year in metal with very few good releases. It felt like a long wait for better things to come.




DEUTERONOMIUM - Tribal Eagle
Deuteronomium, hailing from Finland released this 4-track debut cd filled with enjoyable Melodic Death Metal.



LIGHTMARE - The Fool
Lightmare's first fullength cd filled to the bone with classic/power metal.



ETERNAL DECISION - Eternal Decision
American band Eternal Decision's debut cd. Crunchy heavy metal and vocals reminding of Metallica made this album a winner.




1998
This was the big comeback year for metal with lots of great releases by bands like Treasure Seeker, Narnia, Extol, Crimson Moonlight and Boanerges. It was also the year when two of the most influential Christian Metal Labels were started.




TREASURE SEEKER - A Tribute To The Past
This is an excellent cover album with classics from Stryper, Jerusalem, Bloodgood, Leviticus, Bride and many others. The covers are close to the originals but still has a personal touch to them. The band consists of members from Seventh Avenue, Lightmare and Chrystyne.



GUARDIAN - The Yellow And Black Attack Is Back!
Talk about good cover albums. Guardian has managed to cover the original 6-tune version of Stryper's first album. Musically it is very close to the originals but also has a definite Guardian influence over them. Besides being a great cover album it's also one of Guardian's best cds. Definately a must have for all fans of Stryper and Guardian.



EXTOL - Burial
Norway's new leading Christian Metal band Extol now entered the scene releasing this classic album of progressive death metal.



NARNIA - Awakening
Vocalist Christian Liljegren from Modest Attraction teamed up with extraordinairie guitar shredder Carl Johan Grimmark and formed the band Narnia. Christian & Carl Johan has a great sense of writing quality melodic metal tunes and the title of the album Awakening was very fitting, cause this was both the Awakening of Narnia and also the year when Metal was about to wake up again. With Christcentered lyrics, amazing guitar solos and great melodies Narnia immediately got lots of fans and also gave new hope to many starving metalheads.



LITTLE ROSE PRODUCTIONS
A new Christian Metal label in Finland called Little Rose Productions was started. This cool label meant a lot for the Christian Metal scene in Finland and has released albums with great bands like Immortal Souls, Mordecai and Deuteronomium before the label was put to rest a few years later.



ENDTIME PRODUCTIONS
This was also the year when Samuel Durling from Mental Destruction chose to start up the new Christian Metal label Endtime Productions in Sweden. This cool label has released albums with great bands like Extol, Antestor, Anaemia and many more and the label is still active to this day. http://www.endtimeproductions.com



CRIMSON MOONLIGHT - Eternal Emperor
Christian Black Metal was starting to rise and get more popular. One of the groundbreaking bands in this genre is Crimson Moonlight from Sweden that instantly got many fans with Eternal Emperor, their first release on cd. Musically it is filled with atmospheric black metal that is both brutal and harmonic and lyrically it's full on for Jesus, clearly showing that it works great to combine Jesus with Black Metal music.



BOANERGES - Senáles Antes Del Fin
The metal scene is global and there are great metal bands all over the world. A good example of this is Boanerges, a very talented band from Argentina. Senáles Antes Del Fin is their debut cd and it definately shows how much talent they possess. Cause what we have here is a quality Classic Metal release filled to the bone with hooks and amazing guitarsolos.



FROM KAAMOS TO MIDNIGHT SUN - From Kaamos To Midnight Sun
Excellent collection with great Finnish Metal bands like Deuteronomium, Mordecai, Cruciferae, Immortal Souls, Hallowed and more.



DEUTERONIUM - Streetcorner Queen
This has to be one of the most diverse metal albums ever. The band is mixing so many styles on this cd that it is simply amazing. Although it is diverse, the base is still melodic death metal and highlights like Spell of Hell and Northern Praise definately makes this a solid buy.



KEKAL - Beyond The Glimpse of Dreams
Extreme metal from Indonesia is what Kekal offer us on this album which is also their debut. Something cool with the cd is all the 80s metal influences they have spiced up their extreme metal with.



JERUSALEM - Live På Ren Svenska (Live in real Swedish)
The fathers of Christian Hardrock released this live double cd in their native language Swedish. It was recorded on their recent successful comeback tour with their original setting and clearly shows that they still know how to rock.



SONS OF THUNDER - Metal Praise
A really cool mini album filled with praise tunes in real metal style.



ANTESTOR - The Return Of The Black Death
Antestor is along with Crimson Moonlight one of the best Christian Black Metal bands, something they really showed on this release with megaclassics like A Sovereign Fortress and Kongsblod.



SEVENTH AVENUE - Southgate
German Metallers Seventh Avenue beefed up the production and gave us one of their best releases in pure Power/Heavy Metal style.




1999

NARNIA - Long Live The King
On this release Narnia added more heaviness to their sound and more boldness to their lyrics. The result is an astonishing melodic metal album filled with guitarsolos, hooks, singalong songs and uplifting lyrics.



ANAEMIA - The Second Incarnation
Anaemia's first and only album. Musically it's filled with cool experimental Thrash.



SEVENTH AVENUE - Goodbye
Seventh Avenue excellent farewell album dedicated to long time member William Hieb.



IMMORTALS SOULS/MORDECAI (split-cd)
Two of the very best brutal bands from Finland share the space on this split-cd.



VAAKEVANDRING - Demo 98/99
Vaakevandring's 3-track cd is an excellent introduction to this cool band that mix black metal with influences from Norwegian folk music.



BOBFEST
This was the first year of this legendary Christian Metal Festival in Sweden. The name Bobfest was taken after the Metal Pastor Bob Beeman of Sanctuary International in USA, that has been the mainspeaker of Bobfest all 7 years it took place. The combination of Pastor Bob's great teachings with some of the best Christian Metal bands all over the world showed to be a very successful concept. First year the festival was held bands like Extol, Crimson Moonlight, Narnia and many others played and throughout the years great bands like Tourniquet, Leviticus, Immortal Souls, Seventh Avenue, Pantokrator, Kekal, Veni Domine and numerous other bands have played. Many have also been blessed by this festival and several have found Christ through it. Bobfest was also the festival that paved the way for other Christian Metal Festivals in Europe like Elements of Rock in Switzerland and Nordicfest in Norway. www.bobfest.org




2000

CL MUSIC & PUBLISHING Christian Rivel of Narnia saw the need of a Christian Metal label in Sweden and he started up CL Music & Publishing, a label that released albums with cool bands like Sanctifica, Laudamus, Sons of Thunder and Pantokrator.



SANCTIFICA - Spirit of Purity
Sanctifica's first fullength album. An album cd filled to the bone with atmospheric, brutal, fast and progressive black metal. Sanctifica also has a connection with Narnia since the vocalist/guitarist in Sanctifica, Hubertus Liljegren also is the brother of Christian Liljegren/Rivel, the vocalist of Narnia.



SONS OF THUNDER - Load, Aim, Fire
The Metal Praise band's first and best fullength album. Sons of Thunder continues to deliver more praise tracks in their noncompromising heavy metal style.



STRYPER - Expo 2000
Stryper, the groundbreaking Christian Metal band had not been playing together for almost ten years. The band's fans however had not forgotten them and many Stryperfans really wanted to see the band live again. The interest grew and Rich Serpa, a Stryperfan got the great idea to put together a Stryper expo where the band would play and the fans would be able to meet. Rich asked the band members and they all agreed to play. Then in May 21, 2000 in Parsippany, New Jersey, USA the first Stryper expo took place. The event was a great success and also made the band members aware of the impact the band had had also that the interest was still big there Stryper. The Expo was also documented on the vhs titled Stryper - Expo 2000.



EXTOL - Undeceived
The talented dudes of Extol truly knows how to make great albums that is both technically advanced and brutal. This album is by most fans considered the peak of Extol's career and if you are into progressive death metal this is an album you don't want to miss.



IN THE SHADOW OF DEATH - A Scandinavian Extreme Music Compilation
Scandinavia is the leading region of the world when it comes to quality extreme metal. Endtime Productions in Sweden is focusing on brutal metal and they really did a great work on this compilation that covers bands like Vaakevandring, Lengsel, Extol, Antestor, Vardöger, Sanctifica, Crimson Moonlight and many more.



HALLOWED - End of the Age
Hallowed was a cool Power Metal band from Finland. End of the Age has five crunchy Power Metal tracks filled with plenty of hooks, guitar solos and straightforward Biblical lyrics. Unfortunately this talented band quit some time after the release of this EP.



TOURNIQUET - Microscopic View of A Telescopic Realm
After some more mellow album Tourniquet finally found their way back to their thrash metal roots. Microscopic is a cd that shows Tourniquet at their best with plenty of variation, speed and classical influences.




2001




STRYPER - Expo 2001
After the successful Expo in 2000 Rich Serpa, the organizer decided to do a new Stryper Expo. This time not only Stryper played but also some newer Christian Metal bands. The event was very successful and many Stryper fans had the time of their lives. The Expo was also documented on two vhs tapes titled Stryper - Expo 2001.



CORNERSTONE 2001
Cornerstone is a huge Christian Music Festival near Chicago, USA that features all kinds of Christian Music. In 2001 they decided to do a special metal evening where bands like Recon, Guardian, Deliverance, Bride, Trytan and others reunited and played. The gigs were also recorded and released on the cd serie Live at Cornerstone 2001. Besides this special metal night Stryper also played on the mainstage this year. www.cornerstonefestival.com



EXOUSIA - Welcome To The Kingdom of Light
Exousia from Mexico deliver crunchy thrash at its finest on this album. Full speed, brutal vocals and evangelistic lyrics make this album to a must have to all thrashers out there.



X-SINNER - Loud And Proud
On this rare album X-Sinner have collected some unreleased tracks as well as demo versions of tunes that later appeared on their first two studio albums. The sound however is not demo quality but sounds more like a regular studio album. A cool cd with this talented band. Fans of bands like AC/DC and Def Leppard will definately enjoy this album.



SANCTIFICA/PANTOKRATOR
(Split cd) A classic brutal release with two great bands. Sanctifica plays Symphonic Black Metal & Pantokrator plays Crunchy Death Metal. Really cool stuff that shouldn't be miss if you are into brutal metal.



STRYPER - Loud'n'Clear
This is Stryper's official biography written by Dale Erickson and Jesse Sturdevant. The authors have interviewed all the band members to get the truth story about the band's history from the beginning until now. The book is very interesting and contains plenty of details. Definately a must have to all Stryper fans and also to anyone interested in Christian Metal history.



THE METAL ROSE COLLECTION - Selftitled
Finland is a metal country and this cd features bands like Immortal Souls, Oratorio as well as more unknown talented bands like Tinnitus and C-Force. All in all a really nice collection of Finland's Christian Metal bands in 2001.



DELIVERANCE - Live At Cornerstone 2001
Deliverance reunited to play at Cornerstone and they played plenty of classics, mostly from their speed metal years. A really good cd that shows that Deliverance still can do their fast and heavy tracks, although they hadn't played them for years.



BRIDE - Live At Cornerstone 2001
Bride also reunited on Cornerstone to play classics from their first three albums, and they do it very well. So good to hear that Dale still can scream as he used to back in the 80's.




2002




RETROACTIVE RECORDS
Many Christian Metal releases got out of print since they were released in small quantities and not reprinted. To help to solve this problem Matthew Hunt started up Retroactive Records. On this label he has rereleased albums with Seventh Angel, Believer, X-Sinner and other classic bands in Christian Metal. Retroactive also focus on more unknown quality bands like Eden and Regime. This label is more active than ever today and is one of the leading Christian Metal labels. www.retroactiverecords.net



NORDICFEST
Paal Daehlen of Nordic Mission, a Christian Metal distro in Norway got inspired of Bobfest and thought about doing something similar in Norway. So he spoke with Oddmund Solheim and other friends and they started up Nordicfest, a Christian Metal Festival that has been held every Autumn since 2002. Over the years great bands like Divinefire, Rob Rock, Harmony, Narnia, Antestor, Pantokrator and Horde have played. Pastor Bob Beeman of Sanctuary International has been one of the festival's speakers. www.nordicfest.no



EXTREME MARDI GRAS
15 years ago the classic Christian Metal Festal called Metal Mardi Gras was organized by Sanctuary, the legendary metal church. To celebrate this event a similar festival named Extreme Mardi Gras took place. On the festival some bands like Barren Cross and Neon Cross that played on the original Metal Mardi Gras reformed and the lineup also included newer bands like Ultimatum and Disciple. This cool festival took place 17 August 2002 in Anaheim, California, USA.



SEVENTH AVENUE - Between The Worlds
German Power Metal is a style many love. Seventh Avenue is one of the best Christian bands in this genre. On Between The Worlds the band gives us a a real metal feast with tons of hooks, guitar solos and high pitched vocals. Definately their best album to this date in my opinion.



SLAV SIMANIC - Let It Go
Slav Simanic is one of best guitar shredders around and he truly let loose on this album that is filled with guitar solos, hooks and harmonies. Slav's guitarplay has often been compared to Joe Satriani so fans of him will definately enjoy this cool album.



BLOODGOOD - Rock Theater DVD
Classic Metal band Bloodgood released two live videos many years ago. These are now available on this double DVD. What truly makes this DVD to stand out are all the actors that participate on the DVD. Actors that truly brings Bloodgood's message to life showing Christ's crucifixion, resurrection and other themes in Bloodgood's tunes while the band is playing their tunes. A phenomenal DVD showing Bloodgood at their best.




2003
This was a great metal year with outstanding releases of bands like Theocracy, Harmony, Crimson Moonlight and Leviticus. This was also the year when two new labels and a new festival saw the light.




THEOCRACY - Theocracy
Matt Smith is the man behind this band and album. It's very impressing that one man can do such an excellent album all by himself! He plays all intruments and does all the vocals. The result is an astonishing Power Metal album with tons of catchy hooks and guitar solos. It is also very varied. Fans of Power Metal rejoice, this is an album you can't afford to miss.



HARMONY - Dreaming Awake
This year also marked the arrival of Harmony. As many other talented metal bands they are hailing from Sweden. With outstanding guitarsolos, great vocals and very varied tunes this is truly a classic from the first tune to the last. A brilliant album and a timeless classic.



LEVITICUS - Live at Bobfest 2003
Leviticus, one of the groundbreaking Christian Metal bands took a long pause, but after 13 years they reformed to play on Bobfest. The gig was recorded and released on cd and dvd. The sound is brilliant (studio quality) and the band sounds better than ever. The cd and dvd contains classics from their whole career and is actually the best album they ever put out, truly showing Leviticus at their best. A phenomenal live album that Melodic Metal fans really will enjoy.



ELEMENTS OF ROCK
Inspired by Bobfest some friends in Switzerland decided to start their own Christian Metal Festival. So they did and they still do it every Spring. Over the years great bands like Crimson Moonlight, Tourniquet, Pantokrator and many more have played on this cool festival. www.elementsofrock.com



CRIMSON MOONLIGHT - The Covenant Progress
This was also the year when the masters of brutality, Crimson Moonlight released their first fullength album. The Covenant Progress contains a great mix of brutality and harmonies at full speed, as always with lyrics that glorify the Master & Lord, Jesus Christ. Truly a classic in Christian Black Metal.



MOMENTUM SCANDINAVIA
The folks behind Nordic Mission and Nordicfest felt the need to pursue and help Extreme Christian Metal bands in Scandinavia, so they started up the label Momentum Scandinavia. Through the years they have released albums with great bands like Antestor, Pantokrator and Schaliach. www.momentumscandinavia.com



RIVEL RECORDS
Talking about record labels, Christian Rivel of Narnia decided to change the name of his label from C.L. Music & Publishing to Rivel Records. The recent years Rivel Records have released plenty of quality Christian Metal releases and is today the world's leading Christian Metal Label. Divinefire, Pantokrator, Crimson Moonlight and Parakletos are some of the bands that have released albums on this label. www.rivelrecords.com



EDEN - Fan The Flame
Retroactive Records has really managed to dig up a treasure when they released this album. Cause what we got here is some really good melodic metal with plenty of guitar solos and catchy hooks. The guitar solos are done by no other than Rex Carroll of Whitecross. A great album for anyone into the melodic metal sound of the 80s.



ABOLISHMENT OF HATE - Selftitled
A really good instrumental death metal cd with a cool mix of brutality and harmony.



ORATORIO - The Reality of Existence
Finnish Power Metal is growing and Oratorio is one of the newer bands in this genre. They have a promising sound and lots of talent which truly shows on this album, that especially will appeal to fans of Stratovarious. If you like to go to the gym etc this is also a perfect cd to have as background music when you exercise.



COME ARMAGEDDON - Selftitled
This is the best of Endtime Productions compilations and features the bands Extol, Anaemia, Antestor, Lengsel, Vaakevandring and Vardoger. Great bands and great tunes. Truly Christcentered brutal metal at its finest. The album that was released on both cd and LP also has a very cool cover.




2004



HEAVEN'S METAL Strikes Back!
After many years absence the legendary Christian Metal Magazine Heaven's Metal is now back again. The editor Doug Van Pelt woke up one night with plenty of ideas in his head concering Heaven's Metal and he really felt God's calling to restart the magazine again, and so he did. Check out the result on http://www.hmmag.com/heavensmetal



STRYPER - 7 Weeks Live In America, 2003
After many years Stryper finally reformed full on with the original setting and did a successful tour all over USA. During the tour this live cd was recorded. All the classics are included and it really gives us an idea of what a Stryper gig can be like, very tight, energetic and full on for God. Michael can still hit the high tones and the band is tighter than ever. To say it short this is a fantastic live album that I highly can recommend to all you Stryper fans out there! Truly melodic metal at its finest.



SAINT - In The Battle
As you can see this was the year when some of big names in Christian Metal picked up their axe again to play Metal for the Lord. Legendary Heavy Metal band Saint is one these bands. With Richard Lynch on bass and Josh Kramer on vocals Saint gives us real Heavy Metal just as it should be done with heavy rhythmes, blazing guitarsolos and that noncompromising attitude. A very cool comeback album that shows that Saint is back in the battle against the forces of darkness.



SAINT - Warriors of the Son
Saint not only returned with a brand new album this year, but they also took the chance to use modern technology and rerecord the Warriors of the Son album. The result is a great sounding album with much better production than the original. Besides the original tracks that band also added two previously unreleased tracks from back in the day.



DIVINE SYMPHONY - Reject Darkness
Brazil has a very huge christian metal scene with 100s of Christian Metal bands! One of the best ones hailing from this country is Divine Symphony. Reject Darkness is their debut album filled with symphonic black metal. What's really cool with Divine Symphony is their variation and mix of different metal influences. While the base of the band's sound is fast and brutal black metal it also contains plenty of symphonic and melodic influences from 80s metal etc that gives them a sound of their own. A cool album from a promising band.



PARAKLETOS - Offerlammets Makt (The Power of the Sacrifical Lamb)
As you may have guessed these dudes are singing in Swedish. They are not from Sweden however but live in Osterbothnia in Finland, which Sweden owned for a long time, that's why so many speak Swedish in Finland. Anyway, Parakletos is one of the best metal bands to ever emerge from Finland. Like Divine Symphony they mix their black metal sound with plenty of melodic rhythmes which makes their sound very interesting and varied. Their cool Swedish accent also fits very well with the music and gives them a signature sound. Lyrically I really want to give Parakletos credit for their Biblebased and Christcentered lyrics. All in all this is a very cool black metal album with melody that definately will appeal to fans of Antestor and Vaakevandring.



NARNIA - At Short Notice - Live in Germany DVD
Hailing from Sweden Narnia really knows how to make good melodic metal. Featured on this DVD is a really cool gig in Germany with most of their best tracks from their first four albums so it's kind of a best of DVD with the best of Narnia. Visually the show really stands out with an amazing light show! Performance is also professional and soundquality is really good. To sum it up it's an excellent DVD and definately something Narnia fans don't wanna miss.



NARNIA ON SWEDEN ROCK!
Sweden Rock Festival is one of the biggest Metal Festivals in Europe with ca 20 000 - 30 000 headbangers gathered. This year Narnia entered the stage as the first Christian Metal band ever to play on this festival.



SEVENTH AVENUE - Eternals
Another good album from Seventh Avenue. Although not as good as Between The Worlds still a solid release.



BOMBWORKS RECORDS
This year marks the start of Bombworks Records, a really cool American label that has released albums with bands like Seventh Angel, Adiastasia and Holy Blood. www.bombworksrecords.com




2005



WHITECROSS - 1987
Rex Carroll and Scott Wenzel, the founders of Whitecross finally decided to reunite the band again. But before giving us an album with brand new material they decided to rerecord their selftitled debut album. Back in the day when it was first recorded they had very little money and therefore couldn't afford to give it the production they wanted, but now with improved technology and some more money they could finally give it the production it deserves. Besides great production Rex Carroll's amazing guitarplay actually sounds better than ever and he even adds extra guitarsolos. Whitecross fans will be delighted to hear this cool release.



STRYPER - Reborn
Stryper's comeback album! Musically it sounds quite different than previous albums and I would describe it as a mix of Against The Law and Michael Sweet's solo album Truth. Usually I don't like modern rock but Stryper makes it good since they have incorporated many melodic harmonies and hooks. After repeated spins the album grows and now I think it's a good solid album,although not in the same caliber as the 80s albums.



MIRADOR - The Azrael Tales
A cool album that will appeal to fans of early Veni Domine. Great vocals and lots of doom influences.



MAJESTIC VANGUARD - Beyond The Moon
New Swedish metal band with a sound of their own. Their mix of power metal, traditional heavy metal and some progressiveness makes this album a winner and gives good hope for the future.



ONCE DEAD - Return With A Vengeance DVD
Thrash is one of my favourite genres and no one does it better than Vengeance Rising. Once Dead consists of former members of Vengeance Rising/Die Happy + Scott Waters from Ultimatum on vocals. The band did a gig on 29 August 2004 and played tunes from the first two Vengeance albums. The gig was recorded and released on DVD. I really enjoy to once again hear the classic Vengeance tunes! Once Dead has also added a track of their own that also sounds promising. Fans of Vengeance Rising should definately check out this limited DVD.



DIVINEFIRE - Glory Thy Name
Divinefires debut album features a groundbreaking new sound incorporating both influences from both the melodic and the extreme, presented with plenty of symphonic aggression. Excellent album that appeal to both fans of extreme metal and melodic metal. Lyrics are very Christcentered and uplifting. Love it! Great music, great lyrics and metal to the bone.



DIVINEFIRE - Hero
Another masterpiece from Divinefire. An excellent mix of melody and brutality at full speed. Lots of hooks and heaviness to enjoy and lyrics as always very Biblical and uplifting. Divinefire is without a doubt one of the best metal bands ever and I can't say enough good about them. They are just too good to be missed.



F.O.G. - Broken
Influenced musically by Black Sabbath F.O.G. still has a sound of their own and gives us a nice piece of hardrock/metal appealing to fans of 70s Metal.



TEMPLE OF BLOOD - Prepare For The Judgement of Mankind
Looking for some fine old school thrash? Then this can be something for you. Vocals are highpitched, reminding slightly of Guy Ritter of early Tourniquet. A solid thrash release worthy checking out.



AUDIVISION - The Calling
Christian Rivel of Narnia and Divinefire called his friends and they agreed to play on this album featuring a mix of 70s and 80s Metal. Bruce Kulick, Mattias IA Eklundh, Mic Michaeli, Lars Chriss, Jeff Scott Soto, Tommy Denander and Thomas Vikström are some of the wellknown persons featured on this cool album.



CRIMSON MOONLIGHT - Veil of Remembrance
Ultrafast and brutal release from Crimson Moonlight, truly an album that sets the standard for this genre.



SARDONYX - Linear Progression
Sardonyx comeback album featuring praise songs in real Heavy Metal style. A cool album, I just wished it was a fullength and not just four tracks.



HOLY BLOOD - Waves Are Dancing
Good metal bands are popping up all over the world, even in Ucraine. Holy Blood has a cool brutal sound with plenty of Viking influences. Compared to their first album this is so much better in all ways showing that they are a band to count on.



RENASCENT - Through Darkness
A good solid death metal release with a healthy dose of heaviness and crunchy blastbeats.



SAINT - Live '05
Saint gives us a cool live album featuring their best tracks from both past and present.



BARREN CROSS REUNION!
Classic Heavy Metal band Barren Cross did a reunion show On Elements of Rock, the Christian Metal Festival in Switzerland.



TYKKÜS - Ümlaut
Heavy Metal to the bone, that's what Tykküs gives us and they do it well on this their first release.



STRYPER PLAYS WITH IRON MAIDEN & DREAM THEATRE!
On Lorca Rock Festival in Spain, Stryper played with famous bands like Iron Maiden and Dream Theater! The cool thing was also that Stryper played last so you can even say that Iron Maiden opened up for them!



NORTHERN FLAME - White Winternight
Guitarshredder Niclas Buss is one of the up'n'coming guitar shredders and he really let loose on this EP called White Winternight. If you love guitar solos, this is a cd you shouldn't miss.



HOLY SOLDIER REUNION!
The classic setting of the 80s Glam Metal band Holy Soldier reunited on a festival called Up From The Ashes.



SEVENTH ANGEL - Heed The Warning
Heed The Warning is the name of one of Seventh Angel's demos. All tracks from this demo as well as live tracks are featured on this special cd, which makes it a cool addition to fans of this Brittish Thrash band.



REGIME - Straight Through Your Heart
Cool melodic 80s metal album with unreleased tracks from guitarshredder Rick Hunter from Soldier.



THE METAL BIBLE
This was also the year when the first edition of the Metal Bible was released (in Swedish). The Metal Bible is a special Bible edition for us that love metal. It contains the New Testament in the middle and is done in real metal style. What makes it special and cool is that it both looks and feels 100% Metal on the cover and inside with Old English font and plenty of Metalheads in it, that talk about what God and the Bible means to them.

It features persons like Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden), Tommy Aldridge (Whitesnake), Peter Baltes (Accept), Brian Welsh (ex-Korn), Michael Sweet (Stryper), Rob Rock, Pastor Bob Beeman (Sanctuary International), Simon "Pilgrim" Rosén (Crimson Moonlight), Matt Smith (Theocracy), Steve Rowe (Mortification), Christian Rivel (Narnia, Divinefire), Ulf Christiansson (Jerusalem), Richard Lynch (Saint), Carl Johan Grimmark (Narnia), Batista (Antidemon), Gabriela Sepulveda (Boanerges) and many more!

The purpose of this special Bible edition is to break down misconceptions and show people that the Bible is a cool book also for people that like metal and that its message is relevant to us today. Read more about this megacool special Bible on http://www.metalbibel.nu/enginfo.htm



More info to come so stay tuned...


History of Christian Hip-Hop

Listen to Cutting Edge Christian Hip Hop Music Tracks

Christian hip hop (originally gospel rap, also known as holy hip hop) is a form of hip hop music which uses Christian lyrical themes to express the songwriter's faith. Only during the 1990s did the term "Christian hip hop" become descriptive of this type of music. Many mainstream hip hop artists have made acknowledgements of faith (including Kanye West, Ma$e, DMX, and Will Smith) but are not typically considered Christian hip hop artists, as the themes of their lyrics do not typically reflect spiritual faith, and often contain content considered blasphemous by some Christians. The audience is typically Christian, but is used in missions for the purpose of evangelization. Christian rap and hip hop artists are professed Christians in most cases, and use the fact that they are urban or suburban as a positive issue used to spread their religion, and like all Christian music, it can be experienced as Christian worship.

Holy Hip Hop is also a Christian rap and hip hop album label out of Atlanta, Georgia. Fall of 2006 is the expected release date of the fourth volume in the Holy Hip Hop collection. Holy Hip Hop also sposors a small variety of Christian rap and hip hop artists.

Christian hip hop is typically more experimental and diverse than mainstream hip hop, and pop-rap artists such as tobyMac, KJ-52, John Reuben and Paul Wright have risen above many artists who imitate mainstream hip hop in popularity. Artists like tobyMac, KJ-52 and John Reuben include nu metal and rapcore songs regularly, but often unify rapping and singing in the vein of R&B and pop as well. Paul Wright describes his music as "folk hop," and much like fellow Christian singer Mat Kearney, his albums consist primarily of acoustic pop with occasional hip hop elements. Christian artists such as GRITS consider the genre superior to its secular counterpart, thus the tagline of the group's album Factors of the Seven, "the most innovative hip hop in the industry." Christian hip hop also contains less sampling. John Reuben's music is notable for its lack of sampling, with a band in place of samples (a lá Hasidic rapper Matisyahu). Many conventional artists who operate in Christian hip hop sample as often as their counterparts, such as Mars ILL, whose album Pro*Pain was delayed due to legal issues regarding sampling. [1]

Listen to Cutting Edge Christian Hip Hop Music Tracks

Popular genres to fuse with hip hop in Christian hip hop include pop, R&B, rock, metal, techno, reggae, funk and jazz. In many cases, collaborations with pop artists in Christian hip hop lead to songs with rap verses and pop choruses (such as "Nuisance", John Reuben's successful duet with Matt Thiessen of pop punk band Relient K, and KJ-52's single "Are You Real?" featuring Jon Micah Sumrall of rock band Kutless). KJ-52 and tobyMac are two of the most successful artists in the genre to combine hip hop with various other musical genres, though the combination also receives criticism among hip hop purists. Popular conventional Christian hip hop groups include GRITS (who have received some mainstream success), The Cross Movement, T-Bone, LA Symphony and Mars ILL. Among underground Christian rappers and hip hop groups, conventional hip hop such as crunk is generally preferred, as opposed to pop-rap.

While many notable recordings and artists encompass the sphere of Christian hip hop, no one style (termed 'flavor') dominates. Traditionally, hip hop tends to fall into such categories as East Coast, West Coast (or Left Coast), Dirty South or even prison rap. Christian hip hop features all of those styles and more, transcending geographic restrictions and commercial underpinnings. Web stores such as 3Hmp3.com and CDBaby.com have opened the commercial market to artists not under contract with a particular record label, but whose recordings measure comparably and favorably with industry recordings.

Christian hip hop themed videos and DVDs are also increasing in availability and popularity. Christopher ("Play") Martin and Amen Films released a DVD entitled "Holy Hip-Hop" that is available in many stores where DVDs are sold. This item is featured prominently on the HolyHipHop.com web site.

Live events such as RapFest (held annually in August in New York City) as well as conferences such as the Holy Hip Hop Showcase (held annually in January in Atlanta) have helped to foster an increase of the circulation level of evangelical Christianity among youth and young adults. Other notables include The Yuinon & H.P., based in Detroit.

Whereas Christian hip-hop artists were few in the days of groups like Transformation Crusade (pioneering artists from Liberty University, can be heard on "King of Glory" by Commissioned), Christian hip-hop artists numerically are now as the stars in the sky. No longer is there a shortage of thought-provoking, theologically sound recordings in the sphere of Christian hip-hop. While some artists are growing in their ability to remain Biblical in their approach to emceeing, many quality recordings abound, of which artists like R-Swift, J. Johnson, Redeemed Thought, Timothy Brindle, shia linne, 2Five, Frontlynaz and Aprentiz comprise a very small sample.

Source: Wikipedia - the Free Encyclopedia
















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