 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 johannes@metalforjesus.org
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.
- 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 - 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
- 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 andoverall 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. Trulyan 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 isBachtro 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 metalmakes 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 Impellitterimade 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 othersof 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 theSwedish 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 withplenty of melodic hardrock tunes to enjoy.
1997This 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.
1998This 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 greatcover 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 thiswas both the Awakening of Narnia and also the year when Metal was about to wake up again. With Christcentered lyrics, amazing guitar solos andgreat 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 forthe Christian Metal scene in Finland and has released albums with great bands like Immortal Souls, Mordecai and Deuteronomium beforethe 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 fanswith 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 greatto 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 verytalented band from Argentina. Senáles Antes Del Fin is their debut cd and it definately shows how much talent they possess. Cause what we have hereis 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 Pĺ 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 withmegaclassics 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 likeExtol, 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 & PUBLISHINGChristian Rivel of Narnia saw the need of a Christian Metal label in Sweden and he started upCL 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 andprogressive black metal. Sanctifica also has a connection with Narniasince the vocalist/guitarist in Sanctifica, Hubertus Liljegren also is the brother of ChristianLiljegren/Rivel, the vocalist of Narnia.
- SONS OF THUNDER - Load, Aim, Fire
The Metal Praise band's first and best fullength album. Sons of Thundercontinues 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 awareof 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 makegreat 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 compilationthat 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 alsosome 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 eveningwhere bands like Recon, Guardian, Deliverance, Bride, Trytan and others reunited and played. The gigs were also recorded and released on the cd serieLive 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 studioalbums. 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 stuffthat 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 getthe 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 allStryper 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 showsthat 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 canscream 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 thisevent 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 Grasreformed 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 bandgives 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 theactors that participate on the DVD. Actors that truly brings Bloodgood's message to life showing Christ's crucifixion, resurrection and other themesin Bloodgood's tunes while the band is playing their tunes. A phenomenal DVD showing Bloodgood at their best.
2003This 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 theystarted 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 goodmelodic 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 editorDoug Van Pelt woke up one night with plenty of ideas in his head concering Heaven's Metal and hereally 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 whata 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 shortthis is a fantastic live album that I highly can recommend to all you Stryper fans out there! Truly melodic metal at itsfinest.
- 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 playMetal 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 rerecordthe 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 albumfilled 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 inOsterbothnia 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 rhythmeswhich 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 gigin 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 where bands like Europe and Judas Priest headlined.
- 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 likeSeventh 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 withbrand new material they decided to rerecord their selftitled debut album. Back in the day when it was first recorded they had very little moneyand therefore couldn't afford to give it the production they wanted, but now with improved technology and some more money they couldfinally give it the production it deserves. Besides great production Rex Carroll's amazing guitarplay actually sounds better than ever and he even addsextra 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 andMichael 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 makesthis 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 Christcenteredand 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. Comparedto 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 thatStryper 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 loveguitar 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 tracksare 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 donein 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 editionis 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
2006
- ADIASTASIA - Life War
The metal scene is Brazil is huge and has hundreds of Christian Metal bands. One of them is Adiastasia. This album is their first oneand it's a really cool album filled to the bone with pure symphonic power metal.
- HORDE - First and only gig!
Horde, the legendary christian unblack metal band has did one gig only. The gig took place the Fall 2006 at Nordicfest in Oslo, the capitol of Norway.Norway was also the perfect place to play at since Horde were threaten to death by the Norwegian Black Metal mafia years ago, because they couldn't stand that Horde stood up for Christ in the black metal scene. But as Mortification says in one of their songs God is the one that truly rulz and an example of thisis this gig that Horde did in Norway. As one of those that had opportunity to be there I can say that their gig was one of the best gigs I have ever seen! Extremely fast, furious, brutal and megaintense.
- DIVINEFIRE - Into A New Dimension
With this album Divinefire conquered new ground. The album was even voted as best metal album of the issue inSweden Rock Magazine, which is the leading Metal Magazine in Sweden. And I do think it's well deserved since the cdfeatures a great combination of brutality and melody with a healthy dose of symphonic influences.
- STRYPER - Greatest Hits - Live In Puerto Rico Limited Edition
Stryper, the melodic metal masters finally released their first DVD! It features many of their classics from their long career, making it a must have to any fan of Melodic Metal.
- X-SINNER - Fire It Up
Filled with crunchy and catchy hooks a la AC/DC X-Sinner definately shows that they are back to stay with this rerecording of their Peace Treaty album. Besides having more guitars and a heavier sound than the original, the album also has onepreviously unreleased track.
- STRYPER - Extended Versions
Stryper is one of the best live bands and to see and hear them live is definately something extratordinary. On this cool live cd Stryper has included 9 of the classic live tracks that was on the 7 weeks album plus the tune My Love I'll Always Show.
- JERUSALEM - Live 2006 DVD
Jerusalem is one the pioneering christian hardrock/metal bands. To celebrate their 30 years anniversary they did 3 special gigs, whereeach gig was over 3 hours long! This fantastic tour was recorded and is now released on DVD featuring classics from the band's wholecareer. It also includes plenty of interviews, videos and other cool stuff, making it to an absolute must have to all Jerusalem fans.
- NARNIA - Enter The Gate
This album was voted as best metal album of the issue inSweden Rock Magazine. And it's definately a melodic metal album of high caliber with outstanding productionand Christian singing better than ever. The album was voted as best metal album of the issue in the album review chart ofSweden Rock Magazine. Narnia also did a sold out tour with Sonata Arctica and they also played at Gates of Metal Festival in Sweden along withbands like Hammerfall and Helloween.
- MORTIFICATION - Live Planetarium DVD
This DVD was filmed during Mortification's peak and features a fantastic gig both musically and visually and is definately a must haveto any fan of Death Metal.
2007
- HORDE - Alive in Oslo
Horde, the legendary christian unblack metal band has did one gig only. The gig took place the Fall 2006 at Nordicfest in Oslo, the capitol of Norway.Norway was also the perfect place to have Horde play since the band were threaten to death by the Norwegian Black Metal mafia years ago, because they couldn't stand that Horde stood up for Christ in the black metal scene. But as Mortification says in one of their songs God is the one that truly rulz and an example of thisis this gig that Horde did in Norway. As one of those that had the opportunity to be there I can say that their gig was one of the best gigs I have ever seen! Extremely fast, furious, brutal and megaintense. Wow, definately a highlight for me and many others who were there.The gig was recorded and is now available on both cd and dvd, picturing the raw and noncompromising sound of these unblack metal pioneers.
- DELIVERANCE - As Above... So Below
Deliverance is back again! This is their comeback album featuring a combination of their early speed metal sound and their latermore progressive sound. A really cool album showing that these speed metal pioneers are still a band to count on.
- METAL BIBLE - Released In Dutch!
This was also the year when the Metal Bible saw the light in the Dutch language. As the Swedish edition it contains both the New Testamentand plenty of testimonies from metalheads that share their life stories and what the Bible means to them. More info about this megacool special Bible canbe found at http://www.metalbijbel.nl and http://www.metalbibel.nu/enginfo.htm
- STRYPER - Roxx Regime Demos
Before the band changed name to Stryper, they were called Roxx Regime. Under this name they released a demo that got them signed. With modern techniquethe sound of the demo have now been greatly enhanced and it sounds tons better now than it did then. The result is a bit raw but still really cool album that mostly contains tracks that would later appear onStryper albums. The highlight of the album is the fantastic rock version of the ballad My Love I'll Always Show.
- ROB ROCK - Garden Of Chaos
With this album Rob Rock really shows that he is one of the best metal vocalists out there. He is often called the voice of melodic metal and he surely is. With this album he has managed to do his best solo album to this date. While his previous solo cds have been somewhat inconsistent this album just rocks all the way through.Garden of Chaos also features a heavier yet very catchy sound. There are also plenty of hooks to enjoy as well as wellwritten lyrics. All these things together makes Garden of Chaos to one of the best metal albums this year.
- HILASTHERION - Taken From Darkness
Wow, what an album! This albums stands out in all ways. Musically it's filled with bonecrushing Melodic Death Metal. Fans of secular band Children of Bodom will be knocked to the groundwhen they hear this excellent album. If you ever wanted a quality Christian Metal band in this genre Hilastherion is what you have been looking for. What really stands out is the heavy rhythms and the tasty guitar solos.If you enjoy the melodic harmonies of Schaliach you will also greatly enjoy this, although Hilastherion's sound is much faster. Lyrically, this is also one of my favourite albums, since the lyrics are both very honest and Christcentered, and you can really see that the band cares for people and wants their best.An outstanding album in all ways that you can't afford to miss if you are a fan of Heavy & Melodic Death Metal!
- ULTIMATUM - Into The Pit
These American Thrashers have greatly improved over the years and this is definately their best one so far. With great production, plenty of guitar solos and crunchy thrash rhythmes Ultimatum shows that they are a band to count on.
- ETERNAL RYTE - Anthology
During the 80s Eternal Ryte was one of the bands reigning in the underground glam metal scene. They released only one album, titled World Requiem. This cd is included in its entirity on the double cd Anthology. Besides this it also contains their demos as well as some live tracks. Really cool album overall with bold lyrics and cool music. If you enjoy 80s metal this is definately a band worthy checking out since they not only have the sound but also the look with big hair.
- STRYPER - Greatest Hits DVD
Finally a official DVD with Stryper! Great DVD with plenty of hits from their whole career in front of an enthusiastic audience. They also have plenty of yellow and black on the stageand a big drum set, so it's kinda like a flashback to their live videos Live In Japan and In The Beginning. Stryper is also one of the best live bands in the world and it's alwaysa pleasure to see them live and this gig is no exception. A difference between this release and the limited version is that this edition also contains some really coollive videos from the 80s.
- NARNIA - Decade of Confession
Narnia is one of the best metal bands and they have always delivered albums of great quality. On this megacool double cd they have compiled their best tracks. Besides album tracks it also contains rare tracks from their Japanese releases as well as the covers In His Majesty's Service (Jerusalem) and Sunrise (Uriah Heep).A really cool thing that makes this album to a must to any Narnia fan is also the booklet that contains plenty of interesting facts about the band's history as well as lots of pictures. An outstanding album that also works fine as introduction to this talented and professional band.
- BELIEVER - Comeback!
The masters of technical Thrash has returned! After many years absence Kurt Bachman (vocals/guitars) and Joey Daub (drummer) decided to put the band together again. As usual they deliver technical & experimental thrash metal and a new album is in the works...
2008
- THEOCRACY - Mirror of Souls
With this release Theocracy really sets a new standard and show that Christian bands can rival also the best Secular bands in the Power Metal genre. Fantastic album from the beginning to the end filled to the bone with crunchy rhythmes andcatchy hooks. Production is also of the highest caliber. There is also plenty of variation and no fillers on the album. Just quality Power Metal through and through. This is a phenomenal albumand a must have for anyone into melodic metal overall and especially for those into Melodic Power Metal!
- HARMONY - Chapter II: The Aftermath
Harmony has a sound somewhat similar to Theocracy, but much more progressive. Their sound on this album can be descibed as a mix of Yngwie Malmsteen and Dream Theatre.Interesting is also that Harmony just as Yngwie are hailing from Sweden. Markus Sigfridsson is a very skilled and talented guitar player and his solos is definately a big partof Harmony's sound. Compared with their debut the sound is now heavier and more progressive. Production has also been greatly improved. Highly recommended to fans of Yngwie Malmsteen and Dream Theatre.
- HB - Frozen Inside
Ever longed for a Christian band in the veins of Nightwish? Then HB is what you are looking for. This female fronted band from Finland delivers plenty of symphonic andcatchy tunes similar to Nightwish. I really like the heaviness some of the tracks have as well the worshipful Biblical lyrics. Fans of Nightwish will definately have plenty to enjoy on this cd.
- DRIVER - Sons of Thunder
Rob Rock is a busy and talented man. This is another quality release from him. This time he goes for the classic 80s Heavy Metal sound, and he does it well! The album is filled withcatchy hooks and shredding guitar solos. A really cool album and also one of Rob's best.
- DELIVERANCE - Deliverance
Yes, finally this classic Speed Metal album has been rereleased! Retroactive Records is really doing great job with remastering and rereleasing of the classics. CD also contains the bonus tracks A Space Called You and Attack. Music is ultrafast, heavy & melodic and lyrics are really to the point. Fans of early Metallica will definately enjoy this cool album.
- DELIVERANCE - Weapons of Our Warfare
This album is a classic and one of the best Metal albums ever done! Besides the original tunes it also contains the bonus track "Rescue". Fans of early Bay Area Thrash are gonna drool when they hear this quality release. A classic and one of the best Metal albums ever done.
- SEVENTH AVENUE - Terium
This German Power Metal band has really improved! Especially Herbie Langhans voice now sounds better than ever. The production is also excellent this time. Typical of this release is also that almost every track has really catchy and memorable hooks. To sum it up this a really cool album (with a total time of over 70 minutes!) for all you power metal fans out there.
- DIVINEFIRE - Farewell
This is the band's last album, aptly titled Farewell. As always the band does a wonderful job with combining the melodic with the extreme. Their style can also be describedas Heavy Extreme Symphonic Power Metal with a mix of both of clean and growling vocals. Typical for their sound is also the catchy hooks and choruses. I have greatly enjoyed Divinefires previous albums and I enjoy this as well. I will really miss this band and its unique sound.
- X-SINNER - World Covered In Blood
X-Sinner is back with a brand new studio album. This time the band wanted to do an album where the band's energy really shreally shone through. The result isa crunchy sound with loud guitars and tons of energy. As always X-Sinner manages to get that catchy gritty sound and the cool raspy vocals. Highly recommended to fans of early AC/DC and Def Leppard.
More info to come so stay tuned...
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