Why do so many people think of Hard Rock / Metal as Satanic music?

"hi, I'm a christian, my favorite band is a7x, I listen to underoath cuz they're christian metal, and Marilyn Manson and Black Sabbath are satanic."

Riiiiiiight.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is your answer right there. Double standards.

Some people will embrace the music they like because it affirms their values, but when music comes along that sounds so very, very similar they reject it, because they, in their ignorance, perceive it to be so "evil" and "satanic".

The rise of the faith-based culture means that if you adopt occult or subversive or even outright demonic imagery in your image or lyrics you get labeled and judged for it - even if they've never heard your music.

It's sad that the same people who base their faith off of the book that says "judge not lest ye be judged" miss out on so much good music because they're too busy judging it.

"not all hxcore/heavy music is Satanic."

Practically none of it is. Too many ignorant people confuse "non-christian" with satanic. Just putting a skull on your album cover doesn't make you "satanic"...

... and oh yeah, the main songwriter for Slayer is a devout Catholic.

EDIT: What fenderplayer211 is talking about is the flatted fifth - the tritone. It was called "diabolus en musica" or the "devil in music" because it sounded so dissonant to them.

Bear in mind, though, that this really has almost nothing to do the sound of the music itself so much.... perhaps it was at one time, but now you've got christian bands holding the cross while shouting at the devil, so it's so much more an image, lyric, and perceived reputation thing than any particular quality of the music itself (kind've like emo - emo bands sound the same as most any other band, except in lyrics, image, and reputation).

Besides, if it was the sound of the tritone itself, then jazz would be demonic and satanic, because so much of it is based around dominant 7th chords - which have the tritone interval between the major 3rd and the flatted 7th. That easy listening jazz in the lobby... the devil compels you! =)

Come to think of it, it was considered t... oh, never mind. Different answer, different post.

Rock on....

Saul

It's to do with stereotyping and generalisation.

Everyone and their dog has seen an Iron Maiden album cover and heard Bruce Dickinson screaming 'SIX SIX SIX!'. Subsequently, to people who don't really care for heavier music, upon hearing 'similar' material, they will automatically make a connection (conscious or unconscious) between this and the imagery they've been exposed to earlier.

It's not just metal and Satanism that have become synonymous in the music world. It's easy to assume from mainstream rap music that every single rapper hates his mother, runs around pistol whipping pedestrians, and drives a BMW made of solid gold.

Same with country music. It's easy to imagine every single country and western song being written by an old man in a straw had in a rocking chair on his porch in Arizona, only taking the stalk of wheat he was chewing out of his mouth to wave his shotgun and tell people to get the hell off his land.

Like I said, it's stereotyping and generalising by people who don't necessarily know or care about the genre.

It's ridiculous isn't it - especially as these days many christian groups have chosen heavy metal as their chosen method of 'spreading the word'. Many of the metal songs you listen to have lyrics about historic events - which although bloody are no worse than a published novel. In many cases if you actually understand the lyrics - like Slayer - they are written in a disapproving tone and even though they are about death and judgement you could clearly argue that they were actually based on christian values. Sometimes people just see the subject matter and not the message.

I think the reputation metal developed during the 80s is tough to shake. So it still gets flack today. Back then, metal was VERY mainstream. Not more "underground" as it is today. & a few bands got in some trouble w/ accusations of satanism & teen suicides etc...as a result, the general population lumped em all together.

Not all bands are Satanic but they try to keep that imagery because it sells well. And most people don't know metal enough to distinguish.

And there are some real Satanic bands like Behemoth, but mostly only tr00 kvlt bands are Satanic/Pagan. Although Varg did burn some churches....

It was a selling point for the early major bands. All the original big bands had demons on the covers and had a few songs about promoting satanic symbols including the goat horn salute.

I 'm christian, and I listen to stuff like Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed, My Chemical Romance etc. In fact, A7X is my favorite band.

These aren't satanic music in any way. Just look at the lyrics for their songs, which part of it is satanic?Stuff like Marilyn Manson, Black Sabbath, Rotting Christ etc. are satanic to me, so I don't listen to songs by bands like them. But none of the bands you've mentioned are satanic in any way.

Underoath is metal. So just because it's metal, it's satanic?No, in fact it's christian metal. Just because you've got screaming vocals and stuff like that doesn't make stuff satanic.

i get that alot as a teenager....

whenever i say i listen to bands like slipknot or Lamb of god.

people look at me funny. tell me that im creepy and stuff.

its sterotypical.

look at demon hunter! there crazy! and thats christain metal.

i understand some metal bands are *cough* Job for a cowboy*Cough* but other bands its just stupid.

Slayer, Lamb of god, Slipknot, and suicide silence are always called satanic.

well im not sure about suicide silence... but the others arent.

people are just stupid like that.

like many people think Anime=cartoon porn.

which is stupid.

stupid people make the world stop and shiver for a second.

and if you read that and thought anything but lol

then your the person im talking about.

A lot of people seem to be digging into the historical aspects of bands here, but I think it's ignorance, plain and simple.

It's just like how everyone assumes rap music is all about slapping your bxtches when they get too rowdy, or how everyone assumes pop music is all "Ohmehgawd PONIES!".

Just ignorance. And people tend to be secure/fine with their ignorance.

ok im gunna get a little technical on you

back in the day when music scales were being developed(the 7 church modes that are still used today) some of them were banned because they sounded dark and evil

alot of artists and bands use those scales to make there melodies and background music

its just the "feeling" that that type of music put off