And Deicide has written about ritual sacrifices, the crucifixion, Satan, Jesus and anti-Christian sentiments. Morbid Angel has written songs such as God of Emptiness, Rapture, Immortal Rites, Chapel of Ghouls, Angel of Disease and Blessed are the Sick.
Possessed, Death, Deicide and Morbid Angel are a few of the first bands to fall into the death metal genre. ‘Chapel of Ghouls’ and ‘Blessed are the Sick’ĭeath metal then appeared with the fusion of thrash metal and first-wave black metal in the 1980s. Thus, the relationship between heavy metal and religion was born.Ĭhristie points out in his book, Sounds of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal that anthropological history is interwoven with metal’s musical history as “the rise of black metal coincided with the thousand-year anniversary of Christianity in Norway, when two pagan kings violently imposed religion on the western coast of Norway,” the territory that has most influenced black metal. The fourth track on the album is called N.I.B., which was written from Lucifer’s point of view. When the album is opened it reveals an inverted cross and a disturbing poem. Many metal historians such as Ian Christie have said that the history of heavy metal begins with Black Sabbath’s debut studio album, “Black Sabbath,” released in 1970. “What is fascinating here is the consistency with which black metal has pursued religious forms Such religious pluralism begs the question as to whether these are just new and interesting attempts at youth rebellion, or whether something more is playing itself out.” In 2010, historian James Robertson published an article called “ Death metal: A ‘pipeline to God?’” One of the few published articles that examines the connection between death metal and religion, Robertson writes: