Good Christian Rock and Metal - will it survive...

The threads on pirating music and the death of CCM has me thinking. With all the changes in the music industry in terms of tastes and downloading music for free, will the quality Christian music survive?

Back in the mid 80's when I discovered Christian rock, I knew I came across something special with bands like Petra, Stryper, Rez Band, Daniel Band, Jerusalem, Servant and Whiteheart. Bands like these made great music with a string message. Now, I cannot say the same with many bands. Thankfully, there are some bands that still have a strong message like Stryper, Bloodgood, Theocracy, Petra, etc. Also, one must wonder if CCM stitched to modern praise and worship to appeal to the Christian church goer in a way to protect them selves against illegal downloads. There may be less chances of the average church goer doing the illegal download and may choose to buy the product instead as digital files or as a physical music format.   

Another thing is once the legacy/veteran artists have retired and have passed on like the Strypers, Rob Rocks, Petras, etc, who are we left with to carry the torch? While we have new blood like Theocracy, HB and Desyre, they are faced with declining album sales and a changing market. As long as we have newer bands with the classic sound, I think the Christian music/rock/metal industry will stay fresh and vibrant.

Also, where CCM stitched to modern praise and worship to appeal to the Christian church goer, is this only happening in the US Canada or is this in other markets like Europe and the Far East like South Korea? Or do these markets have a appreciation for the quality Christian music as well?

These are some thought to consider. I do not want to start a rant/debate as to what quality Christina music is. This is to discuss the changing market.

I think that we will still have some quality rock and metal.  However, it is going to be more of an underground movement.  There will be specialized labels or bands having to market themselves.  We will become even more internet savvy as we have to seek out artists ourselves.

Honestly, I think it's going to depend a lot on your definition of "good rock and metal". There's still quite a few newer bands out there who are very good at what they do while also being upfront about their faith in Christ, but they have a much different sound than all the bands you listed. 

If you're specifically asking about whether or not a Christian scene playing 80s "hair metal" and/or arena rock will survive, I'd honestly doubt it at least in any significant numbers. Not really because of CCM or illegal downloads, but for the simple reason that outside of a few of the biggest bands who are now considered legendary, that particular brand of rock/metal has barely even had any relevance within secular music for the past 20 years or longer. Christian bands who play that style are becoming such a niche within a niche that I just don't think there will be very many of them in the future.

..define " survive. "

There will always be good Christian metal and rock, its just a matter of finding it. When you say quality I am not certain if you mean production wise or just well crafted music. As long as there are willing artists with a passion I dont think there is a problem.

As far as production quality goes I think things can only get better. In this day and age many bands can get a pretty good and refined sound from just using DAW software and basic mixing/mastering.

I think the days of garage bands recording absolutely atrocious quality demos is on the way out the door, instead these same bands can record and arrange their music on a computer rather than play it out the amp and into a overexposed mic.

There are always incredible albums coming out... Teramaze and Letter 7 had incredible albums last year for prog and straight heavy metal.

4 Star Revival is releasing new stuff or has recently, and there are many other bands out there that are classic metal sounding. The big issue is that classic metal as a whole has been declining for some time, because metalcore/ect has been getting larger. If you look at the Metalcore environment... Christian bands are totally owning that genre, and are as large and prominent as their secular counterparts. 

Ultimately there are bands out there.. You just have to be diligent to support them with album sales and/or official forms of listening to their music (e.g. Spotify).

SpaceGuy wrote:If you look at the Metalcore environment... Christian bands are totally owning that genre, and are as large and prominent as their secular counterparts. 

This is very true.

.....and I eagarly await its demise.

Hardcore Christian wrote:

....ok....it doesn't need to completely go away.

I would just like to see some of that big production $ and promotion go for more classic sounding metal bands. The secular labels get it, but it still seems that the bigger christian metal labels are still enamored with " core. " I guess its still what the kids like these days.

sentient 6 wrote:

SpaceGuy wrote:If you look at the Metalcore environment... Christian bands are totally owning that genre, and are as large and prominent as their secular counterparts. 

This is very true.

.....and I eagarly await its demise.

What's the matter? Are you tired of all the feaux-hawks, mascara and skinny jeans?

I would love to see a resurgence of classic type metal, but in the end it's all about demand. Is there enough of an audience out there to really support this genre? Obviously the older/established bands will have their core audiences, but what about the newer bands playing this style? How many of those types bands have even emerged in the last 4 or 5 years?

Benny4SR wrote:I would love to see a resurgence of classic type metal, but in the end it's all about demand. Is there enough of an audience out there to really support this genre? Obviously the older/established bands will have their core audiences, but what about the newer bands playing this style? How many of those types bands have even emerged in the last 4 or 5 years?

In the secular realm? Its getting bigger. Baroness is getting pretty big which is throwback metal. You then have bands that have a hint of classic sounds to them like Mastodon, The Sword, Slough Feg, and so on that are there too.