Who here survived a mine field of religious triggers to be here today?

[Ruby Calypso]

10 years ago I would pretend “Beast and the Harlot” was out of my range to avoid singing it on Guitar Hero (even though I had already left the church by that time). Coda’s love and respect for Synyster Gates balanced musicality that inspired me to face and deal with my religious trauma.
The the shift in my octave (Victor Wootens word for perspective) came in December 2013 when Synyster succeeded where I had not. He inspired Coda to play guitar again. (By the time Coda and I got together in 2007 he was burnt out on music because school just sucks the joy right out of music.)
Coda downloaded all the backing tracks (which he still plays with) and rededicated himself to playing. It was awe inspiring to see his musical passion reignited. I knew that anyone who can inspire and encourage someone to completely dive into their artistic ability isn’t “evil”.
What the hell is evil anyway? Lol
So this is for those of us who have come a long crazy distance to move past the psychological triggers forced on us by religion. I see you.
Anyone else here have a story of how A7X helped them deal with cult Christian programming?
Take care of yourself because you * ARE * worth it!!!! * hugs *

 

[Cody Kennedy]

I went through a period where I was trying to convince myself my “sins” were ok. I started telling myself bands like A7X have songs like “Hail to the King” that can be interpreted from a Christian perspective. While I still believe this to be somewhat true, at the time I would put songs like “God Hates Us” out of my mind. After dealing with a lot of personal issues I eventually came to the realization that if the Christian “God” was there, he would’ve helped me fix myself when I wanted him to be in my life. I had all this emotional trauma and stress built up in my life, and when I started taking care of them myself I felt a lot better. Music has been my main way of dealing with these issues. Music theory can teach you a lot, not just about music, but how the essential fundamentals of life can be viewed as patterns and formulas. The more I study and immerse myself into the music I love, the more I understand and the easier I can deal with my problems and move forward. It wasn’t just A7X that helped me, but they were definitely one of my first metal bands, and led me to an entire world of healing. The amount of anger I’ve gotten out of my system just by slamming around on my guitar for a while is astounding. Because of music like this, I can now project the most positive self I can out into the world around me, whereas the religion held me back. I think there are a lot more people that can relate to this than a lot of people realize, and I’m thankful for albums like “The Stage” that aren’t afraid to go into more obscure content with their lyrics.

 

[Ruby Calypso]

Cody, thank you for sharing your story. You are right about viewing songs from a christian perspective, art can be viewed from all perspectives so that is correct. I learned to ask “What is the artist trying to say?” so I don’t miss the story being presented. I also enjoy conversations between internal facets like love songs to myself. lol
I know what you mean about putting things out of the mind, like you did with “God Hates Us”. The first time I remember doing that was when “Pardon Me” came out. That song resonated with me strongly. My religious programming became a Suspended 4th dissonance because “Incubus” is a demon that preys on women. The Sus 4 lingered into the Dominant 7th Drive that “Pardon Me” (and really the whole “Make Yourself” album) started within me.
It was supra confusing to be lusting after Brandon Boyd, wondering if it was because of demonic interference while totally agreeing with the message of the album “Make Yourself”. At this point I had been what the church wanted me to be and been consistently told I wasn’t enough. So I was willing to listen to the sexy voice of personal responsibility and ignore the fear that my attraction to a guitarist might mean I was being lead astray.
Music theory has helped a lot. Actually using it as a philosophical framework for life has helped me understand it in a fundamental way so I can apply it to music. (I am a bit backwards that way lol) The theory is helping me logically understand the emotional aspects, it is nice to be able to find that place of balance through music.

 

[Daniel Sobota]

Music is art, and art is freedom. I reject organized religions, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not a spiritual person. My spirituality comes from the essence of freedom and feeling connected with nature and universe. The root to this thinking is Paganism, and I come from Europe after all, so I guess that the blood of my forebearers resides in me.
About metal, well… Metal music is a form of expression that suits me the best. I’ve always felt related to the whole metal thing because people that are into metal are seen as freaks, zeros, weirdos and outcasts in our contemporary society. For me there is much more freedom in this kind of expression than there is in organized religion. I truly feel like I’ve found myself with this music, and Avenged are one of the bands to confirm that.
Hail freedom!

 

[Dylan Tower]

So, this is just me adding my own two cents. I’m still a very religious person, and I believe in God. Music is just a way to express deep seeded emotion. There are so many stigmas that surround all forms of music(metal=Satan, jazz=Douchbag, country=Hick, etc). All that I see as important is if, and again my own personal 2 cents, my relationship with God is not contingent on how other people relate my interests in their mind. Sure, there are superlative examples, bands like cannibal corpse and a lot of black metal bands, but I personally don’t even find those appealing. Sure the music is aggressive, but so is the rap that everybody seems to love. So I subscribe to the idea that it’s a conscience matter. If your conscience tells you it’s wrong, be my guest. But I know where I stand

 

[Daniel Sobota]

Dylan one thing about death and black metal bands though. Their usage of Satanic imagery and style is a way of rebelling against orthodox, conservative religious backwards thinking. To them, Satan is merely a symbol of rebellion and freedom, and I can relate to that as well. If you compare a mythological character of Satan to the likes of Prometheus, you’ll see that they are both very misunderstood characters who were able to set people free and give them knowledge. And that’s why those extreme bands use Satan in their music, nobody in Behemoth or Emperor worships the dark lord and sacrifices kittens lol.
Also, I will always respect religious people who understand this stuff and are open-minded about it. If you are cool and respectful, I’ll show the same attitude towards you.

 

[Pedro Rocha]

Hi, i dont think A7X is anti Christian, in fact if you look at the song roman sky, its pretty religious.
Im not trying to convert anyone but the religious state of mind (that we are all sinners) its good and true, because if you recognize you are not perfect you ll allways try to improve, and it is true that we are not perfect we are sinners we ve all done something bad in our lives.
Now, about music it can only be a creation of god, how this fine tunning of music theory, notes intrevals harmonys etc could be just random and not created by a supreme intellegence?
Think about it
“Tho they took your voice, words forever shine”

 

[Daniel Sobota]

Roman Sky isn’t religious. It’s about a man called Giordano Bruno who was cast out by the church as a heretic for his scientific research.
Also, if music is a creation of god, then rock n’ roll is the creation of the devil. I think church would agree.
“I am a sinner, and I worship evil.”

 

[Matt Wildman]

I mean sure, there are songs by A7X that are clearly not religious, but what I love about the band is that they don’t force any certain ideas on you. I would say they are certainly not anti Christian. M Shadows said in an interview that they have many fans that are Christian and he doesn’t want to force any ideas or disclude Christians in their music. I still listen to a lot of their songs and it hasn’t separated me from my relationship with God. I love the song the beast and the harlot. So I mean it’s all about how you listen to the music and how you allow it to control your thoughts and ideas.

 

[Daniel Sobota]

Matt, I agree, however I just don’t like when people interpret their songs the wrong way. Many religious people will claim A7X is a Christian band with a Christian message, but that’s simply wrong. They’ve declared themselves as atheists on multiple occasions.
Also, Shadows stated that he does have a problem with organized religion, it’s just that he doesn’t want to disclude their Christian fans, as you said.
I guess my biggest problem about this is that people claim them to be religious when they’re not.

 

[Pedro Rocha]

I didnt said rock is devil music thats not true, and rock is music and my favorite.
“We become crhistians not because we think we are good persons but because we are sure we are bad (sinners)”
Music and art express a feeling or emotion not a religious view or politic ideas, the song roman sky represents to me the feeling of a lost of a man who was very important to humanity.
If you think its Giordano Bruno, fine
That means its a good song, it can be interpreted in many ways because the emotion / feeling is there.

 

[Daniel Sobota]

Pedro, it’s not that I think it’s about Giordano, it literally is about him. https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/5asdh4/ama_were_avenged_sevenfold_m_shadows_synyster/d9iz12p/
This is what I’m talking about, religious people twisting meanings of songs just because words like “heavens” or “light” are used. Nothing against you personally, it’s just something that I’ve noticed over the years. Not everything has to be about religion.
Of course that you can interpret songs in different ways, but this song has a direct meaning with no metaphors, so making your own interpretation doesn’t make any sense, you know?

 

[Matt Wildman]

Your right Daniel, A7X is definitely not a religious band. I just respect the fact that they choose not to disclude the Christian audience or shun them.

 

[Daniel Sobota]

Obviously, music should be for everyone. I actually think it’s quite cool when religious people are fans of even black metal bands. That shows that the person listening is open-minded and not like “they don’t agree with me so I can’t listen to them”.
Also, I said that rock is the devil’s work because most religious scholars in Europe think that way and are still stuck in Middle Ages. But open-minded Christians know that it’s just music haha.

 

[Matt Wildman]

Yep just music! Lol

 

[Noah Berends]

I played in church all through high school. I learned so much about music and had great musical mentors throughout. At the same time, I was listening to A7X, Amon Amarth, Black Sabbath, and Nirvana. I never felt my religion was a hook on my music, rather it was an additional outlet and influence. Black metal has a lot of satanic influences, but I can’t personally stand the sound of black metal so that works for me anyways . I never thought my religion was detractive to any music, and I went to an open minded church so I never had a “mine field” to be stressed with. I respect everyone’s views as their own, and mine are mine, but I know where my heart is and I know a damn good song when I hear one!

 

[Matt Wildman]

Well said