Tag: Pure Metal

Truth be told, heavy metal was my entry point into any kind of independent Christian music. I mean, I started out on Petra, Amy Grant, and Russ Taff as a young teenager, but it wasn’t long before Jerusalem, Whitecross, and Sacred Warrior were taking up my listening space. One of the pioneers of Christian metal was Swedish band Leviticus. The band formed in 1981 in the town of Skövde. They recorded 4 albums, plus an alternative/Swedish language version of their debut, before breaking up in the early 90s.… Continued →

Lightforce was a heavy metal band from Australia, active in the late 1980s. They recorded 3 cassette demos from 1986-87, before getting the attention of US-based Pure Metal Records. The band’s label debut Mystical Thieves was a unique entry in Christian metal. While based in traditional heavy metal, it touched on speed metal and power metal without ever fully crossing into thrash territory. It was heavy, loud, and raw. In 1990 the band recorded a fourth and final demo called Break the Curse, which saw the band going in an even heavier direction, just before changing their name.… Continued →

This band had the glammy looks and the flashy hooks, but their sound was heavier than the stereotypes led us to believe. Riding the line between glam metal and traditional heavy metal/power metal, the band played loud, melodic tunes with lots and lots of riffs. Hailing from Hollywood, California, the band came by their glam tendencies honestly. But listen to the riffs on “The Killer.” You won’t hear anything that heavy from Poison or Def Leppard. The band released a pair of cassette demos in 1988 and their only full-length album World Requiem in 1990 before calling it quits, with drummer Scott Ernest joining the ranks of another famed Christian melodic metal band, Angelica.… Continued →

Long before Scott Stapp was crooning about going higher and breaking out of his own prison, there was this Creed, a traditional heavy metal band from Germany. The band released only one full-length album through Pias Music in Europe (and Pure Metal in North America), after releasing an obscure EP. The band played an intensely melodic brand of heavy metal without ever crossing into glam. And although a couple of the tracks approached breakneck speeds, they weren’t speed metal either. This style of metal was prominent in continental Europe at the time, but never garnered a major audience in the United States beyond the mid 80s.… Continued →

When Seventh Angel’s debut album The Torment came out, I was an instant fan. I was a huge thrash fan in my teenage years, and their unique take on it–lots of acoustic interludes, and darker chord progressions–appealed to me. A couple of years later, the band followed up with Lament for the Weary. I must admit that at first I didn’t get it. It was much slower than any thrash I’d ever heard, and I hadn’t discovered doom yet as a genre, so I didn’t have a frame of reference for slower tunes.… Continued →