catholicsphere

Those who know me know I’ve been a fan of the heavy metal band, Metallica, for about 20+ years. I have most every album they’ve put out, including the “Binge and Purge” live box set showcasing 3 concerts in Mexico City (1993), San Diego (1992) and Seattle (1989) on CD and VHS (a DVD version has since been released in the past year or two; I got mine in 1993-4), and the last album, St. Anger, which most long-time Met fans condemned (mostly because of producer Bob Rock’s suggestion to capture the “garage sound”, and make drummer Lars Ulrich’s drum beats sound like he was playing on one of his kids toys.)

On Catholic Exchange today, Jameson T. Taylor reviews a [fairly] recent DVD release by the band titled Some Kind of Monster. In it, he speaks about the content of the DVD, which follows the band members through their struggles to rediscover themselves and keep the band together through personal conflicts and drug and alcohol abuse. And, of course, he critiques some of the things found in the documentary.

Most fans know that Metallica is far from religious … but I think the assessment that the band members don’t believe in God might not be true. In reality, I think that its more of a distaste for “organized religion”. And, while that may cause some to roll their eyes and say “of course”, a bit of knowledge about, for instance, lead singer James Hetfield’s childhood/upbringing might be needed, to understand a song like “The God That Failed”, which is referenced in the article.

Hetfield was raised Christian Scientist and it plays a role in many of Metallica’s lyrics. This song is about “broken promises”, mainly surrounding his mother’s death from cancer. She believed she would be healed if she had strong faith, and thus refused medical treatment.

And, finally, the “two-horned salute” is not necessarily representative of satanism, as the article seems to suggest. While it may have originated from something like that — as I hear, Ronnie James Dio established it 30+ years ago, and the band Dio has heavy satanic overtones in its songs — it has become something of a staple in heavy metal, a variation on “raise your fist and yell” metal angst.

None of this is to say that there is nothing morally offensive about the lyrics and antics of Metallica, and the hundreds of other rock bands out there … but merely a commentary to explain a bit more what’s behind the music, and what it is an expression of … namely full of questions, rather than answers, about the problems of life.