'Metal Missionaries' Review: Bruce Moore's documentary shows both sides of the Christian black metal scene

Bruce Moore's new Metal Missionaries documentary is the most fascinating Christian metal documentary I have ever seen. And I've seen them all. This documentary is packed with 75 minutes of intense introspection and awesome interviews with bands who hate Christian metal, and bands who create Christian metal.

"I don't think they should call it black metal. Black metal is a unique thing, it's a Northern thing. It definitely has nothing to do with Christianity." -Nord from Nordjevel


One of my favorite interview questions has always been, "What do you think of Jesus Christ?" They used to ask non-Christian bands that all the time in HM Magazine, and I always loved reading the responses.


You should ask a random person that question sometime and note their response. It's usually very interesting to watch someone's mind shift into taking about Jesus Christ, and ultimately, a lot of people are just kind of weirded out by it I think, at least when I ask it. Which sucks, because I am honestly interested in their response. It usually involves a preface of jokes, giggles, and such from the person you're interviewing.

That's one thing I admire about the Metal Missionaries filmmakers - they got people who really hate Christian metal to sit down and have a rational discussion about why they hate it. 

"Hey, you hate what our scene is doing, right? Cool, man! Hey, can we interview you about why you think our scene sucks? That would be great, thank you!"

That's pretty awesome! It would have been much easier and safer to just interview Christian metal bands and call it done. But they did it the right way, not the easy way. Props, bros.

Vorph from Samael
"I find very little justification for Christian rock, let alone Christian metal bands. Because [metal] is a music born from the rebelling against the mainstream world thinking, from which religion is a big part of. You lose a lot of substance by trying to incorporate back one of the main elements that instigated that rebellion in the first place. [On the other hand], if it allows people from a certain creed to enjoy a music they would not have access to based on their creed, then good. But the narrow-mindedness inherent to people that let religion govern their life will conflict with the idea of freedom that heavy metal stands for.




Good music is good music, no matter what. 

And if I [dislike a religious] metal band, this is not because of the religious factor. It has more to do with the very stereotyped sort of metal that's usually used to convey religious ideas." -Vorph from Samael

Metal Missionaries Review: First Impressions


And the non-Christians and Christian metal opponents in this documentary say some of the most interesting things in the film! Christians can take notes from the non-Christians about what they hate so much and then smash down those walls!

Some of the reasons non-Christian bands cited in the film for disliking Christian metal bands include:

  • Music sucks
  • Lyrics are forcing hypocritical b.s. down your throats

Attention Christians: Let's show the world that we can make awesome music that Doesn't Suck, and that have lyrics that are not forcing hypocritical b.s. down people's throats. Apparently that's the stigma we've got to overcome.


 "I read an interview with Ryan Clark from Demon Hunter... He's an intelligent man. And I think one can appreciate the intelligence of someone and how they're trying to convey it. Rather than somebody who's just trying to run some scheme." 

"I don't want people to think metal is stupid. Whatever it is you do, you better be able to back it up with something STRONG!!" - Ben Falgoust from Goatwhore 

Who's in it

Everybody's in this thing! Here's a list that's mostly in order of appearance (some of the order got out of order, my bad):

  1. Rob "The Witch" from Necronomicon
  2. Kristof Bathory from Dawn of Ashes
  3. Chris Dugay and Will Rivera from Lord
  4. Vorph from Samael
  5. Doug Van Pelt from HM Magazine
  6. Nord and DzeptiCunt from Nordjevel
  7. Ben Falgoust from Goatwhore
  8. Azahel from Frost Like Ashes
  9. Cecil Johnson and Alvin Triplett from BoughtXBlood
  10. Josh Bramlett, Jarob Bramlett, T.J. Colwell, and Adam Sadler from The Protest
  11. Derek Corzine from Blood Thirsty
  12. Sam John from Whitenoiz and Church Underground
  13. DC Mills from Vials of Wrath
  14. Isaac Goldsmith from Exhortation
  15. Mike Liberty from True Liberty
  16. Adam Cook from A Hill To Die Upon
  17. Wretched from Grave Robber
  18. Patrick "P-FUNK" Shipley
  19. Donny Raines, Adam Sadler, Jason Beavers, and Gabriel Gardner from Faithhead

Rob "The Witch" from NecronomiconKristof Bathory from Dawn of AshesChris Dugay and Will Rivera from LordDoug Van Pelt from HM MagazineNord and DzeptiCunt from NordjevelAzahel from Frost Like AshesCecil Johnson and Alvin Triplett from BoughtXBloodBought By BloodThe ProtestJacob Bramlett from The ProtestDerek Corzine from Blood ThirstyDC Mills from Vials of WrathIsaac Goldsmith from ExhortationMike Liberty from True LibertyPatrick "P-Funk" Shipley from FaithheadDonny Raines from FaithheadAdam Sadler from The ProtestJason Beavers from Faithhead

Forgive me if I've missed anybody, there is a TON of awesome people in this documentary!!! Leave a comment and I will add whoever I missed to this post!! Also: There's a solid amount of interview time with all the dudes from The Protest, so if you're a big fan of The Protest you're gonna wanna pick this up! 

I liked this quote


I really liked this quote from Azahel from Frost Like Ashes in Metal Missionaries. It looks like they asked, "What do you want to see change with your music?" It's a great summary of the reason we Christians are so obsessed everyone checking out Jesus Christ:

I want to see their entire life change. I want to see that they understand the powers that are out there, and I want to see that they understand who the most powerful one of those powers is.  
Azahel from Frost Like Ashes
I want to see that they understand that the most powerful loves them, specifically. And created them, specifically. And wants to have a relationship with them, specifically.
And wants to give... all the power that He has? He wants to give it to them so that they can live a powerful life here on earth.  
And if they understand those things, and if they embrace those things, then everything in their life is going to change. And not just their life but everybody that they know, and everybody that they come in contact with.  
And really, that's the essence of what our music is about. 
It's about getting people to understand where true power comes from, where Truth comes from, and how that can affect each individual person inside their heart. And inside their being and inside their mind, and it will transform them completely from a person who only cares about themselves into someone who cares about everyone else around them, and lives the best life they can possibly have! - Azahel from Frost Like Ashes

Wretched from Grave Robber's in there!


Wretched from Grave Robber

It was really interesting to listen to Wretched from Grave Robber talk!! He speaks like a poet, dude.


He really does, I'm telling you! A gravelly-voiced poet.


Metal Missionaries Review: Final Thoughts


Where to see it




Metal Missionaries Trailer



Metal Missionaries Links





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