Kingdom Metal

The year was 1983…

It was a sweltering Texas summer. I will never forget it. Somewhere in the midst of the blistering heat, I made two discoveries that changed my life forever.

The church youth group was on a special trip. I was too young to be a part of the group, but because my family was so involved in our Houston-area church, I had to go on the trip… or be left home alone. We went to Six Flags Over Texas in Dallas, and between sucking on Gobstoppers and riding roller coasters, it happened. One of my newfound friends introduced me to the Sony Walkman and Judas’ Kiss.

The Sony Walkman shouldn’t require much explanation. Except, perhaps, that it was a novelty in 1983. And it played cassettes.

Judas’ Kiss, on the other hand, will definitely require explanation. If you know what it is, you’re wondering what the heck it has to do with metal. If you don’t know what it is…

Back in 1983, the landscape of Christian rock bands was pretty barren. In fact, there really were only 2 national acts of real significance at that time. The most well-known, by far, was Petra. (The other was Rez Band, but we’ll save them for later.) Petra is noteworthy even on a site that deals with Christian metal because their work was so groundbreaking. They and a few others that were willing to really push the envelope were blazing a trail in the Christian community that made the term “Christian metal” possible as time went by. Had it not been for them, who knows where we’d be?

They had a newer release in 1983 (”Not of This World”), but their “More Power to Ya” was the one in my friend’s Walkman that day. By a stroke of Providence, it happened to be cued up to the third song on side one. Those that recall the album will remember that Petra had chosen to experiment with — God forbid! — backmasking on this record. Of course, they did it wide out in the open (almost between tracks, as opposed to threaded through them). Once the few seconds of mumbled male voices speaking in reverse cleared your ear canal, an ear-splitting guitar lick followed. It was the unforgettable opening of Judas’ Kiss. It was a heart-wrenching metallic-leaning ear-grinding song that attempted to deal with the pain of the betrayal that Jesus felt when kissed by Judas, as compared to the pain that Father continues to experience when His kids simply neglect Him and His Word today.

I was hooked.

Only God knows how many times I heard that song that day. I’m sure I ran my friend’s batteries down rewinding and replaying that song. Not only was the sound spectacular, but it effectively carried the weight and emotion of the song’s message. Ironically, it sat on the album right next to the album’s “parent-pleaser” track (a Petra tradition) — a song so benign that the youth choir sang it in church services. But this song… this song could get you in real trouble. Especially if you were raised in a denominational church by people so full of tradition that they couldn’t understand that their blinded eyes couldn’t see. This song had a hard, driving beat. It was in (God forbid!) a minor key (G-minor, if I recall correctly). It broke all the rules.

Of course, the real onslaught of Christian metal bands was still years away. But Petra had done something with that song that changed things. And for that, Bob Hartman, Greg X. Volz, John Slick, Mark Kelly, and Louie Weaver… I thank you.

Over the years “Uncle Bob” was chastised by reviewers and wannabes for writing “didactic” songs. They teased him incessantly for using his music as a platform for a message. And I’m talking about the Christian media (you know who you are). But Petra’s lead guitarist and principle songwriter understood something that we’re all still grappling with: the responsibility of the platform we’ve been given. God knows there’s no formula for using it correctly. But, to this day I am grateful to him in particular — not just for introducing me to sounds that connected with my soul like no other, but for filling Petra’s music so full of the Word of God that listening to it for hours on end in my youth caused me to gain a habit of meditating on the Word… not just banging my head.

Many of the bands we’ll be talking about on this site owe Bob Hartman and Glenn Kaiser (of Resurrection Band / Rez Band) more than they may realize. These were and are the true giants of this industry. They and their bands were the real freaking deal. Many others belong in that list, not the least of which are Dana Key and Eddie DeGarmo. Behind the scenes, I’m sure that we could also talk about record company execs and A&R people who risked a lot to bring us the stuff that had the muscle to wrestle down the sacred cows in American Christian tradition and bring us something real. Some of the bands to come on the scene later had no idea how easy they had it. And I’m sure some or even many of them didn’t have the spiritual substance about them to even ask questions about how to steward their popularity and their stage personas for the Kingdom.

That being said, this site is dedicated to all of the people who made and even continue to make raw hard-hitting music for the King. I salute you. And I thank you. May God bless all who labor for Him!

For the King,

The Kingdom Metalhead (KMH)

P.S. To read more about the purposes for this site, don’t miss this post.