I started December in the mood of not wanting to give in to “Whamaggedon” and I must say I have avoided it pretty well, except when I heard “the song” the second day of December on the radio – but after the decision to simply not turn on the radio in my car, I haven’t heard so much of mainstream Christmas music.
Fed up with hearing the same songs repeatedly on the radio this time of the year, I some years ago started to rely on songs coming from Christian heavier music recording artists to give me the Christmas spirit. During the years we have been given various treats from different bands like Stryper, Signum Regis, Fit For A King, Theocracy, Peter118 and One Bad Pig.
The season started out promising with GFM releasing “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” in November, but this year it has been a bit silent from releases from Christian artists making Christmas songs in metal, rock and punk genres.
I’ve been scrolling the net every now and then to find Christmas-themed releases for this year, and finally found a small but assorted mix of goodies, that I now want to share with you.
Rottweiler Records – Fleas Naughty Dog Vol. 7
In this compilation some of the top Christian metal and punk artists that have created or are and presenting Christmas-themed songs. Some are serious and relevant, and some of them are just silly and fun. Here we get a wide range of musical styles from punk, to death metal, and experimental.
Some songs are covers of well-known Christmas songs, others are completely new and uniquely created for this album.
All the songs are made by Christian artists with the purpose to honor God, celebrating life in Him, and having a lot of fun in the process. And for this Christmas we are given 12 songs that are all unique in their own way, making this album worth listening for any fan of heavier music.
Grave Robber contributes with a song in their well known horror punk manner and Leper is giving us their tune in Goth style. An experimental song from Timōrātus has an interesting, but not very realistic theme, since I’m sure this cute couple would never forget to buy a present for each other, but it´s entertaining to listen to.
Also there is death metal sounds given to us by Xaitopia, and some rock with thrash metal currents that’s the trademark of Joshua’s Creed. If your curious how Saul of Tarsus sound with the new vocalist Danelle Joy Sullivan, you get a sample here on this album.
I can’t actually choose a favorite. These are 12 songs filling my need for Christmas music together with the releases from earlier years.
In the true Christmas spirit, the album is free on Bandcamp.
Theocracy – Snowglobe
This song was released as late as the 19th of December. Theocracy has become a trusted party when it comes to releasing Christmas-spirited metal songs.
They seem to have gotten into the tradition of giving out Christmas-themed songs just about every year. This song gives us a share of the feelings that children feel around Christmas time in the fast-paced power metal manner that we are used to associating with this band. Also in a superb power metal way, we are given a full story worth listening to repeatedly.
The song is published as a lyric video on YouTube and will also be available for free download in the days before Christmas.
That’s all I could find for this year. Let’s hope 2020 brings on new and interesting releases to add to my list. I’m still missing a doom song and also I hope for more thrash metal and rock to add to my list.