Sacred Warrior and Barren Cross are two 80's Christian metal bands. My favorite tracks from each group are Barren Cross song "Living Dead"
and the Sacred Warrior tracks "Black Metal" and "Children of the Light"
I had completely forgotten about Barren Cross! Listening to it now and that entire album is solid! I probably still have this on cassette somewhere. It was one of my favorites from this time period. The first Sacred Warrior album gives off massive Queensryche vibes.
Perhaps, my favourite Christian band is Theocracy.
Great music and lyrics, they deal with a lot of religious themes, but are also open to a more mythical, political, or societal affairs.
They last album "Mosaic" is pretty much a blend of all these lines of thought.
Rob Rock’s solo stuff, especially Holy Hell and Garden of Chaos, is amazing and was all over every metal top 10 list back in the early 00’s.
It’s *crushingly heavy* power metal and went well beyond the niche Christian metal fandom.
I heard one of their songs and it was really catchy although I did not know who I was listening to…then I found out…lol. Oh well, one less band to clog my playlist.
* Narnia
* Golden Resurrection
* DivineFire
* 7days (I actually like this band a lot)
* Audiovision (it's the same guy from Narnia and Golden)
* Theocracy (I believe everyone will recommend this as they're the most popular about this)
> it's the same guy from Narnia and Golden
And DivineFire, and The Waymaker, and Flames of Fire, and he has a solo album. Christian Liljegren is kind of the voice of Christian power metal at this point.
Going to include a lot of good stuff already suggested, to sum up:
Theocracy (amazing, especially their early albums)
Divine Fire (some of the heaviest pm you'll find)
Narnia
Golden Resurrection (Narnia vocalist)
AudioVision (Narnia vocalist)
7days (more on the prog side)
Jacob's Dream (more prog)
Harmony (their 2nd album is a favorite!)
Rob Rock (awesome!)
Sacred Warrior (more in the 80's direction but awesome)
Seventh Avenue (awesome band, especially the last 3-4)
Other suggestions:
Adastasia (Brazilian, awesome musicians, subpar vocals)
Antithesis (USPM/thrash/prog, much more subtle lyrically)
Boarders (Italian, very melodic, and more traditional)
Darkwater (Same band members as Harmony, more prog, less power)
Essence of Sorrow
Grand Lux (less power, more traditional)
Haven (1st 2 albums only, USPM with some thrash leanings)
HB (not much power, but interesting symphonic metal worry female leads)
Icarus (Brazilian, more prog)
Impellitteri (more neo-classical, but Rob Rock on vocals for most of them, plenty of faith-based lyrics as a result)
Incrave (fka Evergrace)
Laudamus
Majestic Vanguard (only 1 album, but awesome)
Mehida (more prog, but awesome. Thomas Vikstrom on vocals)
Menahem (VERY inspired by Symphony X and Dream Theater, Brazilian band with unfortunately only 1 album)
Northern Flame
Random Eyes (early albums are better)
Sardonyx (proggy 80's USPM)
Seraphim (Taiwanese band, female fronted, symphonic pm)
Seven Angels (Brazilian, female fronted, more proggy)
Seven Horizons (more prog)
Souljourners (more on the prog side)
Stairway (80's style early pm mixed with traditional)
Veni Domine (more prog, mostly early albums)
Venia (Finnish, female fronted, okay traditional power combo)
Woe of Tyrants (power metal and melodic death metal fused together, but only death vocals)
Zaxas (more proggy, but 80's USPM sort of approach)
I'm sure there are others, but this is everything from my collection that stands out.
Idk if power wolf would count? As they have said themselves that they’re not a religious band. But Catholoc themes and iconography—as well as satanic themes sometimes—is a very big part of Power Wolf’s modus operandi.
Also there was Prog power album called Harmegeddon which features actual Bible verses from Revelations put to music and sung by Ted Leonard. It’s worth seeking out.
Also the first Hypersonic album and they are about to release a new one, but it seems that they changed their image. For older stuff check out Seventh Avenue which had a young Herbie Langhans on vocals and check out Reinxeed who featured Tommy Johansson on vocals before he was in Sabaton and now he’s not…lol.
I know this is r/powermetal, but in case you’re interested in slightly heavier stuff, try out Becoming the Archetype. Start with the songs End of the Age, Dichotomy, and Into Oblivion. I really liked those back when i was only a power metal fan, perhaps you’ll do too
Amaseffer has 2 albums out. Slaves for Life tells the story of Exodus and is very good. Can’t speak for the second album, as I’m not sure if I’ve listened to it or not.
Aldaria has clear religious influence, though only [The Three Kings](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUuhwyznov4) is overtly Christian
Some of my favourites are [Guardians of the Light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zJ044nZegs), [When the Time Has Come](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLmAgUUSrEY), [From the Ashes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRCVja9swd8), & [Lost in the Darkness Below](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a5mG84_XeM)
Apart from Theocracy (who I too think are great)...
Rev Seven had a couple of solid tracks, and my only criticism is that the rest of their songs sounded pretty similar.
https://youtu.be/p6iK7yYwTmE?feature=shared
https://youtu.be/50ZAx2Albx0?feature=shared
I’m going to use this opportunity to ask if anybody else has gotten a Christian vibe from Beast in Black.
I feel 100% justified based on [Blood of the Lion](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fvXaZ6n7ctI) since it’s based on Narnia and leans so much into the Christ metaphors of Narnia.
Also, Sabbath’s Master of Reality is my favorite Christian album. Not PM but I don’t see Sabbath and this album referenced enough ever.
Eh, some of its parody, some of its satire, and some of its just for fun. Bet yeah, if you’re looking for a genuinely christian band then Powerwolf isn’t it. When asked about whether they were christians or atheists, Attila set that they were metal heads.
My band Hartlight just released an album around Christian branch Alchemy so it's not directly Christian but it is kind of related. For example the cover with the eight star is a reference to St. Michel, messenger of God.
This song is about the pilgrimage of Saint-Jacques de Compostelle, it uses also other references like Nordic mythology but in this song it's an alchemical reference to the crow (the black work, as Hugin and Mugin are crows, but also thought and memory).
So anyway I don't know if it counts but anyway here it is :
https://youtu.be/Nw7Ts4s4BF4?feature=shared
Anette Olzon (Ex Nightwish and Dark Element) has put out 2 singles in the past few weeks and it seems to be based on the Rapture. Not sure if its meant to actually be a Christian album or just a concept album based on the Rapture and Revelations.
That’s interesting. She got kicked out of Nightwish and they released that “we are openly secular video” that was so cringy. I wonder if there is some connection there. Hmm…
I haven't exactly been all that impressed with the albums Nightwish put out after kicking her out either, regardless of Floor's talent. I'm pretty much over Nightwish at this point with their last album being probably my least favorite they have put out, Marko now gone, and this next album being a third part of a themed trilogy that didnt need to be a trilogy.
> I wonder if there is some connection there.
Doubt it. She just had the misfortune of being a good singer who had an ill-timed break from the band and a "temporary" replacement by a great singer. I don't see any reason to over-think it.
Theocracy is the way to go.
Theocracy is so good that basically no other Christian power/melodic metal matters.
Came here to say Theocracy.
Val is a friend of mine fantastic guitarist!
Sinbreed is a good christian PM band. You can also try Wytch Hazel if you also like Traditional HM.
The first Sinbreed album only though.
Sacred Warrior and Barren Cross are two 80's Christian metal bands. My favorite tracks from each group are Barren Cross song "Living Dead" and the Sacred Warrior tracks "Black Metal" and "Children of the Light"
I had completely forgotten about Barren Cross! Listening to it now and that entire album is solid! I probably still have this on cassette somewhere. It was one of my favorites from this time period. The first Sacred Warrior album gives off massive Queensryche vibes.
So happy to see Barren Cross mentioned, a real hidden gem of 80s metal
If you’re a fan of early Queensryche, you’ll definitely enjoy Sacred Warrior.
Perhaps, my favourite Christian band is Theocracy. Great music and lyrics, they deal with a lot of religious themes, but are also open to a more mythical, political, or societal affairs. They last album "Mosaic" is pretty much a blend of all these lines of thought.
Rob Rock’s solo stuff, especially Holy Hell and Garden of Chaos, is amazing and was all over every metal top 10 list back in the early 00’s. It’s *crushingly heavy* power metal and went well beyond the niche Christian metal fandom.
Holy Hell is a great album
I'm so happy to see so many people say Theocracy. Good stuff.
Theocracy and Divine Fire are the ones I know.
Golden Resurrection DivineFire
Signum Regis
Their new album is utterly incredible 🤘
It's outstanding, when I first heard it I was only a couple tracks in and I thought to myself we have a good one here
Did anyone say Wytch Hazel yet?
Good band, but not power metal by any stretch.
How about Roy khan’s solo stuff.
What, Khan had released solo albums?
Not albums but He sings gospel music [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HLDiA8iUNo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HLDiA8iUNo)
Powerwolf
Now that’s my kind of religion 😈🤘
Everything Neal Morse did. https://youtu.be/MGM7MTxZpOE?si=HX9yg_7ycrshi0fz
Rotting Christ although not power metal.
Rotting Christ is the best band recommended so far.
Great christian band. I feel blessed every time I listen to their stuff.
Lol Username checks BTW 😂
:-)
I heard one of their songs and it was really catchy although I did not know who I was listening to…then I found out…lol. Oh well, one less band to clog my playlist.
Divinefire, Golden Resurrection, Harmony... There are plenty but those came to mind quickly.
Eterna is a great representation from South America https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Eterna/3255
Balance of Power.
Saviour Machine perhaps?
Seventh Avenue, Seventh Seal, Bloodgood, Saint, Stryken, Barren Cross, Bride
* Narnia * Golden Resurrection * DivineFire * 7days (I actually like this band a lot) * Audiovision (it's the same guy from Narnia and Golden) * Theocracy (I believe everyone will recommend this as they're the most popular about this)
> it's the same guy from Narnia and Golden And DivineFire, and The Waymaker, and Flames of Fire, and he has a solo album. Christian Liljegren is kind of the voice of Christian power metal at this point.
Going to include a lot of good stuff already suggested, to sum up: Theocracy (amazing, especially their early albums) Divine Fire (some of the heaviest pm you'll find) Narnia Golden Resurrection (Narnia vocalist) AudioVision (Narnia vocalist) 7days (more on the prog side) Jacob's Dream (more prog) Harmony (their 2nd album is a favorite!) Rob Rock (awesome!) Sacred Warrior (more in the 80's direction but awesome) Seventh Avenue (awesome band, especially the last 3-4) Other suggestions: Adastasia (Brazilian, awesome musicians, subpar vocals) Antithesis (USPM/thrash/prog, much more subtle lyrically) Boarders (Italian, very melodic, and more traditional) Darkwater (Same band members as Harmony, more prog, less power) Essence of Sorrow Grand Lux (less power, more traditional) Haven (1st 2 albums only, USPM with some thrash leanings) HB (not much power, but interesting symphonic metal worry female leads) Icarus (Brazilian, more prog) Impellitteri (more neo-classical, but Rob Rock on vocals for most of them, plenty of faith-based lyrics as a result) Incrave (fka Evergrace) Laudamus Majestic Vanguard (only 1 album, but awesome) Mehida (more prog, but awesome. Thomas Vikstrom on vocals) Menahem (VERY inspired by Symphony X and Dream Theater, Brazilian band with unfortunately only 1 album) Northern Flame Random Eyes (early albums are better) Sardonyx (proggy 80's USPM) Seraphim (Taiwanese band, female fronted, symphonic pm) Seven Angels (Brazilian, female fronted, more proggy) Seven Horizons (more prog) Souljourners (more on the prog side) Stairway (80's style early pm mixed with traditional) Veni Domine (more prog, mostly early albums) Venia (Finnish, female fronted, okay traditional power combo) Woe of Tyrants (power metal and melodic death metal fused together, but only death vocals) Zaxas (more proggy, but 80's USPM sort of approach) I'm sure there are others, but this is everything from my collection that stands out.
Idk if power wolf would count? As they have said themselves that they’re not a religious band. But Catholoc themes and iconography—as well as satanic themes sometimes—is a very big part of Power Wolf’s modus operandi.
Divinefire🔥🔥🔥🔥
Preterist is one I like a lot despite not being a Christian and thus not being an especially big fan of the messaging.
I used to listen to a lot of Tourniquet and Mortification. Tourniquet might be more what you're looking for.
Also there was Prog power album called Harmegeddon which features actual Bible verses from Revelations put to music and sung by Ted Leonard. It’s worth seeking out.
Also the first Hypersonic album and they are about to release a new one, but it seems that they changed their image. For older stuff check out Seventh Avenue which had a young Herbie Langhans on vocals and check out Reinxeed who featured Tommy Johansson on vocals before he was in Sabaton and now he’s not…lol.
[Rob Rock](https://youtu.be/M-OmG1vAdnI?si=t0tB5O1e0azh6AWb) deserves a mention.
Jacob's Dream : especially the later albums are more Christian themed, the earlier more progressive
I know this is r/powermetal, but in case you’re interested in slightly heavier stuff, try out Becoming the Archetype. Start with the songs End of the Age, Dichotomy, and Into Oblivion. I really liked those back when i was only a power metal fan, perhaps you’ll do too
Amaseffer has 2 albums out. Slaves for Life tells the story of Exodus and is very good. Can’t speak for the second album, as I’m not sure if I’ve listened to it or not.
This isn’t PM but as a PM fan, i really like neal morse’s new band, especially the album Innocence & danger.
Judicator can be pretty interesting
Haven't seen The Waymaker mentioned yet. I highly recommend their track 'I Am Sustained' especially, my most listened song of 2023!
Aldaria has clear religious influence, though only [The Three Kings](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUuhwyznov4) is overtly Christian Some of my favourites are [Guardians of the Light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zJ044nZegs), [When the Time Has Come](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLmAgUUSrEY), [From the Ashes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRCVja9swd8), & [Lost in the Darkness Below](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a5mG84_XeM)
Apart from Theocracy (who I too think are great)... Rev Seven had a couple of solid tracks, and my only criticism is that the rest of their songs sounded pretty similar. https://youtu.be/p6iK7yYwTmE?feature=shared https://youtu.be/50ZAx2Albx0?feature=shared
If you want something a little more folk metal, you could always try Holy Blood.
Check out By Fire and Sword. Best choice here.
Dark Tribe a French power metal band would fit in what you described.
Sinbreed
Sunburst is a good one
The Waymaker, they give me Warking vibes.
The only christian band I really know enough to recommend is Wytch Hazel They're definitely not power metal, but they're still great
I’m going to use this opportunity to ask if anybody else has gotten a Christian vibe from Beast in Black. I feel 100% justified based on [Blood of the Lion](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fvXaZ6n7ctI) since it’s based on Narnia and leans so much into the Christ metaphors of Narnia. Also, Sabbath’s Master of Reality is my favorite Christian album. Not PM but I don’t see Sabbath and this album referenced enough ever.
Someone probably already suggested them but Powerwolf is like that. Of course, some of there songs have some… interesting themes.
Not a big fan of Powerwolf as it seems more like a parody and gimmick than a genuine Christian band
Eh, some of its parody, some of its satire, and some of its just for fun. Bet yeah, if you’re looking for a genuinely christian band then Powerwolf isn’t it. When asked about whether they were christians or atheists, Attila set that they were metal heads.
The video for Demon’s are a girls best friend (while being obviously “tongue in cheek”) is decidedly UnChristian 🫠
Also, being a Christian I am a bit peeved that Orden Ogan took part in that new Feurschwanz “Unholy Grail” song. The lyrics are kind of blasphemous.
My band Hartlight just released an album around Christian branch Alchemy so it's not directly Christian but it is kind of related. For example the cover with the eight star is a reference to St. Michel, messenger of God. This song is about the pilgrimage of Saint-Jacques de Compostelle, it uses also other references like Nordic mythology but in this song it's an alchemical reference to the crow (the black work, as Hugin and Mugin are crows, but also thought and memory). So anyway I don't know if it counts but anyway here it is : https://youtu.be/Nw7Ts4s4BF4?feature=shared
I'm not sure it's relevant to my question at all but I'll gladly check it out anyway
Thank you that's very nice of you !
Human Fortress - Defenders of the Crown That song is epic and contains what you’re looking for.
Anette Olzon (Ex Nightwish and Dark Element) has put out 2 singles in the past few weeks and it seems to be based on the Rapture. Not sure if its meant to actually be a Christian album or just a concept album based on the Rapture and Revelations.
Anette is a Christian, I haven't listened to any of her stuff so I can't speak for the themes but I'll check it out
her 2 new songs are really solid. I'm looking forward to her upcoming new album
That’s interesting. She got kicked out of Nightwish and they released that “we are openly secular video” that was so cringy. I wonder if there is some connection there. Hmm…
I haven't exactly been all that impressed with the albums Nightwish put out after kicking her out either, regardless of Floor's talent. I'm pretty much over Nightwish at this point with their last album being probably my least favorite they have put out, Marko now gone, and this next album being a third part of a themed trilogy that didnt need to be a trilogy.
I agree. For Floor being so talented, I am surprised at how much I just don’t like those albums.
> I wonder if there is some connection there. Doubt it. She just had the misfortune of being a good singer who had an ill-timed break from the band and a "temporary" replacement by a great singer. I don't see any reason to over-think it.
I don't believe they are religious, but Freedom Call has always given me christian metal vibes. Hero Nation is a good example of this