{"id":16332,"date":"2025-12-03T02:42:58","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T07:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/?p=16332"},"modified":"2025-12-03T06:54:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T11:54:46","slug":"feature-christmas-evil-the-strange-war-over-sacred-noises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/03\/feature-christmas-evil-the-strange-war-over-sacred-noises\/","title":{"rendered":"Feature: Christmas Evil \u2014 The Strange War Over Sacred Noises"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How Skillet\u2019s Christmas Song Shows an Old Problem Isn\u2019t Going Away<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By Seth Metoyer<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every Christmas season, the same strange battle breaks out across Christian music circles. No, not the peppermint latte wars. I\u2019m talking about the long-running, head-scratching, spiritually-exhausting argument about whether heavy Christian music is “evil” or \u201cdemonic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been hearing this debate since my early days of Sanctuary International<\/a> almost forty years ago. Most of the faces have changed, but the script hasn\u2019t. Someone hears guitar distortion. Someone hears growling vox. Someone hears anything louder than a gentle acoustic guitar and suddenly the demons are, apparently, cackling and rubbing their hooves\u2026 paws\u2026 hands?\u2026 whatever they\u2019ve got\u2026 together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As someone who has worked in the Christian music industry for over twenty-five years, I\u2019ve come to expect this routine. This year we seem to have hit a special milestone: people calling a Skillet Christmas song<\/strong> O Come O Come Emmanuel<\/strong> <\/em>“demonic.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes. A hymn. A literal church-approved hymn. Set to guitars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to the strange war over sacred noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skillet, Christmas, and the \u201cDemonic\u201d Controversy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Skillet dropped their Christmas cover song, \u201cO Come O Come Emmanuel,\u201d and the song immediately took off. Huge numbers. Fans excited. A fresh take on a classic. And then\u2026 the internet did what the internet does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People crawled out of the digital shadows claiming Skillet <\/strong>had taken something sacred and turned it into something evil. Suddenly, distortion equals demonic activity. Apparently, God\u2019s holiness is now fragile enough to be disrupted by John Cooper\u2019s unclean vocals and heavy guitar tone during the last minute and a half of the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Cooper recently spoke with Rock Feed<\/a><\/em>, and his reaction was classic Cooper: equal parts humor and wisdom. He stated that a friend summarized the controversy like this: \u201cShort version? People are stupid.\u201d<\/strong> It was a joke \u2014 but also a pretty spot-on snapshot of modern outrage culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooper wasn\u2019t angry. Just perplexed. As he put it: \u201cIt’s a Christmas hymn. It’s not just a Christmas song. It’s a hymn.\u201d People didn\u2019t just call it bad. They called it satanic. Demonic. A threat to all things merry and bright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the video opens with Cooper singing in a hospital room to an empty bed, a visual that has resonated with fans deeply. That\u2019s what the critics missed entirely: the heart behind the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noise Is Noise \u2014 And God Isn\u2019t Afraid of Volume<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let me break this down in the simplest possible terms. You know what music is? Noise. Organized noise. Structured vibrations. Air moving through time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somehow we\u2019ve drifted into this weird theology where one kind of vibration is supposed to be \u201choly\u201d and another is\u2026 suspicious by default. A major chord gets treated like it\u2019s the safe choice, the \u201cchurch-approved\u201d button. But hit a distorted drop D chord and, honestly, half the room looks like you just put your hand in the offering collection. A clean guitar seems to be considered godly enough, but once you tune the wooden beast down, suddenly apparently you’re summoning fallen angels from the shadow realm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been around people arguing about these \u201cnoises\u201d for decades. I\u2019ve heard every explanation, every warning, every conspiracy. But when you boil it down, it\u2019s the same fear dressed up in spiritual language:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis sound is unfamiliar to me\u2026 therefore it must be evil.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Scripture Actually Says About Loud Music<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s look into this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalm 98:4<\/strong>
\u201cMake a joyful noise<\/em> unto the Lord\u2026 make a loud<\/em> <\/strong>noise, and rejoice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalm 150:5<\/strong>
\u201cPraise Him with loud<\/em> <\/strong>clashing cymbals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 Samuel 16:7<\/strong>
\u201cMan looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God never said, \u201cPraise Me gently on an unplugged Taylor acoustic and never exceed 65 decibels.\u201d
God isn\u2019t afraid of volume. God isn\u2019t threatened by distortion. God isn\u2019t rattled by drop-tuned guitars. He checks the heart, not the tone settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Heavy Christian Music Matters (Especially at Christmas)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Christmas is supposed to be a season of hope, joy, and \u201cpeace on earth.\u201d, but we know December can also be one of the most painful times of year. Families are grieving. People are alone. People are hurting more than usual. Hospital rooms are tougher than they are already. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes the clean, polished Christmas songs don\u2019t speak into that darkness. But heavy music does. It reaches the people sitting in the shadows. Those who might want to vent or scream it out. Physically or emotionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why the Skillet song and video resonates with so many. There’s a reason why there was overwhelming support for the song and fans seem to connect deeply with its darkness-to-hope message, suggesting loss and suffering resonate with listeners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christian metal has existed for decades as a ministry to the hurting. And, that’s one of the reasons I still love it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If heavy Christmas music gives someone hope in a hospital room, to me, that seems like the opposite of evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those Who Wanna ROCK: Heavy Christmas Songs to Brutalize Your Playlist<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are some Christmas tracks I recommend you blast unapologetically:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skillet – O Come, O Come, Emmanuel <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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