Christian hardcore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christian music
Stylistic origins: A variety of influences evolving from the Jesus Music movement.
Cultural origins: 1960s United States and Australia
Typical instruments: Electric guitar, Bass guitar, Drums, Keyboard, Synthesizers
Mainstream popularity: Continuous from 1990s
Subgenres
Christian alternative rock - Christian bubblegum pop - Christian hardcore - Christian industrial - Christian hip hop - Christian metal - Christian pop music - Christian punk - Christian rock - Christian soft rock - Christian ska - Worship music - Cprog
Other topics
Christian entertainment industry - Christian girl group


Christian hardcore is a form of hardcore punk music and a subgenre of punk rock played by bands where the musicians promote Christian beliefs. The extent that their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands.

Christian hardcore bands that explicitly state their beliefs and use Christian imagery in their lyrics may be considered a part of the Christian pop music (aka Contemporary Christian music) industry and play for a predominantly Christian market. However, given the edginess of hardcore punk, many bands have been dismissed by the Christian and Christian pop music market and rely on genre specific labels to promote and release their music.

Typically, Christian hardcore and metalcore bands perform music influenced by their faith and see their audience as the general public. More recently Christian hardcore bands may avoid specific mention of God or Jesus in their lyrics and from stage as well as rejecting the Christian pop label. However at the same time some bands strive to convey a blatant Christ-based message.

Traditionally hardcore has been antipathetic towards Christianity, much like the broader punk rock community, and has often left Christian Hardcore bands alienated on the fringes of both the hardcore and Christian music scenes. Many inside the hardcore music scene view Christianity in a negative light, or a feel that Christian hardcore is a passing fad.

Related genres are Christian punk, Christian rock, Christian alternative music and Christian metal.

Contents

[edit] Spirit-Filled Hardcore

A brand of hardcore punk typified by bold faith based lyrics, a typical hardcore aesthetic and often a Straight Edge mentality. This brand of Christian Hardcore saw it's rise and fall in the 90's with bands like Focused, Unashamed, and NIV. A famous modern day band includes Underoath, who successfully blend Christianity and heavy doses of emo to create an energetic genre of music.

[edit] Criticism

Christianity and hardcore punk are sometimes considered to be contradictory due to the conflict between punk's anti-authoritarian message and the prominence of authority figures in Christianity. The concept of Christian anarchism addresses this somewhat, as it stresses rejection of wordly authority in favor of Godly authority. However, this was used by fundamentalists who thought of the hardcore scene as "ungodly." Nonetheless, the punk community does not dismiss Christianity and hardcore punk as incompatible, as many members of punk bands openly state they are Christian. This is covered in a section of the Christian punk article.

[edit] Record labels

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

Hardcore punk
Christian hardcore - Crust punk - D-beat - Melodic hardcore - Powerviolence - Queercore - Skate punk - Thrashcore - Youth crew

Emo - Funkcore - Grindcore - Metalcore - Post-hardcore

Regional Scenes
Australia - Brazil - Canada - Italy - South Wales - Scandinavia: Umeå - Japan

Boston - Chicago - Detroit - Los Angeles - Minneapolis - New Jersey - New York - North Carolina - Phoenix - San Francisco - DC

Other topics
DIY punk ethic - Hardcore bands - Hardcore dancing - Straight edge