What is the main point of Satanic themes and imagery in metal music?

[Architeuthis]

I remember somebody telling me years ago that RUSH stood for ; Rising Under Satanic Hands. I had to laugh in his face! He then argued saying " oh yeah, look at the pentagram on the 2112 album cover". I tried to tell him that that album cover means the small guy standing up to the masses and the symbol represents this evil corrupt world. It's a great concept story.
  I've also had somebody tell me fairly recently that Dream Theater is heavily involved in the illuminati.. 

[pg1067]

I remember somebody telling me years ago that RUSH stood for ; Rising Under Satanic Hands. I had to laugh in his face! He then argued saying " oh yeah, look at the pentagram on the 2112 album cover". I tried to tell him that that album cover means the small guy standing up to the masses and the symbol represents this evil corrupt world. It's a great concept story.
  I've also had somebody tell me fairly recently that Dream Theater is heavily involved in the illuminati.. 

Back in the 80s (probably around 84 or 85), a family moved in next door to us.  They had a son fairly close in age to me.  He was a bit of a dork (i.e., somewhat dorkier than I was), but we became friends simply because of living next door.  His family was fairly religious (Lutheran, I think), and I had been raised Roman Catholic (and went to Catholic school through 12th grade).  I was also fully immersed with bands like Black Sabbath, Dio, Maiden, Priest and Rush.  Anyway, this kid played me a tape of this LONG lecture by some guy who was basically advocating that just about any popular band you could think of was satanic.  I think he even went so far as to include bands like Boston and Queen.  Obviously, it's not particularly difficult to make accusations about "The Number of the Beast...the one for you and me," but this guy was over the edge.  I think it would be fun to hear it again because I remember thinking it was hilarious that this guy was being serious about this stuff.

[Architeuthis]

Yeah, I remember this same guy that I was talking about brought a video over. I wonder if it's the same tape you are talking about? The tape had some Christian fundamentalist guy ripping on almost any rock band possible saying they are all satanic. He would play records backwards supposedly exposing subliminal messages. It was all such a croc!

[MirrorMask]

I remember somebody telling me years ago that RUSH stood for ; Rising Under Satanic Hands.

Of course! And AC/DC means AntiChrist - Death to Christ, and Judas Priest prompted two fans to kill themselves, by a backward message inserted in a song they didn't even write!

It would almost be funny, if it wasn't so sad actually....

[WildRanger]

Yeah, I remember this same guy that I was talking about brought a video over. I wonder if it's the same tape you are talking about? The tape had some Christian fundamentalist guy ripping on almost any rock band possible saying they are all satanic. He would play records backwards supposedly exposing subliminal messages. It was all such a croc!

You mean this documentary?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kP_7HmsTDE

[Stadler]

Please don't forget the ultimate in Satanic bands, the Knights In Satan's Service.   

[Adami]

Please don't forget the ultimate in Satanic bands, the Knights In Satan's Service.

[pg1067]

Yeah, I remember this same guy that I was talking about brought a video over. I wonder if it's the same tape you are talking about? The tape had some Christian fundamentalist guy ripping on almost any rock band possible saying they are all satanic. He would play records backwards supposedly exposing subliminal messages. It was all such a croc!

Sounds like the same content, although the thing that I heard was an audio recording and there was no video.  I remember looking for it at some point, and I want to say it was something called a "Click Tract," but I may not be remembering that correctly.

I have to give props to my mother.  She was in her late 50s/early 60s when I was in high school and was a devout Catholic, but about the only thing she ever said to me about the stuff I listened to was when she found a Judas Priest album:  "you know Judas was a traitor, right?"  "Yes mom, I know...."  She would even occasionally comment that she liked some of the guitar melodies (I don't remember anything in particular, but I'm sure it was songs that borrowed riffs  from classical music).  Of course, I hid a lot of stuff from her (like my Ozzy Osbourne shirt that had the picture of him from the Speak of the Devil album cover).

[Architeuthis]

Yeah, I remember this same guy that I was talking about brought a video over. I wonder if it's the same tape you are talking about? The tape had some Christian fundamentalist guy ripping on almost any rock band possible saying they are all satanic. He would play records backwards supposedly exposing subliminal messages. It was all such a croc!

You mean this documentary?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kP_7HmsTDE

I think it's related. I think I remember the earlier version of it called The Dangers Of Rock n Roll.

[El Barto]

My mom actually liked some of the music I listened to, and was always keen to explain some of the meanings I might not get. I recall her explaining who Alistair Crowley was after appreciating a wonderful guitar solo. She wouldn't go out and buy a Maiden album, far from it, but she had no problem listening to it with me in the car and appreciating various aspects of it.

My old man thought it was all garbage.

In any case, I did a one year bid at a non-denominational Christian school and got the full rundown on what music was evil and what was not. Turns out it all is.  Yes, even Stryper.    If it has any occult themes it's evil. If it doesn't have any religious or moral themes one way or the other it's neutral, and therefore just as evil. If it has good, wholesome messages, they'd better be about God or it's still neutral, and therefore evil. If it praises Jebus and encourages salvation, it's still set to a beat that encourages young people to do naughty things, and is therefore evil. Makes the whole thing pretty simple to understand when you look at it that way.

The cassette I recall being passed around was a guy "going undercover" to a KISS concert to report on what he found.

[?]

  I've also had somebody tell me fairly recently that Dream Theater is heavily involved in the illuminati.. 

Illuminati Theory

[ariich]

Because fantasy is entertainment.

This.

People saying it’s because of “edginess” either don’t understand or are misrepresenting the genre’s origins. Sure there are some bands that overdo it, but that’s not the reason satanic imagery has been attached to the genre. Venom and Slayer aren't really good starting points because one was more of a joke and one came much later in the genre's development (although certainly influential). Look up early examples in bands like Iron Maiden and especially Black Sabbath and you’ll find that it’s much deeper than that. There’s influence from blues artists such as Robert Johnson, medieval concepts such as the devils third, and horror films. It wasn’t because anyone was actually satanic, but these themes lent themselves to the heavier music that was being created.

Because these ideas were cemented in early Heavy Metal, they naturally became a cornerstone of many of the more extreme subgenres. Consequently, these bands worked to take it further. It's what you would naturally expect of a genre's development.

Spot on.

[Ben_Jamin]

  I've also had somebody tell me fairly recently that Dream Theater is heavily involved in the illuminati.. 

Illuminati Theory

They probably heard A Rite of Passage.

[Architeuthis]

  I've also had somebody tell me fairly recently that Dream Theater is heavily involved in the illuminati.. 

Illuminati Theory

They probably heard A Rite of Passage.

Yeah, and they also referred to the Majesty symbol pointing them out to be freemasons, lol! The people that told me this are kind of tweeky and buy into everything they read on the internet..

[MirrorMask]

Well, if you're looking for something, you find it. I'm sure some people back in the Cold War were sure their neighbours were comunist spies, and that nowadays to some people every bearded guy could be a terrorist. If you arbitrarly decided that the world is full of satanists or illuminati, you start to see them even when there aren't.