Finding God in the Devil's Music

Finding God in the Devil's Music explores the relationship between religion/spirituality and rock music. Much has been written on the history of religious music itself, but not much exists on the role religion and spirituality has played in popular song. Music itself has long been considered a spiritual and even meditative practice; this book seeks to investigate rock music as an expression of religious inquiry, religious devotion, and even as a religious experience itself.

From the rise of the American Evangelical movement to the widespread introduction of Eastern philosophies in the West, the past century has seen a radical change in the religious makeup of Western culture. Rock artists across the world have incorporated both “new” and old religious beliefs into their work. (The word “new” is placed in quotation marks, with respect to ideas that predate Western Civilization.) It is our aim to take a similarly ecumenical approach with the essays in this book, covering a wide range of philosophies and belief systems. In gathering these essays, we welcomed perspectives from a variety of backgrounds—music, religious studies, cultural studies, anthropology.

This collection of essays investigates the relationship of rock music with religious experience from sociological, theological, and musicological perspectives. Contributors have made use of artist biographies, record and concert reviews, videos, published interviews, rock music forums, fan testimonials, social media interaction, personal experience, and analytical tools from the practices of musicology, sociology, theology, and cultural studies.

Religion and spirituality in rock music is investigated across categories of Hard Rock, Punk, Reggae, and Heavy Metal. Whereas these genres, aside from Reggae, frequently have been considered resistant or even strongly opposed to religious belief, contributors to this book describe how much of the work in these genres is involved with spiritual interests. The writers provide examples of the appropriation of religious resources such as Biblical imagery and religious language. They explore public fascination with religion as a platform for expression and social critique.