Mark Randazzo set out to disprove Christianity. He was raised in it — Christian school, youth group, good parents — and in his early twenties he started asking whether any of it was actually his, or just what he'd been handed.

He never stopped believing. He just refused to take anyone's word for it. His professors called him the Inquisitor. Ask him to describe his band's sound in one word and he says "pissed."

Mark spent years in War of Ages and Letter to the Exiles, stepped away from full-time touring, and came back with Of Malice. We get into the book that brought him full circle, why he thinks the Bible's heroes were broken men rather than great ones, the two meanings behind the name Of Malice, the story behind "Spineless" and the friend it was written about, learning to scream as a frontman in his late 30s, and why he's grown wary of the term "Christian metal" after watching bands use it as a stepping stone and then walk away. Then Mark takes on the Lightning Round.

Of Malice is Mark Randazzo, James Appleton, and Andy Amato, with roots in Letter to the Exiles and War of Ages. Their debut record is on the way.

The Forgiven is a community of Christian rock and metal artists. We are looking for emerging artists and bringing our favorites on the show to hear about their walk with God, how they came to know Jesus, and what church looks like for them today. Discover more at theforgiven.co

Hosted by Bill Branstetter (Out of the Depths — a project setting every Psalm to metal, word for word) and Kate Nardone, host of Rock of Ages show on AscendFM.

Subscribe to hear where these artists go next.

So, should Christians be angry? Tell us in the comments.

CHAPTERS
0:00 "I've started to dislike the term Christian metal"
1:02 Meet Mark Randazzo of Of Malice
2:01 Where and when God met him
3:32 Trying to disprove Christianity, and The Case for Christ
7:01 The Inquisitor: questioning authority, challenging narratives
11:02 Learning to distrust the narrative
16:11 Home church, community, and heavy music
21:06 Staying close to God when church is hard
22:43 Why "Of Malice" — the name's two meanings
28:17 Inside the songwriting: building "Spineless"
32:29 Learning to scream: technique, lost voices, and coaching
38:37 The "Christian metal" label and why Mark is wary of it
46:21 Is the music Spirit-led? Faith and the creative process
47:34 The album's premise
49:20 The real story behind "Spineless"
51:16 The Lightning Round
53:44 What's next for Of Malice
57:44 How can people pray for Mark

Follow Of Malice: https://www.instagram.com/ofmalice/
Follow Out of the Depths: https://www.instagram.com/outofthedepthsmusic/
Follow Kate Nardone: https://www.instagram.com/radiohostkatehartnardone/

#OfMalice #ChristianMetalcore #Metalcore #ChristianMetal #FaithAndMusic #TheForgiven

Dana quit music. She left her band, stopped listening to anything that wasn't of God, and walked away from the thing that had been the center of her life since she was a little girl. Then a church taught her that worship was healthy and good, and she came back and made metal.

She and her husband Jason are Metal for Emmanuel, a husband-and-wife project out of Georgia. They met when he messaged her on Facebook to buy a ticket to her show, which we agree was probably about more than the ticket. Jason taught himself electric guitar, music theory, home recording, mixing, and mastering, and plays lead, rhythm, and bass on everything they release. Dana sings and does the graphic design. They have three kids under six, she is a stay-at-home mom, they homeschool, and she says the lesson planning is her favorite part.

Their song "In This Storm" came out of the two weeks their youngest daughter spent in the NICU after an emergency C-section, with breathing problems they watched her fight off a little more each day. The first line Dana wrote was "crushing winds awaken, foundations are shaken." She also talks about dabbling in the occult as a teenager after she found metal, the nightmares that came with it, and calling her dad a few years ago to tell him she forgave him for not being there.

The Forgiven is a community of Christian rock and metal artists. We are looking for emerging artists and bringing our favorites on the show to hear about their walk with God, how they came to know Jesus, and what church looks like for them today. Discover more at theforgiven.co

Hosted by Bill Branstetter (Out of the Depths, a project setting every Psalm to metal, word for word) and Kate Nardone, host of Rock of Ages show on AscendFM.

Subscribe to hear where these artists go next.

So, does music hurt your faith? Tell us in the comments.

CHAPTERS
0:00 "You've got to let that go"
0:25 Meet Dana of Metal for Emmanuel
0:48 He bought a ticket to get her number
1:28 How music took over her life
2:46 How they write a song together
3:39 Their sound: Iron Maiden, Dio, and a little black metal
4:42 What their kids think of it
5:24 The story behind "In This Storm"
7:27 The first line she wrote
8:26 Growing up in church without knowing God
10:15 The occult, the nightmares, and wanting out
11:08 Quitting the band and giving up music
11:52 What church looks like now
12:37 Who discipled them
13:20 What "born again" actually means
14:03 What she'd tell her 18-year-old self
14:25 Forgiving the father who wasn't there
15:40 Her daily time with God
16:52 Making videos with three kids underfoot
17:55 Lightning round
20:00 What's next for Metal for Emmanuel
21:17 How to pray for Dana and Jason

Metal for Emmanuel: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570660627471
Out of the Depths: https://www.instagram.com/outofthedepthsmusic/
Kate Nardone: https://www.instagram.com/radiohostkatehartnardone/

#MetalForEmmanuel #ChristianMetal #ChristianRock #FaithAndMusic #TheForgiven

Mitch records Pipe Bomb in his apartment, then drives to his mom's house and reamps the whole thing in her basement. That's where Hellhole came from.

He also leads worship at his church on Sunday morning. The band is named after a line in a Unabomber documentary, and he is refreshingly unbothered about that: "I think a lot of people want the name to mean something. I would much rather it just sound cool."

Mitch grew up in the church and never left it, which he knows is not most people's story. What got him was realizing in high school that he believed everything a Christian is supposed to believe and was treating it like a pastime. We get into that, losing his dad at eleven, why becoming a member of a church felt like a bigger deal than he expected, and the conviction that came with marriage: his wife knows the Bible better than he does and he decided he needed to catch up.

We also get into the music. Pipe Bomb is a solo project with The Chariot, Norma Jean, and Nails in its DNA. He talks about humming riffs into his phone at midnight, why "Under God's Heel" is outperforming everything else and what that taught him about hope, how his wife is his barometer for when a lyric is too edgy, and the song he wrote about being caught between wanting to live and wanting to die.

The Forgiven is a community of Christian rock and metal artists. We are looking for emerging artists and bringing our favorites on the show to hear about their walk with God, how they came to know Jesus, and what church looks like for them today. Discover more at theforgiven.co

Hosted by Bill Branstetter (Out of the Depths, a project setting every Psalm to metal, word for word) and Kate Nardone, host of Rock of Ages show on AscendFM.

Subscribe to hear where these artists go next.

So, is believing enough? Tell us in the comments.

CHAPTERS
0:00 "I want it to have some conviction"
0:29 Meet Mitch of Pipe Bomb
2:14 Growing up in the church
4:29 The moment it stopped being his parents' faith
7:51 Losing his dad at eleven, and the men who stepped in
9:45 Why church membership mattered more than he expected
10:26 "I need to catch up to my wife"
12:33 Leading worship on Sunday
13:02 Rereading the Bible from the start
17:27 Balancing heavy lyrics with hope
21:51 The Unabomber documentary and the name
22:51 When it stopped being just a creative outlet
24:06 A normal day
25:09 Humming riffs into his phone at midnight
28:05 Why some songs are almost impossible to play live
30:50 His wife is his edginess barometer
32:40 Fan questions: amps and dream rigs
35:42 Guitars
36:53 Four strings or five
38:51 What changed between the EP and the album
42:46 Writing "I Will Kill the Worst Parts of Myself"
43:01 Depression, and being caught between two paths
47:14 Working with a producer for the first time
49:39 Lightning round
51:37 What's next for Pipe Bomb
52:46 How to pray for Mitch

Pipe Bomb: https://www.instagram.com/pipebombband/
Out of the Depths: https://www.instagram.com/outofthedepthsmusic/
Kate Nardone: https://www.instagram.com/radiohostkatehartnardone/

#PipeBomb #Metalcore #ChristianMetal #Hardcore #TheForgiven