The phrase “once saved, always saved” is at the heart of one of Christianity’s oldest and deepest running controversies. It is the belief that a person’s salvation is a permanent condition. Many Christians, including Catholics, commonly deny this doctrine. Several Protestants, including Southern Baptists, embrace this belief. Still others fall in between holding to the argument that if one’s salvation experience was indeed genuine, then that genuineness will be manifested in a secure salvation. In other words, if you backslide you were never truly repentant in the first place. Though I myself am a Southern Baptist, I have challenged this doctrine on the new Babylon Mystery Orchestra CD in a very big way. I have suggested that the infamous “mark of the beast” can, and will, be forced on people against their will. That especially includes Christians. I don’t make this assertion carelessly.
“AXIS OF EVIL” ESSAY I: ISLAM
“There is no terror threat in this country. This is a lie. It’s the biggest lie we have been told. And it was a lie told in service of stirring up Americans to accept a new Crusade. A Crusade sponsored and led by Christian theocrats who were working to take control of this country, institute Biblical law, and use America’s immense might to launch their mission on a global scale.”-Michael Moore, certified lunatic”
“We have ruled the world before, and by Allah, the day will come when we will rule the entire world again. The day will come when we will rule America. The day will come when we will rule Britain and the entire world, except for the Jews. The Jews will not enjoy a life of tranquility under our rule, because they are treacherous by nature, as they have been throughout history. The day will come when everything will be relieved of the Jews – even the stones and trees which were harmed by them. Listen to the Prophet Muhammad, who tells you about the evil end that awaits Jews. The stones and trees will want the Muslims to finish off every Jew.” -Radical Islamist Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris proving that Michael Moore is a lunatic.
SOCIALIST “METAL HEALTH”
“As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.” Proverbs 26:11
You’ve no doubt heard of the SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) controversy by now. President Bush recently vetoed this bill and congress is right this moment gearing up for a fight to attempt to override his veto. This is really a small battle in what is going to be a long protracted fight over socialized medicine in the United States.
HEAVY METAL’S GOLDEN GOOSE….COOKED!! By the Ku Klux Klan
Its now official, the proverbial goose that laid the golden eggs for heavy metal’s glory years is now dead. Murdered by the narrow minded bigotry of those who claim to love the genre the most. The pursuit of “metal purity” that began in earnest in the wake of grunge’s successful overthrow of the “Hollywood Hair Metal Club,” is now complete. As with all puritanical cleansings that came along, heavy metal’s pious arbiters of purity have killed the genre in the name of “true metal.”
THE MASTODON CONSPIRACY
I read too much. It’s true, and believe it or not, it’s not all history or conspiracy related. Every month I go to the bookstores in Montgomery and grab a stack of magazines. Most, but not all, are music related magazines. There are the obvious ones you would probably expect me to read like Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles and Metal Hammer etc. that mostly cater to hard rock and heavy metal, but I also read the ones that hover more in the mainstream like Revolver, Uncut and Rolling Stone. Between these magazines and music websites from all over the world, I find myself reading hundreds, maybe even thousands, of reviews of new records every month. Reading record reviews is something I have enjoyed my entire life. Of course I don’t buy most of these records. No one could. But I do find the various opinions offered on a plethora of artists and musical styles amusing. It has always led to the discovery of new and interesting music.
There doesn’t appear to be any discernable patterns as to what constitutes a “good” record. All too often two records that are remarkably similar will get remarkably different opinions from the same reviewer. Likewise no two music critics see things the same way. You can always find someone who loathes what someone else loves. It is from this volumous reading of reviews that I have, in fact, discovered a disturbing conspiracy being perpetrated against fans of heavy metal all over the world. The evidence is unmistakeable and having unraveled this monstrosity I cannot avoid the inevitable conclusion: Mastodon is the worst heavy metal band EVER and their new CD “Blood Mountain” is the worst record ever made.
SAVE THE METAL ZONE
About a month ago I was just browsing through the names of users on myspace, looking for people that I might have known (hey, I live in Greenville Alabama, what else have I got to do?), when I came across someone in Tuscaloosa called Dave “The Metal Guy.” He had a picture of himself with Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, so out of curiosity I wanted to see who it was that would refer to himself as “The Metal Guy.” When I clicked over there I found that he does a metal show on the radio station at the University Of Alabama, WVUA-FM. He referred to it as the “longest running specialty show of heavy metal in Alabama.” Suddenly I was very familiar with what he was talking about. I knew because as it turns out I knew that very show. I was the guy who started it back in 1982/83. Once upon a time I went by the radio name of Ace. Sort of a tribute to Ace Frehley.
EYE OF THE NEEDLE
Everyone should live on the edge once in awhile. I have been trying to make up my mind which song to put up on the internet from the new Babylon Mystery Orchestra CD “The Great Apostasy: A Conspiracy Of Satanic Christianity.”
It has really come down to a choice between two songs. Either the very heavy and very mean song, “King Of The Earth,” in which our favourite rebel angel lays claim to the entire institution we call Christianity; or “Eye Of The Needle,” an acoustimetal song about some very real people whose names were not changed to preserve their guilt. Since I have chosen to call this essay by the title of “Eye Of The Needle” you know which song is going up. Unlike most artists, I actually like for everyone to know something about where my songs come from. So lets look at these people who are the subjects (combatants?) of this song.
AN ESSAY ON “THE GREAT APOSTASY: A CONSPIRACY OF SATANIC CHRISTIANITY
Satan is smarter than you are….Believe it.. The entire concept of the new Babylon Mystery Orchestra CD, “The Great Apostasy: A Conspiracy Of Satanic Christianity,” can probably be boiled down to that one statement. I will attempt here to explain some of the thinking that went into this work.
HEAVY METAL: UNDERGROUND OR FRATERNITY
A lot has been written, primarily over the internet but also through many traditional and independent publications, regarding heavy metal as an “underground” music genre.. To be sure it no longer holds a dominant status in the sales figures of major record labels, nor does it dominate the touring market as it once did in it’s 80’s heyday. The question I present is: How did it come to this? At one time metal music was a prominent, even dominant, commercial force.. It is the opinion of this writer that it boils down to two factors: definition and fraternity.
The Prophet Of Wrath 