Christian music is weird.
Weird because the second you decide you’re going to make Christian music you immediately have to abide by a long list of things you cannot sing about. No sex, no violence, no profanity. It’s a strange way to go about art, launching your project immediately defined by what you can’t do instead of what you can. But nu metal and Christian rock clicked because the inherent corny-ness of the former meshed with the inherent corny-ness of the latter. By having to follow Christian guidelines, Christian nu metal bands were the polar opposite of their secular peers who, almost universally, sang about rage and hatred with as many expletives as they could summon up. It also clicked for me since I was raised in the church. Not simply Sundays but Monday - Friday at the private Christian school my parents enrolled me in from Kindergarten to 6th grade. That meant, for the first 13 years of my life or so, the existence of God was objective fact. And that also meant I wasn't just not allowed to listen to most nu metal, most nu metal scared me. I still have an impact memory of seeing the cover of Slipknot's self-titled in some magazine during lunch period and being terrified of its unholyness. A friend of mine showed me the unedited version of Papa Roach's "Last Resort" on his discman and I recoiled at the 'F-word," maybe the first time I'd ever heard it. Put simply, I was a "good kid."
But I loved nu metal, dang it! This was the early-2000s after all! My Christian bubble was pricked by a mom tolerant enough to allow Chicago's alternative rock stations Q101 and 94.7 (The Zone) minivan rotation on rides to and from school. But it wasn't enough, I needed more. Lucky for me, plenty of good Christian bands were being given actual shots at mainstream success. Hard to fathom now but, yes, once upon a time Christian artists were trying to compete in the pop music arena and, occasionally, notching some big victories in the process. The below is a collection of music from that fascinating era, both in pop culture and in my life. A time when my listening habits were defined by what I could not hear more than what I did. Still, I'm as sincere about this music as can be. This isn't some ironic list, I really do love these songs. And I gotta tell the world how I feel inside, even though it might cost me everything. Bow your head, close your eyes, and prepare to Xperience the 20 Greatest Christian Nu Metal Songs of All Time:
20. TobyMac
"Extreme Days"
[ForeFront; 2001]
When I discovered this song, through a purchase of the Momentum DVD at my school’s book sale, you couldn’t tell me anything. This was cool, I thought while jumping around the living room as the song's absolutely bonkers "concept video" played on our living room TV. Needless to say that was not true at all, it’s near impossible not to laugh at the song’s “COMING AT YOU LIKE A WHIRLWIND…” Pastor K energy over a nu-metal beat that would have been out of date even two years earlier. But I’m kicking the list off with it for two reasons, one; it kinda goes and two; this is your litmus test. Can you let your guard down enough to enjoy this? If so, this is your list. If not, might as well close the tab ahead of time.
19. Creed
"Overcome"
[Wind-Up; 2009]
A first ballot entry for my "I Can't Believe It's Not Sevendust!" hall of fame, "Overcome" takes that band's piston pumping instrumental energy and their ability to write choruses that sound like a million eagles flying out of an active volcano into clear sky to issue this late career triumph. It's not nearly as overtly Christian as most other Creed songs (Stapp even says 'gasp' the d-word!) but that might be why it's one of their best singles ever too. It even has a rap breakdown, lending this song the nu-metal cred that their normally straightforward post-grunge lacks. Seriously, if a monster truck gas tank's worth of adrenaline doesn't shoot through your veins when that chorus kicks in me and you can't be friends.
18. Brian "Head" Welch
"Save Me From Myself"
[Driven/Warner; 2008]
I don't begrudge Brian for turning his back on Korn in favor of Christianity circa 2005. If I managed to survive the cocaine and Coors Light baccinal that had defined Korn up to that point I too would be looking for the escape hatch in whatever form I could. That hatch for Brian was, famously, Jesus and more nu metal. Yeah, if anyone thought Head was going to make a Michael W Smith pivot for his solo career they were about to be severely let down. However, what could have been a relative embarrassment ended up having a shade of pathos Korn's music was lacking at that point by offering up God as a solution to the dead end misery that was severely weighing down the nu metal scene in the mid-00s. Considering the kind of Christ follower Head became, which is to say the right kind, I'm happy for him and happy he found his way back to his former band in the end. Don't listen to PluggedIn, Brian, Korn is a plenty joyful noise too.
17. DC Talk
"Jesus Freak"
[ForeFront/Virgin; 1995]
Congrats to everyone whose “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” I was not allowed to listen to such amoral filth. So “Jesus Freak” was my “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” It opens with a direct ripoff of the riff and opening drum hit but that’s about where the similarities end. Instead, “Jesus Freak” is a fascinating blend of boy band hooks, R&B vocals, post-grunge dynamics and Tobymac’s “big fat belly” rhymes. It is more grunge than nu-metal but those rap breakdowns, plus its pop ambitions, put it directly in a nu metal lineage. It’s more than a little bit evil, dying for Jesus is not cool kids stay alive, but also alluring. Even sexy. Pity poor Kevin Max, who couldn’t help but sound hot (as hell) with his controversial eyeliner and a sensuous voice somewhere between George Michael and Gavin Rossdale. But so militantly resisting those temptations is like clamping your hand down on a rapidly mutating amoeba, it’s going to escape your grasp sooner or later in ways more violent and ugly than if you hadn't repressed them in the first place. Turns out at least one member of DC Talk was into hiding the truth after all.
16. Hospital
"Feel This"
[Screaming Giant; 2001]
Most Christian rock is about the triumph, the joy, the ecstasy of being saved. "Feel This" by Hospital is not that. At all. Hospital were one of those Christian bands that dealt in the turmoil of doubt, those times when it feels as if Christ has abandoned you to your suffering with a desperate fury that had to be responsible for at least one teenager having to explain to a worried parent "No mom, these guys are Christian I swear!" When singer Duane Willings howls "Father, help me" he evokes nothing less than the moment Jesus died on the cross and the heavy shroud within the Jerusalem Temple was suddenly torn in two.
15. Red
"Let Go"
[Essential/Sony; 2006]
Sounding almost exactly like what Evanescence would have sounded like if they had evicted Amy Lee in favor of Paul McCoy of 12 Stones, Red’s “Let Go” so over the top and melodramatic you flinch in resistance before the chorus comes crashing down upon you with a tidal wave of strings and ringing power chords. It’s dramatic sweep makes for something like the ultimate in Christian AMV core, the kind where you just feel compelled to edit clips of Sasuke from Naruto going through it in Windows Movie Maker.
14. Chevelle
"Point #1"
[Squint; 1999]
If you squint Chevelle's debut album Point #1 kinda looks like a Christian rock album? I mean, they did play Cornerstone. It won two Dove awards! And the relationship between brothers Pete and Joe Loeffler is the bitterest since Cain slew Abel. Beyond that, Point #1 has about the same amount of post-Tool spiritual vagueries that the alt-metal genre was about known for and no overt appeals to our Lord and Savior. Yet, the album's first proper song (which is nigh inseparable from its thundering intro "Open") and title track went secularly hard enough to secure cosigns from Big Black mastermind Steve Albini and...uh... famed Chicago comedian Fred Armisen?
13. Falling Up
"Bittersweet"
[BEC Recordings; 2004]
The Albany, Oregon based Falling Up formed in 2001 as a near carbon replicate of Linkin Park; sensitive lead singer, straightforward power chord guitarist, guy doing turntables and occasional keyboard things; but upon realizing that Linkin Park already didn't swear in their songs thus removing the need for a Christian-Linkin Park (citation needed) they urgently tried to half pivot into being the Christian Story of the Year. Their debut album, 2004's Crashings, tries to hew more post-hardcore though their nu-metal roots do poke through on occasion particularly on the hilarious(ly endearing, to me at least) "Jackson 5" ("Stay on my knees with the greatest of these, love"; bars). Opener "Bittersweet," however, is resplendent with bouncy riffs, big hooks and lyrics that scan as more than a little scary ("He's around me constantly") if you're not totally devout.
12. Demon Hunter
"Infected"
[Solid State; 2002]
The Christian rock catalog is mostly built upon bands you can recommend to your children instead of the off-limits secular stuff and if your son was tempted by the wickedness of Slipknot it was time for some Demon Hunter. Because Demon Hunter never had a drummer like Joey Jordison (then again, who does) things never catch fire to the same degree but “Infected” does a good job of evoking that band’s poppiest moments with growled rap verses giving way to big choruses. Plus, singer Ryan Clark brings the riff in with a barked "DROP IT" and I can't help but love any song that does that.
11. Mad Kelly
"Thank God"
[Super Music Group; 2025]
“You made me a fucking Christian” is for sure the least Christian lyric you’re going to find on this list yet what would Jesus think of the modern church? If you ask me he’d have his hands full overturning all the money changers in the temple. Most anti-Christian songs are angry, bitter and caustic. This one is like coming up for air after a lifetime spent underwater. Almost as if he’s, I dunno man, like, born again.
10. Pax217
"A.M."
[ForeFront; 2000]
No matter how lame you were in school you could count on being cooler than the church kids. Those youth group devotees that brought bibles to class and got parental exemptions for sex ed, those were the true dorks that even anime club could rest easy knowing they were higher on the social hierarchy. Pax217 were those kids. Their debut album, TWOSEVENTEEN, is pure devotion and at its best it makes you feel like you’re missing out. “A.M.” in particular, with its 311 bounce and “Woke up this morning in a praisin’ state of mind!” giddiness, feels like a totally happening church lock-in party that you scoff at from afar but secretly wish you had been invited to. They know you hate them and are (gently) moshing for your sins anyway.
9. Evanescence
"Tourniquet"
[Wind-Up; 2004]
Evanescence beat the Christian nu metal allegations by cussing in interviews and celebrating success with champagne, successfully getting their blockbuster Fallen album yanked from Christian bookstores in the process, but as a cover of a song by the actually Christian band Soul Embraced, “Tourniquet” fits the bill… even if it doesn’t. Indeed, a song about being so wracked by earthly torment that you’re contemplating suicide sure doesn’t sound very Christian but when you consider how much Christianity was infused with a dire fatalism, with its platforming of biblical martyrs receiving their treasures in heaven, it’s a necessary addressing of a particular thought familiar to any struggling teen raised in the church: If heaven is so beautiful why continue to live at all? Amy Lee answers this by not answering it, letting out a terrifying “I want to die!” shriek. It doesn’t sound like a healthy response to such thoughts but just having those urges recognized without any judgements passed, without any condescending suggestions, is comforting. Sometimes you don’t want to be saved, you just want to know you’re not the only one suffering.
8. Flyleaf
"I'm So Sick"
[Octone; 2005]
Conversion therapy doesn’t work. Period. It’s a nightmare forced upon children that had the audacity to be born gay. But if you ask Lacy Strum of Flyleaf it works great. A 'reformed' homosexual who dated women as an act of rebellion, she broke up with her girlfriend upon pledging her life to Christ and the band’s signature song, “I’m So Sick,” has been long rumored to be about Strum’s overcoming of homosexual urges. So terrible subject matter, great song. Lucky for us there’s no direct gay bashing in the lyrics so you’re welcome to just enjoy this classic nu-metal/emo crossover banger, but be warned regardless.
7. Thousand Foot Krutch
"Puppet"
[Solid State; 2002]
Remember when I said your tolerance for some of the other songs on this list depended on your feelings “Extreme Days”? This is the song. Can you let your fully drop your guard enough to believe in “Everybody shake your body” without scoffing? Are you gonna stop frontin’ or are you just a puppet? In one of the most nu metal performances of all time, Thousand Foot Krutch frontman Trevor McNevan performs the song in a ball chain necklace and a pair of JNCOs you could easily cut three normal sized jeans out of on a Christian public access show. He’s clearly feeling it, totally obvious to the cringe, and you should aspire to that same level of commitment.
6. Embodyment
"Winter Kiss"
[Solid State; 2000]
I’ve been selling this for years as 'Nu Metal Pedro the Lion.' Which always provokes a “No way” and then an “Oh, you’re right.” "Winter Kiss" is basically a slowcore song with heavier riffs and a fantastic introduction to the always underrated Embodyment's pivot away from their earlier deathcore sound and into more accessible, melodic sounds explored on The Narrow Scope of Things. “And I would kill to see your face” is as disturbing a Christian rock lyric as you’ll find but it’s true, a lot of killing happens in the Bible and the vast majority of it is done in the name of Christ. Do with that what you will and check out this song too.
5. Blindside
"Pitiful"
[Elektra; 2002]
Christian rock was at its best when it acknowledged the myriad ways we fell short of God’s love, not lived up to it. A lifetime in the Church is a lifetime of shame where your every thought is read by a disappointed God. I once cursed at my mom alone, in the privacy of my own room, and started weeping at the knowledge that God heard me even if nobody else did. Blindside’s “Pitiful” is a post-hardcore banger about that feeling. Blindside is basically just Refused if they believed in God rather than Karl Marx. It’s remarkable that it manages to be, not just good, but bloody incredible across the whole of their major label debut Silence, maybe the best pop-post-hardcore album ever made. "Pitiful," the album's lead single, is a totemic banger that dramatizes the temptation to sin as literally nailing Jesus to the cross ("As I hammered those nails into your beautiful hands") while he looks at you with merciful eyes. Generally, it's not great to live your life as if some unseen being is constantly judging you for your every transgression but when "Pitiful" is on I can't help but feel myself under His watchful gaze.
4. Pillar
"Fireproof"
[Flicker/MCA; 2002]
This song is cool.
Yes it is. You can't tell me nothing cuz I have hyped myself up to do so many cool things with this song. It's my victory lap, the song I put on after a successful night out while I walk to the closest food truck. Everytime the chorus hits it feels I'm being enveloped by multiple explosions in slow motion while I emerge unscathed. "I know where I stand and what'll happen if you try it," you're darn right I do, "I am fireproof" yes yes I am hallelujah! With a collection of at least three of the most nu metal riffs ever made (when the instruments all drop out for the one setting up the final chorus I am in ball chain heaven) "Fireproof" overwhelms whatever minimal, helvetica definition of "cool" means to an adult and shoulder checks it out of the way with wicked sick aggro rap cadences and rumbling tom-toms. I know my heart and I just can't deny it, this song is so cool.
3. Skillet
"Savior"
[Ardent/Lava; 2003]
One of Christianity's most traumatizing truths is that anyone you don’t convert is doomed to hell for all eternity. Every friend, family member, acquaintance; if they do not give their lives to Jesus before they die you will never see them again.
At its best Christian rock could be comforting, invigorating, inspiring. At its worst it was predatory, judgemental, downright evil. Skillet’s “Savior” is somewhere between the two. The lyrics are manipulative (“It’s time to redefine your deophobic mind”) but delivered with such desperate sincerity that you can’t help but feel a certain pull in that direction. it’s terror. Being a Christian witness meant believing, with all your heart, that everyone who does not accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior was going to burn in eternal hell. When those are the stakes you’ll do anything to try and save the ones you love. But when John Cooper extolls “Can I be your savior?” it starts to blur the line between believing in Him and believing in him. It’s vaguely toxic yet strangely endearing, you want to trust in him to lead you somewhere better but knowing where Skillet ended up he never could.
2. Project 86
"Stein's Theme"
[Atlantic; 2002]
As an impressionable kid in a Christian school the part of the Bible I always found myself flipping to the most was Revelations, the one where Jesus comes down from heaven to lay waste to the devil for good. If I had to pick a song to soundtrack it, I’d pick “Stein’s Theme”, Christian nu metal’s ultimate battle anthem. Over an obliterating drum, bass, guitar attack frontman Andrew Schwab calls upon the faithful with Chuck D levels of commitment to take up arms at last, peaking with a brutally heavy breakdown that cries “Our message isn't stopping until you drag us all away” that sounds like nothing less than Samson bringing the Temple of Dagon down around him.
1. P.O.D.
"Alive"
[Atlantic; 2001]
Thing is, I want to believe. Though I’ve long since lapsed on my faith, fully scorned by the daily assault on our rights under the cloak of Christianity, the version of God I believed in as a child was a righteous one. My God would never discriminate against the poor, the immigrant, the gay, the lesbian, the transgender. He loved everyone for who they are and welcomed them into his Kingdom. When I want to feel that God’s love, I reach for “Alive” by P.O.D.
“Alive” is quite simply the most life affirming nu metal song ever made arriving at a time when none of it was. By 2001 nu-metal was defined by its angst. A furious cloud of bitterness and animosity. “Alive” is not that. It’s a Tower of Babel constructed to help you communicate with the version of yourself that wants to live, darn it, no matter what happens. “Everyday is a new day,” cries Sonny Sandoval over the Chris Lord-Alge Mix produced avalanche of guitars, “I’m thankful for every breath I take.” It should be corny, corny is so essential to the nu metal experience, but it’s just not. It transcends itself to become a sermon on the mount for the disaffected, the depressed, the hopeless. It’s so overwhelming it makes “And I think I can fly” sound downright profound.“Now that I know you,” intones Sandoval on the bridge, “I believe no matter what they say.” I used to feel the same way. I haven’t been that person in a long time but when “Alive” is on I can remember. I can remember the security of believing in a higher power and an afterlife. I can remember the confidence of believing someone up there was watching out for the world, steering us away from the dark and towards the light. If I could play “Alive” for the whole world and make them remember too, I would.
