Page "Christian metal" Paragraph 8

The first Christian hard rock group was possibly the California based band Agape, formed in the late 1960s.

Known for their psychedelic rock and blues influences, the band released an album titled Gospel Hard Rock in 1971, followed by Victims of Tradition in 1972.

After Agape, the Resurrection Band was formed in 1972 in Milwaukee's Jesus People community and released the hard rock album Music to Raise the Dead in 1974.

The Swedish group Jerusalem was formed in 1975 and is cited as another early Christian hard rock group.

In 1978 Resurrection Band Released its album Awaiting Your Reply and Jerusalem released Jerusalem ( Volume 1 ).

Both albums had a notable impact on Christian music culture.

During that time, heavy metal was a new style of music for the Christian music industry, and many Christian labels did not expect it to sell well.

However, Awaiting Your Reply hit big in the Christian market, and reached No. 6 on the Gospel album sales charts.

Jerusalem also became an instant hit among listeners, and within the first six months the record sold 20, 000 copies, unheard of within the genre of Christian rock in Europe.

The Canadian Daniel Band is cited among the first bands, as is Barnabas.