Nightwish singer Floor Jansen has sounded off against organised religion in a new interview.
Talking to Brocarde at last month’s Wacken Open Air festival in Germany, the vocalist, who grew up around religion but never became a believer, explains what she believes to be the hypocrisy of Christianity.
She points out (via Blabbermouth): “On one hand, they say that God is about love, and you come into church, and the first thing you see is a dead man nailed to a cross that has suffered tremendously.”
She adds: “And if that is not horrible enough, it’s done because of your sins. So you’re even supposed to feel guilty for it. I’m sorry – where is this love? Then I need to eat his body, drink his blood. I think it’s fucking disgusting – pardon my French.”
Jansen then argues that, in Western society, “we’re basing certain wisdom on a book written by someone thousands of years ago”, referring to the Christian Bible. She believes that doing so has led to “interpretation after interpretation, for some people taking [it] completely literal, leading to all kinds of trouble”.
The singer goes on to say that organised religion in general “is just causing the worst genocides and most horrible situations in the history of mankind”.
She elaborates: “There is no love. And if that is the higher power, then I think it’s maybe a man-made desire to control.”
Since its foundation in the late 1960s and early 70s, heavy metal has positioned itself against religion, especially Christianity. Black Sabbath’s 1970 self-titled song, believed by many to have started the genre, references the occult, and bands from Venom to Mayhem have promoted themselves as satanists, whether they actually were in their private lives or not.
Last month, Johanna Sadonis, singer of German rock/metal four-piece Lucifer, told Metal Hammer that “the Devil stands for everything that is human and natural, and the church represents the opposite”.
She added: “There are hardcore Christians in the US that are very literal about the bible. That’s the kind of extreme you want to be the furthest away from, if you’re into rock’n’roll and great music.”
Nightwish put out their latest album, Yesterwynde, last September via Nuclear Blast. In the lead-up to the release, the band revealed that they would not be playing live shows for the foreseeable future.
Songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen told Hammer that the reasons for the onstage hiatus are “personal”, calling it “something that had to be done for this band to continue”.
Watch the full interview with Jansen below.
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