Tag: England

There’s a recurring debate about who the first Christian rocker was. It’s very often touted that Larry Norman was the “godfather of Christian rock.” And if we mean by that that he was the first artist to really capture the essence of the genre with a wide influence, you’d have a pretty decent argument.… Continued →

British Christian reggae artist Ben Okafor was born in Nigeria. Experiencing life as a victim of the Nigerian civil war, and even serving temporarily as a child soldier, Okafor was able to relocate to England in the late 70s where he began a career as a reggae artist. His early works were even produced by Bob Lamb (UB40).… Continued →

When Seventh Angel’s debut album The Torment came out, I was an instant fan. I was a huge thrash fan in my teenage years, and their unique take on it–lots of acoustic interludes, and darker chord progressions–appealed to me. A couple of years later, the band followed up with Lament for the Weary.… Continued →

Another great example of early Christian punk/post-punk/new wave from the UK is Writz. They released one album in 1979 that would rival anything from the early CBGB’s scene, or even the stuff coming out of London or Manchester at the time. The band would later morph into the alter-egos of Techno Twins, The Techno Orchestra and the Technos, all of which pursued a sophisticated synth-pop sound.… Continued →

Over the past 2-3 years, I’ve been discovering a bunch of old Christian punk, post-punk, and new wave that I didn’t know existed. One of the best examples is a short-lived band from the south coast of England called Crowd Control. I only know of one track they recorded, which can be found on the excellent “Shots in the Dark” compilation.… Continued →

I don’t suspect many of our readers will be familiar with What of the Night, which is a shame. This Irish & English punk band released only one album in 1979 (yes, you read that right!) making them the earliest Christian punk band (if we don’t include Death, which is a discussion for another time).… Continued →