Nostradameus - Hellbound (2004)

Hellbound.
Hmmm...
One thing I've been very fortunate about in regards to power metal is that I generally like the lyrics as well as the music. Black metal's hateful, anti-Christian stance is matched by its sound, so I have little temptation to get into it (although I admit I dabble on YouTube just a little bit), while power metal usually has more uplifting, postive themes, which suit the music.
However, that doesn't mean they can't come against things like religion, the Christian church, etc. T. Sammett likes to shake his fist at religion every now and again and, of course, things like The Crusades can make for great, violent album themes.
On this, Nostradameus' fourth album, they're again lamenting evil in the world with a rage which I think, in regards to a former album of theirs, I once described as "almost hateful love". The title song here comes right against some religions, although it's unclear whether it's against Christianity, Islam, a few others or all combined, but when they sing things like "kill the ones who refuse to believe in the holy words", one wonders what they must think of us. Do they really think the average Christian really wants to go around killing nonbelievers?? Um... no, we don't. Neither do we want to "rule the world by these fairytales", or by any other means.
I would normally say that songs like these are just focusing on the bad eggs of religion (which is obviously far more fun than focusing on the good), but it seems much more personal here. As someone who regularly debates atheists online, it's all stuff I've heard over and over and over, so it's hardly a shock; more of a head-scratching, "do you really know what you're talking/singing about?" attitude.
And I'm afraid it's hard not to agree with the line "I'm hellbound and there'll be no salvation for me."
Alright, sorry,  I wouldn't normally go into such depth about this kind of stuff, but there are times when I just have to speak out (even if no-one's listening) and offer some kind of rebuttal.
Of course, I haven't even spoken about the music on this record, which is quite good sometimes (perhaps ironically, "Hellbound" is one of the weakest songs in that regard), but not the band's best and no, I don't think I'm letting the lyrics sway me there. It just seems more inconsistent than normal.
Ah well. I have enjoyed some of Nostradameus' work in the past, and still respect what they do. I certainly wouldn't want them to come across as false. As I said, like many bands with such a stance, these Swedes obviously mean well, but when they show such spite like they do in, for instance, "Seven", they almost seem to contradict their stance.
Sorry, I'm off again.
I suppose they will continue to long for goodness in the world, which is an attitude that's hard to argue with, even if I can't agree with every view they have as to how it should be attained.
And they still do produce some good rock sometimes.

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