Photo by Nikko Balanial
Wolves at the Gate is a heavy metal band who play Christian-themed music. They Formed in 2008 and released seven EP’s and five albums:
- Prisoner of War (EP, 2009)
- Pulled from the Deep (EP, 2010)
- We Are the Ones (EP, 2011)
- Captors (2012)
- Back to School (EP, 2013)
- VxV (2014)
- Reprise (EP, 2015)
- Types & Shadows (2016)
- Eclipse (2019)
- Dawn (EP, 2020)
- Lowborn (EP, 2022)
- Eulogies (2022)
Also, check out my reviews of A Voice in the Violence, No Revival, The Bird and the Snake, and East to West.
Lyrics can be found at https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/wolvesatthegate/majestyinmisery.html.
Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site! Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.
1. What message does the song communicate?
We disobeyed God and deserved to die. Yet, the Father sent Jesus, the Liberator and Ruler, to take Wolves at the Gate’s place, suffering a horrible death to atone for our lawbreaking. With the wrath of God satisfied, they are forgiven, free to yield to His ways.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
This song does not contain a Verse/Chorus/Bridge structure. Therefore, I assigned Stanzas for each paragraph.
Side Note: Wolves at the Gate provides Isaiah 53:6 and Isaiah 53:10-12 as the scriptural basis for their lyrics. I’ll do my best to stick with Isaiah 53 as much as possible, even if others could be included, unless otherwise warranted.
[Stanza 1]
Lines 1 and 2: Borrows from Isaiah 53:6.
Line 3: Repeats the last part of line 2.
[Stanza 2]
Lines 1 and 2: Describes Jesus, who was nailed to the cross (Isaish 53:5), is Savior (Isaiah 45:21-22, Hosea 13:4, Luke 1:47, Luke 2:11, Acts 13:23, 1 Timothy 2:3, Titus 2:13-14, and 1 John 4:14) and King (Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 11:10, Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1-6, Luke 1:32-33, John 12:15, John 18:37, 1 Timothy 6:13-16, Revelation 17:14, and Revelation 19:11-16).
Line 3: Directly quotes Isaiah 6:5.
Line 4: That is, gone astray (Isaiah 53:6).
Line 5: Although this is part of the official lyrics, it is not sung until, partially, later in Stanza 6. By “His”, Wolves at the Gate means the Father (John 17:1).
[Stanza 3]
Line 1: Christ was completely obedient to the Father (Isaiah 53:9) and His sacrifice shows love for us (John 3:16, Romans 5:6-8, and 1 John 4:9-10).
Lines 2-5: Summarized in Isaiah 53:5.
[Stanza 4]
Lines 1-4: See Stanza 3, lines 2-5.
[Stanza 5]
Lines 1-7: He would not quit until it was finished (John 19:30).
[Stanza 6]
Lines 1-7: Essentially repeats Stanza 2.
[Stanza 7]
Lines 1 and 2: Repeats Stanza 1, lines 1 and 2.
[Stanza 8]
Lines 1-3: Another rewording of Isaiah 53:5.
Line 4: Alludes to Jesus’ call for the Father to forgive (Luke 23:34).
[Stanza 9]
Lines 1-3: See Stanza 5, lines 1-7.
Line 4: Quotes from part of Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42, and John 6:38.
[Stanza 10]
Lines 1 and 2: The Old Testament describes it as the cup of God’s Wrath in Jeremiah 25:15-16, Isaiah 51:17, 22, Lamentations 4:21, Ezekiel 23:28-34, and Habakkuk 2:16. It is the same cup that Jesus referenced in Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, and Luke 22:42, as well as Father’s crushing in Isaiah 53:10.
Lines 3 and 4: Repeats/essentially repeats lines 1 and 2.
[Stanza 11]
Lines 1-4: Yet another rewording of Isaiah 53:5.
Lines 5 and 6: Wolves at the Gate contemplates the Great Exchange (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24).
Lines 7 and 8: Wolves at the Gate surrenders to Him (Psalm 43:5, Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 10:38, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34-38, Mark 10:28, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27, John 15:1-11, Romans 6:13, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 11:6, James 4:7-10, and 1 Peter 5:6).
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
This is obviously Christian as it describes the suffering servant as “Savior” and “King” with obvious allusions to His sacrifice for bad people. Despite its heavy reliance on Christianese language, the entire song is easy to comprehend.
Score: 10/10
4. What does this song glorify?
Jesus, as the One who atoned for our sins.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Wolves at the Gate’s Majesty in Misery is another tear-jerker. It reminds us of the horrible pain and suffering that the perfect, loving Jesus endured for our redemption. He is also our Savior and King to whom we pledge our life. These points bring Him glory. It is also easily understood by those who don’t yet believe.
This song is not suitable for corporate worship for obvious reasons.
Final Score: 10/10
Artist Info
Track: Majesty in Misery (listen to the song)
Artist: Wolves at the Gate
Album: VxV
Genre: Heavy Metal
Release Year: 2014
Duration: 4:20
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
Comments
Marsha Johansen
This is the most horrible piece of music, if you can call it that, that could be considered for worship. Call me old fashion, but this is an abomination. It sounds like it came from the pit of hell, regardless of the lyrics. The tone it is sung in is totally inappropriate and unacceptable. Does the heavenly choir sound like this. Heavy metal is Satan’s brand of music and has no place to be considered as worship. Who can even understand the lyrics for all the shouting? Disgusting !!!!!!
Erik (NL)
Dear Marsha, I was one time fooled by Spotify’s (horrible) algorithm which provided me with an excellent worship song, sounding like a perfect heavenly choir, sung in Latin. Later, i found out, yes it was a worship song, but not for our God, instead it glorified Satan, the Father of lies, a wolve in sheeps clothing. The song got stuck in my head for years and scared me from time to time.
As Vince wrote: `This song is not suitable for corporate worship for obvious reasons’.
However, my heart worships our Lord listening to f.e. Wolves at the Gate. Although this kind of music might sound a bit barbaric, I know I am listening to one of our Lords sheep (in wolves clothing).
Let God be the judge of our hearts, all the best to you.
Linda Melcher
Ditto! I could not even understand the words when I was trying to follow along. Would someone hear this song and be drawn to God?
Vince Wright
Marsha,
Thank you for your comments!
This is a reaction to style not lyrics. Bear in mind that The Berean Test is about evaluating lyrics, not genre. However, I’ll permit this comment and will respond to it.
First, I already stated in my review that this song is not suitable for corporate worship for obvious reasons. So I’m not sure why you are bringing that up given my commentary on it.
Second, I’m OK with you calling it an abomination. According to Merriam Webster, at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abomination, this simply means “disgusting” or “hated”. You don’t like it. I get that.
Third, in regard to how the heavenly choir sounds, I have no idea. Do you know how they sound? have you heard them? We can imagine anything we want, but I wouldn’t put a whole stock into it unless one personally experiences it.
Fourth, Scripture does not state or imply that any specific genre of music is from Satan. We see throughout all of Scripture that Satan does not create anything. All he does it twist. You may not realize this, but those electronic guitars are, in fact, playing notes. The same ones you would find on a piano, stringed guitar, flute, and violin. It simply has a different sound.
Fifth, there is Biblical precedence for shouting. Shouting was commanded in Joshua 6 to fell the walls of Jericho so that Israel could win the battle. It also shows up in the Psalms as a method of worship, including Psalm 47:1, Psalm 66:1–2, Psalm 71:23, and Psalm 98:4.
Sixth, it helps to learn from history and not to repeat its mistakes. The song “Amazing Grace” was once considered unbiblical because it contains the word “wretched” which was not a nice way to describe humans. 100 years ago, Jazz music was thought to be satanic because it made you move and feel alive. Rock and roll was also considered satanic because of its use in rebellion, sex, and drugs. However, almost nobody today has an issue with Amazing Grace, jazz, or rock and roll because the lyrics were accurate and no genre of music is inherently demonic. See https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-heavy-metal-music.html.
Finally, this comment is not to convince you that you should all of a sudden go and listen to heavy metal. You don’t enjoy it and you have a right to not listen to it. However, in the future, if you’re going to condemn an entire genre of music, the least you could do is provide some Scripture to back your claims.
-Vince Wright
Brett Rocker
Do you have any scriptural backing for claiming heavy metal is Satan’s music? As someone who has been a part of the heavy metal scene for most of my life, this is absolutely not true. Bands like Wolves at the Gate, Phinehas, Disciple, For Today, and many more have been able to reach the lost with their music. Most of the Christian heavy metal scene provides more Biblical lyrics than big worship bands like Elevation, Bethel, Maverick City, etc. A dislike of the style of music does not make it Satanic. Steve Cobucci, the frontman for WATG, named the album this song comes from “VxV,” which is a military rating on signal strength and clarity, with a 5 by 5 (or VxV) being the clearest. Steve wants WATG’s message of being Christian and presenting the Gospel to be as clear as possible. The album even starts with an excerpt from a John Piper message. Regardless of how you feel about the style of music, all the evidence (or fruit) of the band members faith and the lyrics of their music point to this being God-honoring music.
Peter U
I wrote an essay about this topic: WHAT MAKES MUSIC OR A BAND “CHRISTIAN”? AND THOUGHTS ON WORSHIP MUSIC
Is it the style or genre? Is it the instruments? is it the content or subject being addressed?
Is there even such thing as a “Christian Band”?
Is there certain music styles or genres that a Christian should never listen to or participate in?
Are there musical instrument that a Christian should never play?
Should instruments be used at all?
Should only traditional hymns be used in worship services?
Are Christians free to listen to any song?
Can a Christian listen to “non-Christian” music?
Must a song be a “worship” song to be considered Christian?
Does a song or musician need to talk “to” or address God or Jesus directly in their song (first person) to be
considered a “Christian song”?
Or can they talk “about” God or Jesus and address someone else (third person)?
Can they take the perspective of God or Jesus and address others (first person)?
Is there a signification difference between singing “to” God and “about” God?
Can they talk about evil, sin, human condition, justice, truth, persecution in their music?
“When Beyonce sings a gospel song, is she a Christian singer?
When Jeremy Camp plays a “secular cover,” is he still a Christian singer?” 14
What are some questions we can use to evaluate songs?
Does the motives, audience, and influence of the artist matter?
What if I just don’t like a worship song?
Why do many of today’s “Christian” music seem “Simple”?
Why do many songs seem to favor Women over Men?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lkt_nZ_qKySGM9G7Yezymib_mDmOdtWX/view?usp=drive_link