Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Can Catholics listen to heavy metal?
Support the community by visiting: brianholdsworth.locals.com
As a former metalhead and guitarist, I wrestled with that question after becoming Catholic. In this video, I explore what great thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, the Church Fathers, and St. Thomas Aquinas actually said about music, emotion, and virtue — and how those insights might apply to modern music like heavy metal.
📖 Timestamps:
0:00 – Introduction: My background as a metalhead
1:36 – Catholic Reddit answers
2:55 – The wisdom of old thinkers on neglected topics
4:08 – Consulting faith or reason
4:40 – Plato on how music affects the soul
5:59 – Aristotle on emotion, virtue, and rhythm
7:26 – The Church Fathers on music
7:59 – Aquinas on music’s moral effects
8:27 – Applying those principles to heavy metal
8:57 – Evaluating lyrics, rhythm, and melody
10:10 – Converse accident fallacy
11:01 – The passions metal imitates
12:25 – My personal conversion experience with music
13:50 – A one-week challenge to re-examine your playlist
🎧 Music written and generously provided by Paul Jernberg. Find out more about his work as a composer here: pauljernberg.com
Podcast Version: brianholdsworth.libsyn.com
Can Catholics listen to heavy metal?
Support the community by visiting: brianholdsworth.locals.com
As a former metalhead and guitarist, I wrestled with that question after becoming Catholic. In this video, I explore what great thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, the Church Fathers, and St. Thomas Aquinas actually said about music, emotion, and virtue — and how those insights might apply to modern music like heavy metal.
📖 Timestamps:
0:00 – Introduction: My background as a metalhead
1:36 – Catholic Reddit answers
2:55 – The wisdom of old thinkers on neglected topics
4:08 – Consulting faith or reason
4:40 – Plato on how music affects the soul
5:59 – Aristotle on emotion, virtue, and rhythm
7:26 – The Church Fathers on music
7:59 – Aquinas on music’s moral effects
8:27 – Applying those principles to heavy metal
8:57 – Evaluating lyrics, rhythm, and melody
10:10 – Converse accident fallacy
11:01 – The passions metal imitates
12:25 – My personal conversion experience with music
13:50 – A one-week challenge to re-examine your playlist
🎧 Music written and generously provided by Paul Jernberg. Find out more about his work as a composer here: pauljernberg.com
Podcast Version: brianholdsworth.libsyn.com
