Craig Bannerman has reframed this heritage through the lens of Christian metal – a genre in which he emerges as one of its most compelling voices. My God, My God, Why? is neither a formal experiment nor an attempt to shock. It is a liturgy – composed, recorded, and produced in the spirit of prayer, communion, and surrender. Every riff becomes an intercession, every growl a psalm (Craig Bannerman Official Site).
For him, this new record is not an experiment in style or an exercise in shock value. Instead, it is a liturgy: composed, recorded, and produced through prayer, communion, and surrender. Each riff is an act of intercession; each growl, a psalm.
The album’s soundscape is relentless but precise. Bannerman blends the guttural ferocity of black and death metal with choral arrangements and moments of near-sacred silence. The result is a musical language that feels both ancient and immediate, echoing a world groaning under the weight of its own darkness. Yet this is not despair for its own sake. Bannerman’s music bends, ultimately, toward grace. Even as the guitars and drums threaten to overwhelm, a sense of purpose and destination—toward the sacrificial Lamb—emerges from the chaos (Craig Bannerman Official Site).
The journey through “My God, My God, Why?” is a descent before it is a revelation. The first movements of the album immerse the listener in sorrow and fragility—a sonic landscape where one’s own limitations and loneliness are inescapable. Bannerman’s intention is clear: to lead his audience through the valley of shadow, not to skirt around it. But from that abyss, something extraordinary happens. Revelation breaks through. Love—beyond sentimentality and platitude—shines out, transforming despair into hope.
In Bannerman’s hands, extreme metal is not a provocation but a tool for theological inquiry. He employs the genre’s intensity to mirror the extremity of spiritual experience—the collision of divine holiness with the brokenness of the world. Where others might use heaviness to shock or alienate, Bannerman transforms it into a conduit for empathy and contemplation (Craig Bannerman Bandcamp).
Accompanying the album is a visual journey as ambitious as the music itself. Bannerman has curated a sequence of images—Zurbarán’s “Agnus Dei,” Rubens and Brueghel’s “The Fall of Man,” Caravaggio’s “Sacrifice of Isaac,” John Martin’s apocalyptic “Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,” Doré’s “Moses Breaking the Tablets,” and Bonnat’s “Crucifixion”—each chosen like stations on a cross, mapping the arc of salvation history. The visuals are not mere illustrations; they are iconography, each work a meditation on human pride and divine mercy (Craig Bannerman Facebook).
This interplay of sound and image is not accidental. Bannerman’s approach to his craft is holistic, integrating Scripture, art, and music into a single, immersive experience. The video accompaniment, featuring Gustave Doré’s engravings from “Paradise Lost,” is a testament to his vision: a journey through the fall, judgment, and redemption of humanity (Craig Bannerman Facebook).
Yet for all its ambition, “My God, My God, Why?” is not triumphalist. It stands at the crossroads of art and faith, music and liturgy. Bannerman uses the language of extreme metal—a genre historically preoccupied with existential questions—to articulate the cry of a world still seeking answers. His is not the scream of nihilism, but the plea for mercy that resolves, finally, in silence and the Word: “He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
In an age where art is often commodified and depth exchanged for popularity, Bannerman’s project is a rare white raven—a work that eschews commercial calculation for authenticity. It is a musical icon for Good Friday, a soundtrack for those who still ask, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” Such projects appear infrequently. They require passion, spiritual depth, artistic literacy, and creative courage. For Bannerman, “My God, My God, Why?” is not just an album—it is a prayer dressed in metal (Craig Bannerman Official Site).
The record is accessible on all major streaming platforms, distributed through DistroKid, with opportunities for listeners to quietly support future work via BuyMeACoffee. In a world teeming with noise, Bannerman’s music stands as a solemn call to attention—a demand that we take suffering, and the possibility of grace, seriously (Craig Bannerman Facebook).
Bannerman’s biography, too, is inseparable from his art. Son of a well-known dance caller, he spent years wandering musically before finding his home in Christian metal. His journey is marked by transformation, from folk roots to a genre that, for him, offers the truest medium for testimony and worship (No Treble). He describes his music as “battle cry and proclamation,” but above all, an offering to God.
The album’s release, scheduled for July 8, 2025 (with a premiere on August 7), comes at a time of renewed interest in music that dares to ask difficult questions. Bannerman doesn’t shy away from heavy themes; instead, he runs toward them, trusting that the only way through darkness is straight into its heart (Craig Bannerman Official Site).
At the center of “My God, My God, Why?” is a paradox: that the most profound revelations often arise from the deepest sorrow, and that in the silence following the loudest cries, one may finally hear the whisper of grace. Bannerman’s work stands as a testament to the power of art to hold suffering and hope together in a single, unbroken line. In this, he has given us more than a record—he has given us a way to pray.
My God, My God, Why? by Craig BannermanRecommended on EF
Browse the New Music section