Nah, trust me its not the Metal scene thats wrong its just the American Metal scene, we've got it pretty sweet here in europe, then again we've got proper christians (seriously spend a day in Oslo and you'll never question the anti-christian slant) and people have a lot broader range of tastes (althogh you always get fuck-wits) hence why Waken has such a diversity of bands. Seriously I do pity you for being lumbered with what is easily a scene based on fads and trends because lets face it most of them are just looking to be more unpopular than Goths.

As for Grave, well they're very hit/miss live but you really should have stayed for Dismember, they're the Maiden of Death Metal

"[...] the average Black Metal record buyer is a stereotypical loser: a good-for-nothing who was teased as a child, got bad grades at school, lives on social welfare and seeks compensation for his inferiority complexes and lack of intelligence by feeling part of an exclusive gang of outcasts uniting against a society which has turned them down.
(Erik [Ulver])"

Lets face it this is true of not only Metal but every sub-culture, if you get disillusioned by people in the scene then my advice would be to stop going to local shows and just save your cash for the big European Festivals, I mean the worst people I've encountered at gigs are either the Metal Hammer/Kerrap! trend kiddies or the uber kvltists, and even then the latter are too busy being up their own arses to actively irritate you.

You know what really makes me laugh tho' Nazi bands who claim to be nihilists, because you know if nothing matters then establishing an aryan race would be somehow less pointless than anything else.

Tho as for the anti-christian thing. I simply refuse to acknowledge a 2000 year old book as the be all and end all of life, especially since most of it is proven to be wrong (sorry but I am a scientist). Then again unless people believe everyting in the bible then they're hardly christians either, its hypocritical to say "this is the infalable word of god but I'm going to just ignoor this this and this..." Although half the Atheists I've met have just taken science as their new bible anyway... which misses the point of science as well I might add.

Moral of the story, everyone with half a brain gets disaffected with the Metal scene or any subculture, thats just how the world is, people want a world view andmost metalheads are no better than christians, they just look to 4 angry sweeds instead of a 2000 year old book for directions of how to live. In either case its not much of a life. The point of Metal, indeed the point of all art, has always been to be an esoteric, it means something slightly differnt to everyone and will always feel different to everyone involved in it, its not an exclusive boys club, its ment to be a group of individuals who have convergent but not identical thoughts, feelings and desires within this rotten world. The fact that you are able to challenge your own lifestyle and ideals shows that you comprehend this better than most fuckwits in any scene kudos to you for that.

I'm afraid I'm one of the type you loath, cold logical and negative. Alhough unlike the type that irk you I do consider myself falable so I accept that I may well be wrong and don't persecute people for disagreeing with my logic.

I'm afraid Nile're as anti-christian as the next band (Karl Sanders has frequently expressed contempt for the christian censorship of the ancient egypian world and this is reflected in a lot of Nile's linear notes), but then again I think Nile are extremely over-rated but thats another matter.

To be honest my remaining advice would be to give some of the more ececntric bands out ther a try, Negura Bunget, Vinterriket, Arcturus, Ram-Zet, Manes, Skepticism, Godflesh, ...And Oceans, Enslaved (although you're clearly mad if you haven't heard Enslaved before), The Axis of Perdition, Blut Aus Nord, Dodheimsgard, Farmakon, Insomnium, Sear Bliss, Detrimentum, Primordial and of corse Celtic Frost's new masterpeice all come very highly reccomended.

^^^ that guy knows his metal haha!
The Australian metal scene is waaaay more relaxed than the US or European scenes. There are very few bands that are adamantly anti-christian and I'm stuggling to think of one now actually. Most of them are War metal bands and just use an anti-christian image. Besides that religion doesn't factor into our metal bands at all.
Theres still a few posers at the local scene, but good on em for coming down to support. I don't care if theyre wearing a '92 Slayer tour shirt and look about 12 years old, they're just here to enjoy the same music i do.

If I may:

On some level, you just got to step back and ask yourself one question: do I enjoy what I'm listening to? If the answer is yes, then the rest doesn't matter.

I don't believe in intellectualizing art. There are some who do, and that's fine for them. For me, I love the visceral experience of it, which is why I love metal. It is not about an ethos, it's about a feeling.

I've been getting sick of concerts myself, recently. I mean, sometimes there are great shows that you have to see, but there was a time when I would go to every single fucking concert I could. After a while I realized that more often than not the sound was shitty, or the band wasn't "on" or half a dozen other things that ruined the experience (we won't even talk about the douchebag neo-nazis or the fuckwit kids practicing their slow-motion karate in the 'pit).

Point is you can't blame metal as a genre of music for the douchebaggery that tends to follow it. It is, on some level, no different from senators and enraged do-gooder parents who blame the music because some moron thought it'd be a good idea to blow away his homeroom.

-Metal Ralph

p.s. It occurs to me that you probably don't know who I am. I am Metal Ralph. You seem like a cool dude.

Meh, I'm actually not that sure if I am so aspiritual, especially the connection I feel to a lot of Nature and the more spiritual music I listen to (both Metal and non-metal).