Get the latest gossip

UK churches need open-mindedness to preserve heritage says heavy metal musician

Mark Mynett of Plague of Angels says there is also a classist undertone to outrage at band’s concert at York Minster

The English rockers, Plague of Angels, provoked a backlash last month from parishioners who described the concert in April as “shocking and deeply inappropriate” and threatened to protest outside the 800-year-old cathedral. Churchgoers were outraged that two of the band’s members were previously part of an extreme-metal group that sold a T-shirt featured a topless nun masturbating and the words “Jesus is a cunt”. The York Minster gig – which sold out within days – is the latest example of England’s churches hosting somewhat untraditional events to stave off financial crisis and draw in younger crowds.

Get the Android app