IRON MAIDEN SATANIC?!

 Accusations of promoting Satanism

The broadly understood rock culture, as well as the works of the most famous representatives of the genre, have often been the subject of reflection and insinuations by representatives of the conservative theological faction. It was no different in the case of the English formation. After the premiere of the most popular album The Number of the Beast in 1982, representatives of the right-wing religious party in the USA accused the group of intentionally promoting Satanism and having a negative influence on American youth. The criticism concerned the lyrics to the title track and "Children Of The Damned", which, according to Bible Belt evangelists in the USA, were supposed to encourage the worship of the devil. There were also numerous acts of disapproval of the band's work, which manifested opposition to the disastrous influence of Iron Maiden and other representatives of heavy rock, which was manifested by burning records or breaking them with hammers.

The premiere of the band's third studio album took place during the Satanic Panic in the United States, which largely contributed to consolidating the negative perception of both the new release and the activities of heavy metal artists themselves. In 1982, MTV censored the music video for the song "The Number of the Beast" as too drastic and containing scenes inappropriate for young viewers, which may have a negative impact on the psyche. The "harmful" frames mentioned above came from classic, pre-war horror films that had been known to the general public for decades.

Jimmy Swaggart, the famous American televangelist, published, among others: the book "Music: the new pornography", the cover of which featured a photo of Steve Harris, and its contents brought numerous accusations about the corruption of young people resulting from listening to heavy metal music, especially by groups such as Iron Maiden. The French theologian René Laurent, in his study "Satan, Myth or Reality", saw 'Satanism without cover', among others. in the work of Iron Maiden, claiming that: The most popular (metal) album of the 1980s was The Number of the Beast ("Number of the Beast", i.e. 666; Rev 13:18) by Iron Maiden, which was accompanied by a sacrifice to Satan. The author called the mentioned album the most popular Satanic album in history.

American Cardinal John O'Connor, directly referring to the teachings of John Paul II, unequivocally condemned the work of groups representing the heavy metal style, considering the achievements of Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Motley Crue as particularly dangerous. In the United States, priests asked young people not to attend concerts of popular heavy rock groups, such as Iron Maiden, AC/DC or Ozzy Osbourne. In 1992, representatives of the Catholic Church in Chile even canceled the Iron Maiden concert in Santiago de Chile, justifying the ban with concern for the moral condition of the local youth. Protests also accompanied a concert in the capital of Chile, which took place in 1996, but this time the show was not canceled.

The musicians have repeatedly denied their alleged connections with the Satanic movement and demonstrated their opposition to similar insinuations, explaining that the inspiration for the song "The Number of the Beast" was the horror film Omen II and Steve Harris' nightmare. The image of the group, which could be considered a kind of apotheosis of evil and violence, was also controversial. In response to (as the musicians put it) "fanatical nonsense" before the song "Still Life" included in the program of the 1983 album Piece of Mind, there was a recorded statement by drummer Nicko McBrain on the reverse: "(...) don't touch it, What do you not understand". Many years later, the musician became a "born-again Christian" and remains active in evangelism, but accusations of pro-Satanic inclinations returned to the group many times, even in the later stages of their career.

In 2018 and 2022, when the group performed twice in front of a record (50,000) audience in Greece, representatives of the Greek Orthodox Church accused the musicians of bringing fire that caused local fires and organizing mass Satanic masses as part of the concerts. The press wrote about the church hierarchs' insinuations, and the topic was picked up by the state media. The group's work was thoroughly analyzed in terms of identifying Satanic symbolism.