KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 — The Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) has complained to Putrajaya today over a Singapore black metal band’s concert here on Easter Day this weekend.

Its secretary-general Rev. Hermen Shastri claimed that the band Devouror "prides itself” in allegedly anti-Christian and pro-Satanic lyrics.

"The CCM calls upon the relevant authorities to explain the basis for granting permission to such bands that promote their music using  extremely offensive and denigrating language that can hurt the religious feelings of others,” he said in a statement.

Hermen said the band’s performance will fall on Easter, one of Christianity’s most sacred holidays to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

"This will be considered an affront to the religious sentiments of Christians in the country. We hope the current government will look into the matter immediately, as this is not the kind of culture we want to promote among the youth of our country,” he said.

The five-man band consists of veterans in the republic’s black metal industry with over 25 years of experience.

It describes its sounds as "Bestial Deathcult Warfare” with influences from metal bands such as Possessed, Sarcofago, Necrovore, Blasphemy, Death, and Sodom.

The concert is organised by Goatlordth Records is scheduled to be held in Angkasa Event Space in Bandar Tasik Permaisuri, and is called "KL for Satan”, in reference to the band’s most recent release Slay for Satan that is distributed by Malaysia’s Metal Zone Records.

Malay Mail is seeking comments from the band and the concert’s organiser.

Hermen’s concerns come in the wake of the decision by Singapore to pull the plug on Swedish black metal band Watain on March 7, several hours before it was due to perform in the island republic.

The authorities there cited concerns over the band’s history of denigrating religions and promoting violence. Singapore’s Info-comm Media Development Authority initially allowed the performance to take place at Ebenex Live Space in Paya Lebar, restricted to those aged 18 and above.

However the cancellation followed security concerns recently raised by the Singaporean Ministry of Home Affairs, who said the band’s performance has the potential to cause enmity and disrupt Singapore’s social harmony.