SpiritCitings has featured everything from rapper martial-arts priests to ex-trucker religious sisters and Trappist monks who sell office supplies, so you shouldn’t be surprised when we bring your attention to a Capuchin Franciscan friar who's into heavy metal.

Brother Cesare Bonizzi, a 62-year-old friar from Milan, has been singing for over 10 years and fronts a band called Fratello Metallo (Metal Brother). The group has just released its second album and recently performed alongside bands such as Iron Maiden at Italy’s “Gods of Metal” festival.

Bonizzi, who calls himself a “preacher-singer,” discovered heavy metal about 15 years ago and says he was “overwhelmed and amazed by the sheer energy of it. I do it to convert people to life, to understand life, to grab hold of life.” To see Brother Cesare in action, here are two news stories about him, one in English, the other in Italian: