The Next Big Thing: Evanescence

“I’m just, like, Jesus Christ! What the fuck?” blurts guitarist Ben Moody. He’s talking about the speculation currently surrounding his band, Evanescence. Specifically, their relationship with God.

Like their labelmates Creed, the Little Rock, Arkansas, goth-rockers have been accused of downplaying earlier associations with the Christian-music scene by uttering foul language and sporting rebellious clothing.

“Apparently, my Christianity was in question because I wore an Evil Dead T-shirt on Jay Leno,” the 21-year-old Moody grumbles.For the record: Moody is Christian; the band isn’t. And he claims that the “Christian music” tag, which Evanescence first started hearing years ago when they were independent, was inappropriate from day one. As a result, their label has recalled all Evanescence products from Christian stores.

Moody and 20-year-old singer Amy Lee have been writing and recording together since their mid-teens, when they would lay down tracks at Moody’s parents’ house. His closet doubled as their vocal booth.

“That’s where I spent a lot of my high-school years — in the closet,” Lee says. “It wasn’t too cramped, but you do get really hot.”The pair, augmented onstage by guitarist John LeCompt, bassist Will Boyd and drummer Rocky Gray, recorded their debut, Fallen, in Los Angeles last year. The result is as accessible as classical-inspired songs about purple skies, tears, pain and death ever get. The rap-rock/goth-rock crossover “Bring Me to Life” grabbed attention on the Daredevil soundtrack. Shortly after, Fallen entered the Billboard charts at an astounding number 7.

It’s a feat, as far as Lee is concerned, that proves female singers don’t have to be “dirrty” or naked to be successful.“I don’t want to be Christina Aguilera,” she explains. “I want to be Amy Lee, rock queen — not sex queen.”