This is the rocking for Jesus band Stryper.
During the ‘Satanic’ heyday of the 80’s… Stryper was the antithesis to all that devil music like Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest.
In retrospect, what was considered ‘evil’ music then, is laughably sterile in comparison to the depths of darkness that death and black metal have achieved.
But fear not, a light will shine down from the heavens… and it will be the headlights of a bitchin’ Camaro with Stryper blaring through the stereo.
The band formed in Orange County, CA in 1983 and first made some noise with their album, “The Yellow and Black Attack”… a reference to their fashion sense of basing their outfits around the yellow and black motif.
They enjoyed success with follow-ups, “Soldiers Under Command” and “To Hell with the Devil”, which put their glam metal stylings at home on stage opening for bands like Bon Jovi and Ratt.
Like most bands from the 8o’s, there is a certain nostalgic demand for acts that made us feel something in our formative years.
What piqued my curiosity, and definitely worth mentioning, is the track listing has a cover of Black Sabbath’s, ‘After Forever’.
Which happens to be my favorite Black Sabbath song… ever. And contains the lyric, “Would you like to see the Pope on the end of a rope… do you think he’s a fool?”
Looking forward to hearing Michael Sweet belt that line out and what this band’s take on a Black Sabbath song will sound like.
The Stryper singer commented on the new album, “It’s gonna be… I don’t wanna scare any fans away or anything, but it’s gonna be the heaviest album we’ve done. Not in the sense that it’s gonna be thrash metal or anything like that. It’s definitely got a little bit of a darker vibe to it lyrically and musically. Some of the songs are tuned down — not like the modern Drop B stuff; I’m talking like the E dropped to D, ‘Unchained’ Van Halen kind of stuff. And it’s just got a heavy sound to it. And I think when people hear it, in a good way, they’re gonna go, ‘That’s Stryper? What?’ I think they’re gonna be shocked.”
He added: “The album was written and arranged very quickly (9-10 days, actually). This by no means reflects on the quality of the album. It’s some of our best material to date and so far those who have heard it have said the very same. Chris Jericho (Fozzy singer and WWE wrestling superstar) texted me and said that ‘Yahweh’ may be the best song since reuniting.”
Until then, an advance single for the song, “Yahweh” has been sent down from upon high. The full length album, “Fallen” is scheduled for an October 2015 release.
