Stryper – God Damn Evil
In the 80s and 90s, it was almost
embarrassing (just for me) to say that I liked Stryper. Almost anyone I knew in
my field of friends hated them. When it used to come up in conversations, I
would be slated for listening to ‘wimpy, poodle perm, Jesus loving, rock!’ Harsh words indeed. (And that was from my mum!). Way back then, and to this day I gave never
faltered with my love of this band. OK, so not all of the albums have been brilliant,
as I sort of lost interest with the early noughties output. I still own everything,
but wasn’t exactly over enamoured with the output. But then, in 2011 began the
comeback, they eased their way back in with a covers album, and an album of
rerecorded Stryper classics. This saw Stryper entering a golden period that I
honestly didn’t see coming. Call it the second coming (What do you mean they’ve
done it? Bollox!). 'No More Hell To Pay', rocked me to the core. It was full on
metal and a great way to resurrect their career. Not that they ever went away
of course. Soppy ballads were replaced with hard-edged rockers, and they
sounded better than ever.
We jump to 2018 and this is their 10th
studio album, 'God Damn Evil'. Since 2015s 'Fallen', Tim Gains has left which is a
crying shame for me, but I wish him luck and success. In comes Perry Richardson
(Firehouse) as a full time member.
Opening song ‘Take It To The Cross’
completely took me by surprise. I didn’t think they had it in them. A proper
old school thrash riff, with complimenting thrash-tastic chorus, complete with
death growls, courtesy of Matt Bachand (Shadows Fall, Act Of Defiance). I love
it when a band regenerates and keeps you guessing. What would be the fun in
just trying to write in the style of ‘Soldiers Under Command’?
‘Sorry’ and ‘Lost’ are more in line with
what would be their ‘sound’ to be these past few albums, edgier, heavier, but
with all the harmonics that you love them for, but for ‘Lost’ you have MS
hitting notes he hit in his twenties. It seems as if a certain Mr Sweet is able
to poop riffs and lyrics for fun. Title track ‘God Damn Evil’ is so planted in
the 80s, I think it was brought into the studio as a demo on cassette in a 1983
Camaro! Its one of Stryper’s best anthems…..to date. Its sing-a-long-a-metal at its finest.
‘Robert….Robert, we are over here mate! I
told you not to wear your bleedin’ sunglasses at night. It’s as black as
Hell!!!’
‘You Don’t Even Know’ has a doubly layer of
Sweets vocals, with a nice throaty wail for the chorus. ‘The Valley’ kicks off
with a short passage from the 23rd Psalm, and continues in that vein
throughout. ‘Beautiful’ is a definite grower, the chorus being the hook here.
‘Can’t Live Without Your Love’ is the nearest thing to a ballad, thankfully its
not one in the style of the saccharin coated ones from the 80s and builds nicely
to its climax. Closer 'The Devil Doesn’t Live Here’ is the fast paced rocker on
show here, and reminds me a bit of Tooth & Nail era Dokken.
First song aside, which could divide some
Stryper fans (not me) it’s a very strong album from the get go. Where lots of
bands are plodding along with ‘average’ albums, Stryper are relevant, and
pushing forward with every release. Few bands from the 80s are doing this, and
Stryper are rightly proud of their output and position as one of rocks finest.
MS has recently gone on record stating that
he feels that this is their best album, do you know what, he’s not far wrong. I
still love all the classics from the 80s, but his writing, and the consistency
of his writing have improved with age.
Score 8.5/10
Tracklisting
Take It To The Cross
Sorry
Lost
God Damn Evil
You Don’t Even Know
The Valley
Sea Of Thieves
Beautiful
Can’t Live Without Your Love
Own Up
The Devil Doesn’t Live
Here
Stryper are -
Michael Sweet
Oz Fox
Robert Sweet
Perry Richardson
OUT- 20th April 2018
Headlining Day 1 of
Frontiers Festival, Milan 5th April
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