STRYPER – God Damn Evil

8/10

STRYPER - God Damn Evil - 8/10

8/10

Summary

Frontiers
Release date: April 11, 2018

Sending

User Review

6.75/10 (2 votes)

God Damn Evil, the new album from Christian Metal stalwarts Stryper, has some of their heaviest music to date—opener “Take It To The Cross” starts out with a Doom march (listen to it alongside “A Cry From The Crypt” by Candlemass) before heading into full-on Thrash territory with the chorus, which features Michael Sweet screaming in a shockingly demonic manner. It’s a bold move for a band who never pandered much to the prevailing styles of the day throughout their on and off existence over the last thirty-six years. Stryper has derived much of their musical tension over that period from Sweet’s high, clear vocals juxtaposed with brother Robert’s aggressive drumming and lead guitarist Oz Fox’s distinctive playing. The new album is the first with ex-FireHouse bassist Perry Richardson, now a full-time member of the band in the wake of Tim Gaines’ departure.

While none of the other ten songs are as heavy or thrashy as the opener (“The Devil Doesn’t Live Here” comes close), Stryper seems heaven-bent on delivering as hard an album as any they’ve previously released, while at the same time retaining the sonic elements that make the album recognizably a Stryper album. It has the strong sing-along choruses like that of the title cut, sharp guitar work like the intro of “You Don’t Even Know”, and the pointed lyrical messages. Remarkably, it seems Walmart missed the pointed messaging of God Damn Evil (perhaps reading the title incorrectly as “God damn, evil!”, as though some malefic imp was gleefully celebrating some horrific misdeed) and banned the album from their stores. Find some other way to support one of the best albums in Stryper’s decades-spanning catalogue.

TUNE INTO METALEXPRESSRADIO.COM at NOON & MIDNIGHT (EST) / 6:00 & 18:00 (CET) TO HEAR THE BEST TRACKS FROM THIS UPCOMING RELEASE!!!

Stryper

Author

Daniel Waters

Daniel was a reviewer here at Metal Express Radio. Iron Maiden’s Piece Of Mind wasn’t the first Metal album he owned, but it was the one that lifted the lid off his soul when he received the record as a gift on his 15th birthday. He's been a Metal fan ever since. He's probably best known as the author of various Young Adult novels such as the Generation Dead series and the ghost story Break My Heart 1,000 Times, now also a major motion picture entitled I Still See You, starring Bella Thorne. Writing and music, especially Heavy Metal music, has always been inextricably linked in his mind and career. His first paid gig doing any type of writing was for Cemetery Dance, where he wrote a horror-themed music column called Dead Beats, and when he was writing the first Generation Dead novel he had a ritual where he started his writing day with a Metal playlist that kicked off with “Crushing Belial” by Shadows Fall.
View all posts