100% Spicy
From The Yellow and Black Attack to God Damn Evil, the Sweet Brothers, Fox and Richardson make all fans and foes, believers…
In a callback to Styper’s To Hell With The Devil (1986), their 2020 Even The Devil Believes continues the band’s winning streak of increasingly more successful releases since dusting off the “yellow and black” when they reformed with the release of Reborn in 2005.
While the Devil isn’t happy that Styper continues to rain on his parade, fans for Christian music, melodic rock, hard rock and metal are delighted that the quartet continues strong, even after dropping original bassist Tim Gaines in 2017.
The group’s current lineup, since 2017, consists of Michael Sweet (lead vocals, guitar), Oz Fox (guitar), Perry Richardson (bass guitar), and Robert Sweet (drums).
STRYPER: “Even The Devil Believes” (Frontiers Records)
01. Blood From Above
02. Make Love Great Again
03. Let Him In
04. Do Unto Others
05. Even The Devil Believes
06. How To Fly
07. Divider
08. This I Pray
09. Invitation Only
10. For God & Rock ‘n’ Roll
11. Middle Finger Messiah
Having been a fan of Styper, since I first caught them, LIVE, during their tour in support of Soldiers Under Command (1985), I enjoy their latest release. In a continuing trend, after their release of The Covering (2011), that saw Styper record tributes to the hard rock icons that most influenced them, they have been writing progressively harder rock to metal in contrast to the more melodic, “hair” metal that made them famous in the 80’s/90’s. That’s not to say that singer, songwriter and guitarist Michael Sweet has lost a step, because he hasn’t…as I’ve most recently caught them, LIVE, across 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016… it’s just that their music has gotten more aggressive and in your face.
Sweet is a monster talent having also produced artists from Hurricane to Savannah, along with three bands that I had the privilege of managing Mass, Mars Hill and Action.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on Styper’s latest and / or your feelings across their 13 albums, to date. What format(s) of music do you purchase vs. do you primarily listen to these days? I have several vinyl cuts of Styper from the 80’s / 90’s, including the picture disc of To Hell With The Devil and of the original artwork as well. Many, I have on cassette. Most are on CD and more recent albums are streamed from iTunes. Coming later this year, another solo project with Michael and WWE wrestler Chris Jericho, a re-release of Reborn titled Reborn Again, based on what would have been his solo follow-up to Truth (2000) before becoming the Stryper 2005 reunion album…and according to posts across their Facebook, likely a follow-up to The Covering in 2022.
While Even The Devil Believes isn’t as strong as God Damn Evil (2018) or containing an equally memorable, monster track, such as “Yahweh” off of Fallen (2015), I still give Styper’s latest release 4 of 5 JoulePeppers – it’s Hot, hotter than Hell, in this case…it’s Spicy!
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