Music Review: Stryper shines on ‘God Damn Evil’

Stryper, “God Damn Evil” (Frontiers)

Damn, this album is good!

The Almighty really must be with Stryper — how else can one explain how they’ve been this good for this long?

With “God Damn Evil,” the Christian quartet has added another book to the gospel of heavy metal, as undaunted and energized as the most on-fire missionaries, even after more than 30 years of bashing away.

“Take It to the Cross” melds thrash onto Stryper’s instantly recognizable melodic metal that made the band darlings of MTV in the ’80s.

At an age where many heavy metal wailers dial it back due to the strains of decades of high notes, singer and guitarist Michael Sweet doubles down on his other worldly vocals. Unfathomable notes drench the chorus of “Lost.”

On “The Valley,” Stryper takes a Bible verse, Psalm 23:4, and makes an entire chorus out of it, singing about not fearing any evil in the shadow of death. (How’s THAT for a songwriting partner?)

They save the best for last on “The Devil Doesn’t Live Here,” which opens with a roar with a Van Halen-esque “Hot for Teacher” drum and guitar jam. This is simply the fastest, hardest song Stryper has ever done, and that’s saying quite a bit.