Stryper, ‘Even the Devil Believes’ Review – Melodic Metal Anthems Rule on New Album
Stryper album cover – Review by Anne Erickson
Review: “Even the Devil Believes” features the sound and style fans have come to know and love from Stryper
Longstanding metal band Stryper broke out in the ’80s with their dramatic, metallic onstage look and hard-hitting, faith-based heavy metal. Over the decades, frontman Michael Sweet and Stryper have consistently released work, and now, 13 studio albums in, the band is back with another solid release, “Even the Devil Believes,” out on Frontiers.
Stryper is a rare band that has kept the majority of its lineup enact over the years, including vocalist and guitarist Sweet, his brother Robert on drums and guitarist Oz Fox. “Even the Devil Believes” introduces Perry Richardson of Firehouse to the lineup on bass. The consistency of Styper’s lineup provides the basis for an album packed with musical chemistry.
“Even the Devil Believes” launches off with the towering “Blood from Above,” a heavy, fast-pased anthem that opens with Sweet’s ferocious scream. If anyone wondered if Stryper have tamed themselves over the year, “Blood from Above” puts those fears to rest. “Make Love Great Again” follows, a metal anthem that Sweet told Audio Ink Radio in a recent interview isn’t about politics, stating it’s the idea that the world needs to, “Let love rule. Let it be the lead. (Listen to the full interview via the YouTube player below.)
As the album continues, tracks such as “This I Pray,” “Let Him In,” “Do Unto Others” “For God’s Rock ‘n’ Roll” are classic Styper, featuring raging, banging heavy metal that could stand alongside any secular metal band, from Judas Priest to Metallica. “Divider” is a favorite, as the band offers heavy riffs and shouted group vocals. As is often the case with Stryper, the songs on “Even the Devil Believes” carry faith-based themes, which is something that sets them apart from other metal bands of faith that don’t explicitly write about it.
With its sharp songwriting and ’80s-style melodic metal anthems, “Even the Devil Believes” features the sound and style fans have come to know and love from Stryper. Combined with modern, slick production, the album is one that would fit in the ’80s, but still sounds modern and fresh in today’s world, offering something very a unique and entirely its own.
Essential songs: “Blood from Above,” “Divider,” “This I Pray,” “Do Unto Others”
Stryper frontman Michael Sweet discusses “Even the Devil Believes”:
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