Stryper and the Throne of Thorns. They Keep Going While the Others Are Only Shadows.

 

I really liked Stryper a lot in the 80s, and now I like them even more. Back then they rivaled Ratt, Mötley Crüe, Poison, and Cinderella. None of those bands could keep up with them. Don Dokken and George Lynch’s Dokken came closest in sound. Throne of Thorns is the band’s 18th album. None of the others come anywhere near that number of releases. Maybe not even all of them put together. Yes, Stryper puts out music on a regular schedule. Every two years, religiously, they release a new album. Sometimes the new one sounds like the previous one, but that was never a problem for AC/DC, the Ramones, or Motörhead. The album title could easily have belonged to a death metal or black metal record. That has been Michael Sweet and the band’s intention in recent years. Their lyrics still speak from a Christian vision, but the music is contemporary heavy metal that takes no prisoners. It wouldn’t be strange to picture them sharing a bill with the most furious Queen, with the Black Sabbath of Heaven and Hell, and with Judas Priest. It’s less strange than Lou Reed with Metallica or Scott Walker with Sunn O))). In the 80s the band was even willing to tour with W.A.S.P., something that scandalized many. W.A.S.P. leader Blackie Lawless had no idea what might happen when the fans of his band mixed with Stryper’s fans. Stryper feared nothing. And they still don’t.

The title reflects a painful reality. During the recordings the band was falling apart. Beautifully Broken, as Michael describes it. Health problems kept guitarist Oz Fox out of the studio. Fox has been key to the band’s hard-charging sound, although Michael has increasingly integrated more of his own guitar. Michael Sweet had to apply to the fullest what has kept the band afloat in these recent years: taking total and absolute leadership. He wrote almost all the songs and then recorded all the guitars and vocals. Sweet’s operatic vocals remain intact. His guitar playing style is fierce. Sweet is a better guitarist than many believe. Bass and drums were added in later sessions. Something that seems to give a lot of power to Stryper’s recent recordings is the austerity. They sound intense and urgent. Timeless. How can one forget “Open Your Eyes” from 2005? Or “Take It to the Cross” from 2018? Health problems also hit Michael Sweet. His mission is now against the clock. Record three more albums. Close the catalog at 21 and let Stryper rest forever. That’s how Throne of Thorns sounds. It’s curious that in his reflection on mortality Michael Sweet finds kinship with Justin K. Broadrick of Godflesh, who has just released Decay, the band’s penultimate album. Broadrick’s health has also put an expiration date on the project.

Throne of Thorns is a furious, hard-charging attack of pure melodic heavy metal. Robert Sweet is a powerful drummer, and Michael adds fierce guitars and vocals that plunge us fully into the universe of Queen and Judas Priest. “I’m Alright (I’m OK)” is Michael pressing on despite the condition of his bandmates and his own, a track that doesn’t sound far from 80s Iron Maiden. “Carry the Flame” is that promise to complete three more albums and give everything. A song whose raging riffs Glenn Danzig could have written on a good day. At the end, “Shadowbreaker” speaks of the shadows, of how dark the moment can be, but also of the desire to keep going until finding the light. It is a fierce track with guitars like electric saws and drum work in which Robert would have nothing to envy someone like Scott Travis. It seems ironic, but Fox’s absence made the band’s sound more concentrated, more urgent, and more forceful. Michael Sweet’s tunnel vision has intensified. For the Sweet brothers this album is among the best they have done in more than forty years of career.

Stryper’s contemporaries have disappeared for the most part. In the 80s many bands considered Stryper a parody of hard rock and heavy metal, ironically, they considered W.A.S.P. the same. Those still touring are nothing more than a parody of what they once were. Stryper have powered up their sound and strengthened their vision. There is no doubt that the band’s faith moves mountains. Perhaps Stryper had more right to call one of their albums Keep the Faith or Defenders of the Faith. Michael Sweet and Stryper are on a mission and are determined to fulfill it at any cost.