ALBUM REVIEW: The Final Battle – Stryper

For many of the older generation, STRYPER represent a turning point in metal’s rich tapestry. Formed nearly 40 years ago, the yellow-and-black clad metallers have two significant accomplishments to their name; firstly, their faith, name taken from Isaiah 53:5 and songs that preach the Gospel led to their baptism as the godfathers of Christian metal and secondly, 1986’s legendary To Hell With the Devil album is often regarded as a landmark album in the glam metal movement that swept through the latter half of that decade. Today, they’ve got a more traditional sound but have not stopped creating, and now they release their 14th studio album The Final Battle via Frontiers Music srl.

STRYPER have, pun intended, been on a resurrection over the last few years – their albums since 2013’s No More Hell To Pay have been consistently good, with 2018’s God Damn Evil a particular highlight. The Final Battle starts off in similarly promising fashion; opening track Transgressor might be just classic metal trope after classic metal trope – guitar squeal and snare drum build into a long scream and power chord riff – but it hits a good spot; subsequent track See No Evil, Hear No Evil is chuggier but no less effective and the half rocker, half ballad Same Old Story combines a stompy guitar sound with a chorus dripping in more cheese than a quattro formaggi pizza.

The Way, The Truth, The Life sees the band revisit their glam roots with a swaggering tempo and there’s a SABBATH quality to No Rest for the Wicked. Oh, and in true STRYPER fashion, the album artwork is LOUD – the band members depicted as the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, but flanking a depiction of Christ as he rides in on Judgement Day; it’s a sight to behold.

Unfortunately, and despite the flashes of quality, when your record cover is louder than your songs, something isn’t right. Given their run of form through their twilight years, The Final Battle feels reigned in, as if STRYPER are afraid to break a nail; the all-out assault that greeted ears previously isn’t there, leaving tracks like closing duo Till Death Do Us Part and Ashes To Ashes without the punch to really make a full impact. There are also a couple of really duff songs, too: Heart & Soul is a ploddy mess of a track but the biggest offender is Near; mid-album ballads always carry a risk of stifling an record’s momentum, however they rarely feel as bottom of the barrel as this damp squib.

If a band feels they can still produce music to a high quality, their confidence and desire must be applauded; however, The Final Battle fails to get out of second gear. It’s inevitable that bands aren’t always going to top their previous release and STRYPER have, sadly, hit that point. The devil doesn’t have ALL of the best tunes, but he’d be happy this record wasn’t made in his name.

Rating: 5/10

The Final Battle is out now via Frontiers Music srl.

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