Check out the opening blast of "Transgressor" off Stryper's latest face-melting heavy metal release The Final Battle...it's like a long lost leftover track from Judas Priest's Painkiller. Complete with rampaging drums, shrieking vocals, crushing riffs and blazing twin guitars, Stryper are back once again with a vengeance, as they have been recording some of their heaviest and most lethal material in recent years since joining the Frontiers Records roster. It continues throughout The Final Battle on such crushing numbers as "See No Evil, Hear No Evil", the thunderous "Same Old Story", the fist pumping anthem "Heart & Soul", catchy hard rockers "Out, Up & In" and "Till Death Do Us Part" as well as scorching ragers like "Rise to the Call" and "No Rest For the Wicked". Honestly, only "Near" is anything but a furious heavy metal assault, this one the closest to an old school Stryper ballad on this album, the rest is all high-octane guitar fueled majesty, with Robert Sweet's vocals soaring over the top and he and Oz Fox cranking out riffs and solos every step of the way. "Ashes to Ashes" is another prime example of the bands crushing heavy metal attack...killer riffs, twin guitar explosions, and Sweet's commanding vocal histrionics.
Those who have been following Stryper in more recent years should not be surprised at the ferocity displayed on The Final Battle, as albums such as Fallen, God Damn Evil, and Even the Devil Believes are further examples of how Stryper have gotten even heavier in more recent years, and while their lyrical content is still centered on Christian and religious themes, it's not as over the top as it came across back in the '80s. Killer stuff, and one of 2022's top heavy metal albums.
Track Listing
1 Transgressor
2 See No Evil, Hear No Evil
3 Same Old Story
4 Heart & Soul
5 Near
6 Out, Up & in
7 Rise to the Call
8 The Way, the Truth, the Life
9 No Rest for the Wicked
10 Til Death Do Us Part
11 Ashes to Ashes
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