Far from mellowing with the passage of time, a rejuvenated Stryper is back with their 10th and most incendiary and powerful album – God Damn Evil. Set to be released on April 20 on Frontiers Records, the album sees the band step up with an 11-song collection of music that is as heavy – if not heavier – than anything the have done in their 35-year career.
Coming from the same era as the likes of Motley Crue, Ratt, WASP and later Poison and Gun ‘N Roses, Stryper was in the same magazines, getting similar airplay on rock radio and MTV, wearing makeup, poofing up their hair, and incorporating the big light shows as all their contemporaries – but with a difference. Rather than embracing the ‘live fast, die young’ nihilistic mantra of the metal scene of the day, they were overt Christians who sang about their love for God in the midst of pounding drums, big riffs and raucous guitar solos. Soaring above it all was the wailing, perfect-pitched and potent voice of lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Michael Sweet.
Joining Sweet in the band since its inception are his brother Robert on drums, and lead guitarist Ox Fox. Newcomer Perry Richardson joined the band in time for the recording of God Damn Evil laying down some thunderous bass lines.
God Damn Evil was recorded over a short period of time towards the end of 2017 with mixing and mastering happening earlier in 2018. Sweet said between all of his other projects, there was a short window of time to write the music for the album, but he said he has found that some of his best work has come when there is the most compressed schedule.
“I had sort of been thinking about it and had a couple of little ideas last summer, but I always kept saying October, October, October to myself until all of a sudden October had arrived and I had about 10 days until the guys were coming out to my house and I had no songs. Under that pressure I just locked myself in a room and wrote the album. Oz sent me a couple of ideas and Robert came up with the title a few years back, but for the most part it was just me alone in a room for hours on end and I just cranked out the songs,” he said.
“I guarantee you, if you asked me to write you two albums and I wrote you an album in a week and then wrote you another album and spent six months doing it, you would prefer the album written in a week; I bet my house on that. There is something about my personality, the way my mind works where I am able to really focus under pressure and not sterilize and over-perfect things. When I have lots of time to write I tend to focus too much on it, actually I don’t focus on it as much. I tend to try to make it better and better and better and overshoot the mark. And sometimes I just wreck the song. I much prefer writing under pressure and writing fast.”
There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the release of God Damn Evil, but unfortunately as often happens in the social media saturated culture we live in, a not insignificant amount of it has been critical and negative. Sweet said even though he is used to it, it’s still unfortunate that people still find it necessary to lash out at Stryper.
“People have a problem with Stryper if we were to wear the wrong underwear, you know what I mean? Literally, it seems like no matter what we do or how we do it, someone has a problem with it. And I guess that happens to any band who has been around as long as we have been and which has any kind of a profile out there. I am not crying about that or complaining about it because I know it’s par for the course anytime you’re in the spotlight and any time you have an opinion or say something,” he said.
“But we seem to get the extra special treatment because of who we are and what we stand for. With this album, first of all, people had a problem with the title. A good number of folks thought we were swearing or taking God’s name in vain or being controversial and shocking just to be controversial and shocking. And then we released the first single, which was Take it to the Cross and people had a problem with that. They said it doesn’t sound like Stryper and that they hated the chorus, or because they thought the song was too heavy. Many of our fans have asked for that kind of heavy for years, so we gave it to them and people complained. And then we released the second single, Sorry, and there was a lot less complaining, but those who did said it was too light.
“You never do your art to please other people because you’re never going to please them. You do it for yourself and you do it for the love of it and for the passion of it and you hope for the best – people either get it or they don’t. And there is absolutely a lot of truth to the adage that if people aren’t talking about you – good, bad or otherwise – you’re in trouble.”
Unlike many artists of his stature, Sweet does most of his own social media and isn’t afraid to put his opinion out there on various issues, including his Christian faith. So, he’s developed a thick skin and is learning how to deal with the increasing number of internet trolls who feel emboldened by the supposed anonymity of the internet.
“Oh man, it really is a comedy show sometimes for us, because if we don’t laugh at it, we’re just going to get angry about it. And sadly, the world we live in now, with the internet, it seems more out of control than ever in terms of people taking their shots and having their opinions whether they are unfounded or not. I have no issues with opinions. I love opinions, I ask people for opinions all the time. But the thing I don’t like, and people misunderstand and misinterpret this big time, is if somebody goes on my page after I have asked for an opinion on something, like doing a thrash song for example. Most people will go on and say yes or no and why. But then one guy comes on and says, ‘you suck,’” he said.
“I will then call him out and ask why he on is the page and we will get into a back and forth and I will eventually ban them. That same person will go to another site and talk about what a jerk I am because I didn’t allow them to have their opinion. I am one of those guys who calls people out if they’re just being rude and disrespectful and nasty. I won’t put up with people’s B.S., I never have and even more so these days, it’s not who I am. And if people don’t like that or they get offended by that then, hey, whatever. I know a lot of people are just doing it for attention and just to score some views online, but Michael Sweet won’t put with it at all. I have no patience for it.”
God Damn Evil is a heavier album that perhaps some people would have expected from Stryper circa 2018. But if you have been paying attention to Sweet’s creative output of late, you can see that he is returning to a form of music that first infused his desire to be a musician in the first place – hard rock and metal.
“The goal with the last couple of albums, especially since No More Hell to Pay [2013] was to get back to our roots. We did kind of wander away from those roots and venture into new territory, not that that’s always bad. We’ve kind of always been a heavy metal band and we stopped being a heavy metal band to some degree. Now we’re a heavy metal band again. We do still have songs that are more on the ballad range and a little more on the lighter side, but they are still rock and edgy and guitar oriented and straight up hard rock and metal. We have always been a metal band and we are again, and it feels good. It feels like we have come full circle, it just took us a little while to do it,” he said.
“Listen, when we started playing in clubs as Roxx and then Roxx Regime and then eventually Stryper, we went in and rocked. We cranked up the amps, our music was influenced by Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Van Halen and Scorpions – all those bands. That’s who we are. And for me, again, it’s one of those things where I’ve got back to the roots of who I am. My last solo album, One Sided War [2016] is as every bit as heavy as God Damn Evil. It’s definitely a metal album for sure.
“But I think I do it a little bit differently. I have this way of combining the guitar and the metal riffs, the pounding drums and being real heavy, and then vocally it kind of goes somewhere else – a little more melodic, a little bit of a different style of delivery. And I am not saying I am better or worse than anyone else, just different.”
He said as a kid, he and his brother Robert would sit and listen to records and jam to them in the family garage. The repertoire included classics of both the metal and melodic rock genres of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
“If you got back to 1982 and you’re sitting on our garage floor watching me paint the walls yellow and black, and you’re listening to the same music we’re listening to on a boom box in the corner, you’re going to hear Iron Maiden’s Run to the Hills, you’re going to hear Judas Priest’s British Steel. But then you’re also going to hear Loverboy, and you’re going to hear Journey and Night Ranger, because we love those bands as much as we love Maiden, Priest and all the metal stuff that we grew up on,” he said, adding that even though they have added a thrash element and some guttural vocals to God Damn Evil, they weren’t into thrash metal so much back in those early days.
“And nothing against Metallica, probably the world’s most successful metal band of all time, but it’s a different style of metal. Back in 1982 or 1983 you would never have heard us playing early Metallica. We respect Metallica a lot, but we weren’t listening to that style of stuff back them. We were listening to stuff with more melody, the metal that had melody and the soaring vocals. When you have a really strong melody that fits the music, it goes in and it stays in for people, whether you want it out of your head or not. There is something to be said or that hook, line and sinker; when you hook someone with a melody or with a delivery or what have you. I have always been drawn to the bands that are masters of doing that, and its one of the things I have tried to do with all my whether it’s Stryper, my solo stuff or the stuff I do with George Lynch [Sweet & Lynch].”
Central to every Stryper album since their debut Yellow and Black Attack in 1984 is the Christian faith shared by all four members of the band, including newcomer, bassist Richardson. But Sweet and his bandmates are not in the business of proselytizing, or trying to actively woo adherents to their faith, but simply to use the music as a vehicle to express that faith in the form of stories and personal reflections. There is no brow beating or Bible thumping, but there is also no sugar coating or downplaying of their faith.
“Everyone knows that we believe in God. And everyone knows that we have a deep faith in God, and we put our trust and faith in God. We read the Bible, we go to church, we pray, and we believe that after this life on earth, we’re all going to go to another place, and hopefully that place is the better of the two options. So, that being said, we do want to inspire and encourage people to make that same decision to have a relationship with God and to believe that there is a God and to pray to God, absolutely,” Sweet said.
“What we are not about is forcing people to do that or pushing people to do that. I have a lot of followers on social media and some friends like George Lynch, a peer that I do music with, who are atheists. And a lot of the Christian people that follow me or who are familiar with me, they scratch their heads and say to themselves, ‘how can that be? How can Michael Sweet work with a guy that’s an atheist.’ It’s called opening your mind. Open your mind to loving and respecting one another regardless of differences of opinion, regardless of differences in association or religion, regardless of different politics. Who cares about that? But, sadly, those issues separate and divide people to the point of hate.
“That’s the reason from day one that we played in bars and went on tour with non-Christian bands like Motley Crue. We rarely play churches too. And people kind of look at us funny when we say that, or they say we shouldn’t be playing in bars because it’s not Christian. We still live, to a degree, in the dark ages even though it’s 2018. Why would anyone ask a question like that if they knew what it means to be a Christian?”
The proof is in the statistical pudding too, as more than 2/3 of people who attend Stryper shows and who buy their music do not identify as Christian. They simply love the music and if they happen to pick up a little bit of the message, then all’s the better according to Sweet.
“We see it on a daily basis by talking to people online and in person. People that are atheists, people that are Satanists, people that are agnostic, people that are Muslims – you name it and they are Stryper fans. They like the music, they like the sound, they like the positive approach, they like this or that. Whatever it is, it’s just amazing to me. That speak volumes and it tells us that we’re doing something right,” he said.
As for the songs on God Damn Evil, the message may come from a Christian point of view, but they resonate with people from across a broad spectrum. The title track is basically a cry for help to rid the world of the ills that are harming people – particularly the young and vulnerable.
“It’s kind of pointing at the internet, the computer age and all the craziness that we see online. There are kids killing themselves because they are bullied online. What kind of a world is that? So, we’re crying out, ‘God damn evil! God damn it all. God save the people, but also God damn the walls. Those are the walls we put between ourselves with our words and with our hate, with our divisions. We build walls and we’re asking God to save us from that. We are asking ‘will you please save us. Will you please damn and condemn evil,” he said, adding that the first single, Take it to the Cross, is about how in times of crisis or uncertainty there is a way to help get through those trying and stressful moments.
“Lyrically, it’s about the state of the society that we live in right now with all these opposing opinions and no one agreeing with one another, no common ground. So, Michael, Oz, Robert and Perry are saying with that song, why don’t you take it to the cross. In other words, why don’t you take it to God and ask God to help? Why don’t you pray about it, why don’t you get on your knees instead of just yap, yap, yap back and forth and spouting off in ways that are often disrespectful, angry or hateful. Why don’t you get on your knees and take it to the cross? Or anything that’s in your life that you are worried about; when was the last time you took it to the cross? That’s what it’s actually about.
“Musically it’s a very heavy metal tune that borders on thrash when it gets to the chorus. It’s the first time we have ever brought in a guy to record and perform a death growl, a guy by the name of Matt Bachand from Shadows Fall and Act of Defiance, and he killed it. Musically, it’s one of the heaviest songs we have ever done, and like I said earlier, seems to be one that really is splitting opinion. But we’re okay with that.”
Sweet said there are already more than 40 shows booked for Stryper for 2018 and expects the calendar to fill up right until the end of the year, with shows expected throughout North America, Europe and elsewhere. The band is also working on an acoustic album and a documentary for release sometime in 2019. He told Music Life Magazine that Stryper will definitely be coming to Canada.
“We always try to get to Canada, just for the Tim Hortons alone man!” he said.
As if that didn’t keep Sweet busy enough, he recently released the second Sweet & Lynch album Unified and is also working with Whitesnake/Trans-Siberian Orchestra axe slinger Joel Hoekstra on an album, as well as penning material for another Michael Sweet solo record.
For more information, visit www.stryper.com, or http://www.michaelsweet.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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