Rich’s Rapidfire Recommendations – bite-sized metal morsels to let you know about albums that have grabbed Rich Davenport by the ears, that we hope you’ll enjoy too! ROCK ON!
Artist: STRYPER
Album: “Fallen”
Label: Frontiers Music Srl
Released: October 16th, 2015
Stryper, Fallen Track Listing
1. “Yahweh”
2. “Fallen”
3. “Pride”
4. “Big Screen Lies”
5. “Heaven”
6. “Love You Like I Do”
7. “All Over Again”
8. “After Forever”
9. “Till I Get What I Need”
10. “Let There Be Light”
11. “The Calling”
12. “King of Kings”
Stryper – Fallen. Odd though it may sound, the song with the most in-yer-face Christian lyrics on “Fallen” was written by Black Sabbath! If you’re a fan of the Sabs, you may well own it already, in its original guise as track two on the “Master of Reality” album, “After Forever”. In the Metal genre, most fans are savvy enough to realise that the age of the musicians is irrelevant, and that many bands are maturing like fine wines, improving their playing and songcraft through years of honing their skills. Stryper are a clear case in point, having gone so far as to say that they feel they’re now the band they’ve always wanted to be. Previous album “No More Hell To Pay” was greeted with rabid enthusiasm from their following, with many fans being of the opinion that it was their finest release ever. Would they be able to match that level of quality with their subsequent record? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” “Fallen” rams home eleven strong new original songs and a powerful version of that Sabbath number, and also sees Stryper honing their sound so that the melody of vintage tracks like “Calling On You” is now blended with the heaviness the likes of “To Hell With The Devil”, distilling the best of both worlds into each of these twelve titles. “Fallen” is one of the best classic-style Heavy Metal albums I’ve heard all year.
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 