As old as Methuselah, Stryper remarkably just seem to get heavier the older they get…

On their thirteenth studio full-length, The Final Battle, they once again find the happy knack of fusing nagging melodies and punishing riffs with pleasing effect; And, perhaps most miraculously, the voice of singer Michael Sweet remains, gloriously intact as the band go deeper into a fifth decade of operation. If the devil has the best tunes, then God definitely has the best singer…

So, whilst tracks like Till Death Do Us Part don’t in any way threaten Soldiers Under Command at the top of the Stryper songs league table, they do at least guarantee a fine old time if heavy yet melodic heavy metal floats your boat. Oz Fox and Sweet, despite a multitude of health and wellness issues, continue to form an utterly devastating axe partnership; the spitting, chugging riffs on Ashes to Ashes are truly formidable, as is the way the band transform the song into a singalong stormer when chorus time rolls along.

Robert Sweet continues his improbable transformation from glam metal drum showpony to flailing human battering ram – his performances throughout, especially on speed metal workouts like opening track Transgressor, where his brother’s opening scream sends a jolt down the spine of truly Biblical proportions – are incredibly impressive, whilst Perry Richardson must look back on his days in Firehouse and wonder where it all got so weird. In a good way, natch!

As ever, some may find the lyrical subject matter a bit much – and, once again, I would say that after thirty seven years of listening to Stryper I’m no closer to becoming a Bible basher than I was on day one – but to miss out on such glorious heavy metal as is available all over this album because you ‘don’t like the message’ is an act of self-denial of positively Apostolic size – so they’re going to get you one way or the other… Better to simply leave your pre-formed ideas at the Lychgate and concentrate on the job at hand. Which is to rock like a hurricane!

The Final Battle releases on October 21st.