metalmaniac777

This finally got released this week and being a pretty big The Brave fan, I snatched it up. A whole lot better than the last abomination they released, but still a long way off from the glory days of their debut. Still, there's a handful of good songs, including this one, which is probably the closest they come to their early sound.

That's actually better than I expected...

13 hours ago, Geoff said:

...I hear they're still doing this Jesus rubbish. 

'I've always wondered' - a visual nightmare and horrendous lyrics.

A Christian band singing about Jesus? The shock! The horror! 

The video for "I've Always Wondered" is ... not good. But the song's got a pretty good chorus, IMO.

9 hours ago, auslander said:

First two albums were classic so am hopeful about this one. I'm even more keen for the new Trytan release that I have pre-ordered from Soundmass.

Not sure I'd call the 2nd album "classic" but it was a solid enough hard rock album. I wasn't even aware Trytan had a new release coming out, but they were never one of my favorite bands anyway.

On 5/21/2021 at 8:55 AM, tts42572 said:

...this one sounds like Eclipse doing a song written by Bon Jovi.

Exactly. And it works surprisingly well, in my opinion. A lot of people were complaining in the past that Eclipse had started to sound same-y, so it's good to hear them doing something (slightly) different. I'm actually a little surprised by how many "meh" comments are on this thread.

On 5/15/2021 at 3:39 AM, Glen said:

why is it i can never understand a word that Sweet is on about - is it just me.

But yeah aside from that those songs are pretty weak 

No, it's not just you. Sweet just massively over-sings these days. But don't tell him that--he continues to insist that he's never sounded better, because the guy just can't take criticism. And I say all that as a bona fide Michael Sweet fan.

On topic, this Sunbomb album is ... not good.

The album is actually pretty solid, but that song ... Good God, what were they thinking, right? But hey, it was an experiment and they seemed to learn from their mistake as there was nothing like that on the next album ("Even the Devil Believes").

Solid stuff, and eons betters than the last atrocity they released.

Those samples give me hope where previously I had none, given what a disaster "Rise" was. Obviously they're never going to touch the brilliance of their debut, but you can hear the hooks & harmonies and they do indeed sound pretty damned solid. That female vocalist was always a mistake, so it was great to see they jettisoned that failed experiment. New singer is no James Salters, but he gets the job done.

I like Sweet's voice (despite his tendency to over-sing) but that song ... yeah, it's not good.

3 hours ago, nyoilers said:

Whatever happened to KarpetRydOFunk ???

 

He just posted yesterday, under my "Messenger" thread in the Christian Rock/Metal section.

1 hour ago, KarpetRydOFunk said:

Well, that's certainly much better than I expected. 

That's how I felt when I checked them out. Went in thinking, "This is gonna suck," and came out the other side saying, "Not too shabby." That's the best song (IMO) but the whole album is a pretty solid slab of classic-styled Christian metal.

Indie Christian metal band with a classic, old-school sound. If you're into bands like Sacred Warrior, Barren Cross, etc., you should give a listen to what these guys are cranking out. 

Doesn't come close to the level of their classic albums, but for a band that's been cranking 'em out for half a century, it's a pretty solid effort, easily the best thing they've done since "Razor's Edge" (the pinnacle of their career, in my opinion). I went in expecting another throwaway effort and came away with a half-dozen no-frills rock songs that get the job done. Yeah, half the album is filler junk, but that's pretty typical for an AC/DC release.

15 hours ago, AlphaMale said:

Just don't tell him that or you'll feel the wrath! LOL

Quite true. Mr. Sweet does not take kindly to criticism these days. According to him, Stryper is better than they've ever been, he sings 10X better than he did back in the '80s, and "Against the Law" is their worst album ever.

I think this one is probably the best of their "comeback" output. It's got some of those signature '80s elements (mainly the harmonies and guitar licks) but filtered through a heavier, modern-metallic vibe. It's a solid Christian metal album, more consistent than their last several, but even a die-hard Stryper fan like myself can admit that AlphaMale is right in that Michael Sweet tends to over-sing these days. Not enough to ruin the songs, in my opinion, but the guy could definitely stand to dial it back a bit.

8 hours ago, Dead Planet said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53648638

If anyone looks at that picture and gets sexually aroused, do us all a favor and kill yourself now.

New song ("Make Love Great Again") is OK in a filler sort of way and will probably go down fine with the Stryper faithful, but it's certainly not good enough to convert any nonbelievers (kinda-sorta pun fully intended).

Samples up on iTunes. Won't convert any non-believers (lame pun fully intended) but the Stryper faithful should be happy enough.

First single shows the holy bumblebees are sticking to the metallic end of the spectrum this time around. Sweet has promised this will be a "metal" album. Not a bad song, but I'm hoping for better.

8 hours ago, KarpetRydOFunk said:

They really love that colour palette. 

I actually think this is one of their better album covers, but yeah, it's time to switch up the design next time around.

I actually like this band and own most of their previous releases, but this one just didn't hit the mark for me. Not horrible or anything like that, but a step down in songwriting quality compared to their earlier output.

10 hours ago, zacharyamelie said:

...and “Rock Your Body,,” which is unanimously accepted as the weakest track, should have been buried in the middle somewhere. 

Not unanimously, because I think "Rock Your Body" is great (total ear-worm for me) and think "We Are Gods" is the weak point of the album.

I just picked up the Neon Cross: s/t reissue from them a few weeks ago. They were great to deal with, even threw in a discount code since it was my first purchase. They've got some nice stuff on there for sure.

Just gave it a listen. Schlitt still sounds pretty darn good and there are a handful of okay classic-rock-style songs, but this ain't a patch on his Petra days. But hey, props to him for still being in the rock 'n' roll game.