Look, I know Christian music is dorky. For the most part, Christian bands use musical genres to market religion to young people in a way that seems cool and with-it. The music is a vehicle to deliver a message and that's all. That's why so much Christian music seems inauthentic – the artists are writing songs to appeal to young fans thirsty for wholesome versions of naughty secular bands. If you pay attention to the Christian music scene at all, it's easy to find popular groups like DC Talk and The Newsboys that genre-hop to keep up with musical fads because their passion lies in spreading religion, not the style of music they're couching the message in.
Because of this, Christian metal has always been a dicey proposition. Heavy metal is loud, aggressive, and frequently deals with taboo subject matter and flat out anti-Christian hostility. There's nothing about metal that's conducive to spreading the word of Jesus, and if there's one thing metal fans are good at it's sniffing out falses in our ranks. Still, there are bands that insist on trying, and Stryper is one of the oldest examples. The band started out as a Christian answer to hair metal miscreants like Mötley Crüe, but have recently evolved into a trad/power metal band. And it works. Stryper's 2013 album No More Hell to Pay is a legitimately good album if you're into this sort of metal. Now they're preparing to release a new album titled Fallen, and, judging by the track they just premiered, it's going to be another solid record. Yeah, the lyrics are overtly Christian, but if you're being honest with yourself, is that really any more goofy that, say, anything from Marduk? Satanism, Odinism, and other forms of paganism embraced by metalheads aren't any less dopey than Christianity, so just simmer down and enjoy "Yahweh" for what it is – a kick ass metal song.
