Brothers Michael (vocals and guitar) and drummer Robert Sweet, guitarist Oz Fox, joined by new bassist Tracy Ferrie are celebrating 25 years of Christian hard rock/heavy metal with their latest album "Murder By Pride". After being "Reborn" on the last album and taking a more modern rock approach, I was expecting something similar with "Murder by Pride" but ended up being pleasantly surprised.

The opening guitar sound in ‘4 Leaf Clover’ sent chills down my spine and the guitar solo left my jaw unaligned. This is metal folks! The twin guitars are back in effect (‘My Love, I’ll Always Show’), the guitar solos are blazing (‘Eclipse of the Son’) and the songs have more in common with "To Hell With The Devil" than "Reborn" (just for the record, I am actually a fan of "Reborn", just prefer the bands older sound).

‘Alive’ is an excellent ballad that stands up to the likes of ‘Honestly’ and can easily become a crowd favorite causing lighters to be held in the air. The title track is also a major standout with a great thick guitar sound taking the listener way back to the band’s beginning. A great cover of Boston’s ‘Peace of Mind’ is included in this platter of songs which features Boston’s guitarist Tom Scholz.

"Murder By Pride" is overall one of the bands' very best albums to date and having recently seen them live I can tell you that these songs fit right in with the classics that we know and love. There is no shortage of great melodies, Michael is nailing the high notes with ease and the guitar harmonies are just priceless. Having come from the same time period of Def Leppard and Bon Jovi I am glad to see that someone has stuck to their roots and not forgotten where they came from.

By the grace of God, Stryper will keep on rocking LOUD N’ CLEAR!