Frontiers Music Srl, 2025

Ever since Christian metalheads STRYPER reinvented themselves with their comeback album ‘No More Hell To Pay’ in 2013, the band has been thriving both in terms of quantity and quality of their releases. The four-piece also underwent some sonic rejuvenation when bassist and backing vocalist Perry Richardson joined the band in 2017 after Michael Sweet (lead vocals/guitars), Robert Sweet (drums) and Oz Fox (guitars) parted ways with bassist Tim Gaines (or vice versa?). Since then, STRYPER have released an album every other year, have toured extensively and show no sign of slowing down.

For the upcoming Christmas season, the band have fulfilled their own long-cherished wish by releasing a Christmas album, and that exclusively on physical media, because it’s easier to put those under the Christmas tree than a digital stream. And, of course, STRYPER aficionados know that this album, aptly entitled ‘The Greatest Gift of All’, isn’t the first Christmassy thing the Californians have put out. Forty years ago, the band released their first Christmas single (“Reason for the Season”), and, apparently, their fans have been asking for a full-length Christmas album ever since. So here it is.

The album contains five traditional and five original songs. To evoke a festive atmosphere, bells herald the title track, which has otherwise all the typical STRYPER characteristics: a driving rhythm section, hyper-melodic vocal lines and, in the chorus, a typical chord progression from major to minor that contributes significantly to the song’s catchiness. But, alas, it’s not just catchiness. Unfortunately, STRYPER are also a little too generous with the icing sugar they sprinkle on this track. This is certainly due to the Christmas theme of the album, but too sweet is just too sweet and, in the long run, can cause nausea. Great harmony vocals kick off “Go Tell It On The Mountain”, which STRYPER turn into a mid-tempo rocker with a cool twin-guitar section. Bells and winter winds make up the overture to “Heaven Came (On Christmas Day)”. After the groovy first verse, the quartet turn up the speed in the second verse and the track erupts into landmark STRYPER metal. And yes, there is also a certain amount of sugar coating on this track, especially on the chorus and, even more, on the middle-eight, but the twin-guitar solo makes up for it again. What STRYPER do to “Little Drummer Boy” is just grand – hardly surprisingly, Robert Sweet dominates the track. It takes a great deal of musical sensitivity and no less good taste to transform such a traditional Christmas carol into a credible heavy metal number, but here STRYPER prove they have both. “Still The Light” is perhaps the best song on the album and has every quality of a STRYPER metal track: crunchy guitars, a heavy groove and shining, anthemic vocals. It is also the song with the most sonic gravity and the least amount of festive sugar icing. Hardly surprising, the ensuing “Silent Night” is oozing with the latter. I guess this traditional German carol is best left to any third-rate church choir and any already more-than-half-drunk organist in any church in any remote Austrian mountain village on Christmas Eve. Seriously. Let’s move on. The bells – the album does feature quite a selection of them – at the beginning of “On This Holy Night” are reminiscent of AC/DC’s “Hells Bells”, the main riff with the choir accents evokes some sort symphonic metal feel. This rocker redeems the listener from the excessive kitsch of the preceding track and is also one of the best and most convincing numbers on the album. “Joy To The World” has a pleasant folky feel. The re-recorded version of “Reason for the Season” shines with a modern, crystal-clear sound and also shows that STRYPER have aged like fine wine, provided they refrain from serving overly sweet mulled wine. And once again: brilliant twin guitars. “Winter Wonderland” is not only the closing track but also the single off the album. The galloping rhythm section, the tongue-in-cheek feel and the rock ‘n’ roll attitude make this an excellent version, which ensures that a more than decent album with one or two minor low points in terms of questionable taste receives a great finale.

A Christmas album is always a challenge for any band and STRYPER manage to take on this challenge convincingly over long stretches and knock out a few powerful rockers on ‘The Greatest Gift of All’. If it will appeal to anyone outside their fan community I don’t know. What I do know is, though, is that the quartet prove that they still have everything under their belts that makes them a bona fide and relevant metal band.

4.0 Out Of 5.0