Christian Hard Rock
tagStarted 1983Peak 1986-1991Last big hit still active
Located in 3 routes
High-gain, riff-heavy rock with shredding leads, pounding drums and big, fist-in-the-air choruses, often pushing toward arena-metal territory. Powerful clean-belted vocals and overtly evangelistic lyrics ride muscular distortion. Heavier and more aggressive than mainstream Christian rock without crossing into extreme metal. Cross-listed in Hard Rock / Heavy Rock.
History
Stryper, formed 1983, broke the mold by taking spandex-and-stripes hard rock to MTV, landing 'Free' and 'Honestly' simultaneously in Dial MTV's Top 10 in 1987 and going platinum with 'To Hell with the Devil.' Skillet later carried the torch into the 2000s, with 'Monster' and 'Hero' going multi-platinum and crossing into mainstream active-rock radio.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stryper
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skillet_(band)
- https://www.learnreligions.com/biography-of-christian-hard-rock-band-stryper-709703