Stryken a Chord for Christian Metal Music
The eighties had some Christian Metal bands with personality. You’ve no doubt heard of Stryper but have you heard of Stryken? Starting out in Arizona the Band started out with the name Stryker, founded by Dale and Steve Streiker in the 70’s. They hired a drummer by the name of Joey Knight, moved to Austin, Texas and added lbassist, Ezekiel Vade, completing the band. The band created their own record label, Chrystal records on which they released singles and their debut album “First Strike”.
With Stryper becoming more and more popular, the band changed its name to Stryken because the names were too similar. They were sometimes branded as a Stryper copycat band, but their sound has its own distinct sound.
The band members used stage names to conceal their identities. A glam metal band with a flair for drama, the band was once escorted out of a Motley Crue concert in San Antonio, Texas and detained for carrying a wooden cross wearing full body armor representing the armor of God. They were later released without being charged. The “armor” concept came from the Ephesians 6:11 description of the armor of God. The band was criticized by some Christians for their violent tones in songs such as “Crush the Head of Satan” which eluded to passages in the Bible, namely Genesis 3:15. Stryken was an 80’s band radiating a rock/metal sound with their own unique biblical twist. Not as popular as Stryper, Stryken made some noise in their own time.
https://youtu.be/xpTXUGU_KRw?t=40
Stryken – 1987 – Fisrt Stryke (Christian Hard Rock) Complete Album
Pastor Ricardo Castro
