Stryper

Heavy metal has been associated with ol' Beelzebub ever since its inception, but there have been a few acts who took the opposite route and put their Christian beliefs in hard rocking songs, such as Stryper. Formed in Orange County CA in 1983, the group was originally known as Roxx Regime, and consisted of singer/guitarist/main songwriter Michael Sweet, drummer Robert Sweet, lead guitarist Oz Fox, and bassist Timothy Gaines. It wasn't until the group changed their name to Stryper (which stood for "Salvation Through Redemption Yielding Peace Encouragement and Righteousness") that things really began taking off for the quartet. Specializing in the melodic Van Halen/Def Leppard style (with heart-wrenching power ballads tossed in), dressed in all black-and-yellow outfits, and spreading their religious message even further by tossing bibles out into the crowd at their shows, Stryper was signed by the Enigma label in 1984. The same year, the group's debut recording, a six-track mini album titled The Yellow & Black Attack, was issued.

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