Bands That Are Better Now

Who are some bands that were active back in the day that you feel are putting out better music now than they did back then? Two come to my mind:

Stryper: From NMHtP on, they've just killed it. Any new Stryper is a blind buy for me. 

Trytan: I like all 3 of their studio releases, but Blood of Kings just blew me away. I didn't think they'd top Sylentiger, but they did! 

What are some of your picks?

Congrats on the thread, a new direction, I like it.

Was just about to give some input and then noticed your new profile picture and was, quite frankly, shocked.  It looks like you are strangling a cat or small child?  Please say it ain't so Pastor Pope.

wintersdawn wrote:Congrats on the thread, a new direction, I like it.

Was just about to give some input and then noticed your new profile picture and was, quite frankly, shocked.  It looks like you are strangling a cat or small child?  Please say it ain't so Pastor Pope.

It's actually me reenacting The Lion King with my son.

Ok PP, I'll believe ya 

Immediately I thought of Broken Flesh.

.

Stryper is definitely better now.

Impellitteri's last few are their best.

Hortor's last album is the best thing he's done.

Pretty much all the old Christian Thrash bands that have re-united are WORSE now.

In general, I think that most bands get worse as they go on so I can think of many more

Definitely Trytan, first band that came to mind. Also, Messenger isn't an old band so maybe they don't count but the last album blew the first two away.

Son of Nun wrote:Stryper is definitely better now.

Impellitteri's last few are their best.

Hortor's last album is the best thing he's done.

Pretty much all the old Christian Thrash bands that have re-united are WORSE now.

In general, I think that most bands get worse as they go on so I can think of many more

Agreed on Stryper

Agreed with Nature of the Beast because it is my favorite Impellitteri. To that point I thought the last three albums had gotten progressively better with Wicked Maiden being slightly less than the classic material, Venom being on the level and NotB being above.

Haven't followed Hortor beyond Dios de dioses. They are actually the subject of controversy, selling things they do not make good on. I actually purchased said album from the band and they never sent it. I ended up ordering it elsewhere 7 months later after not getting any response to my inquiries. I figured it was a one off mistake until I found online that this was common for others and that they also sell/sold bootleg T-shirts. I hope they are more okay than testimonies would imply. I prefer Ancient Satanic Rituals Are Crushed To Dust to Dios de dioses personally.

Agreed on your other comments as well.

Saint - I won't say better but a long consistent run since they came back. Too Late For Living is still my favorite but several of their new albums top all the rest.

Demon Hunter - now owning all their albums I can say they've gotten generally better as they have gone along. Not a fan of the early style and a "classic" like Tryptich is nearly on the bottom of my list.

Disciple - like Demon Hunter, not my style in the past, playing more my style today.

Frozen Fire wrote:

Son of Nun wrote:Stryper is definitely better now.

Impellitteri's last few are their best.

Hortor's last album is the best thing he's done.

Pretty much all the old Christian Thrash bands that have re-united are WORSE now.

In general, I think that most bands get worse as they go on so I can think of many more

Agreed on Stryper

Agreed with Nature of the Beast because it is my favorite Impellitteri. To that point I thought the last three albums had gotten progressively better with Wicked Maiden being slightly less than the classic material, Venom being on the level and NotB being above.

Haven't followed Hortor beyond Dios de dioses. They are actually the subject of controversy, selling things they do not make good on. I actually purchased said album from the band and they never sent it. I ended up ordering it elsewhere 7 months later after not getting any response to my inquiries. I figured it was a one off mistake until I found online that this was common for others and that they also sell/sold bootleg T-shirts. I hope they are more okay than testimonies would imply. I prefer Ancient Satanic Rituals Are Crushed To Dust to Dios de dioses personally.

Agreed on your other comments as well.

Saint - I won't say better but a long consistent run since they came back. Too Late For Living is still my favorite but several of their new albums top all the rest.

Demon Hunter - now owning all their albums I can say they've gotten generally better as they have gone along. Not a fan of the early style and a "classic" like Tryptich is nearly on the bottom of my list.

Disciple - like Demon Hunter, not my style in the past, playing more my style today.

Saint: Time’s End is still my favorite, but I agree that they’ve been consistent and their recent stuff certainly holds its own with the classics.

Demon Hunter: The last one I got from them was Outlive, which was quite good. But The Triptych, Storm the Gates of Hell, and The World Is a Thorn are still my favorites.

Disciple: I don’t own anything prior to the self-titled, but I will say that Horseshoes and Hand Grenades is my favorite from them. I LOVE that album.

I wouldn‘t go so far to say Stryper are better now because their 5 first albums (yes, IGWT too) are bona fide classics and some (not all) songs aged like fine wine. When To Hell With The Devil Comes On I still get goosebumps to this day…

But I agree the new albums, in particular Fallen and NMHTP, but (to a slightly lesser degree) also GDE and ETDB are just as good as the old stuff, which I find truly amazing. Murder ByPride isn‘t half bad either btw.

I was away from the Christian metal scene after Against The Law and had no clue Stryper were still active. It was such a pleasant surprise to find out they were but even more to discover that their new stuff is so good.

Raegoul wrote:I wouldn‘t go so far to say Stryper are better now because their 5 first albums (yes, IGWT too) are bona fide classics and some (not all) songs aged like fine wine. When To Hell With The Devil Comes On I still get goosebumps to this day…

But I agree the new albums, in particular Fallen and NMHTP, but (to a slightly lesser degree) also GDE and ETDB are just as good as the old stuff, which I find truly amazing. Murder ByPride isn‘t half bad either btw.

I was away from the Christian metal scene after Against The Law and had no clue Stryper were still active. It was such a pleasant surprise to find out they were but even more to discover that their new stuff is so good.

This seems like a great place for me to say once more that In God We Trust is great. And yes, better than THwtD. 

Pethead wrote:

Raegoul wrote:I wouldn‘t go so far to say Stryper are better now because their 5 first albums (yes, IGWT too) are bona fide classics and some (not all) songs aged like fine wine. When To Hell With The Devil Comes On I still get goosebumps to this day…

But I agree the new albums, in particular Fallen and NMHTP, but (to a slightly lesser degree) also GDE and ETDB are just as good as the old stuff, which I find truly amazing. Murder ByPride isn‘t half bad either btw.

I was away from the Christian metal scene after Against The Law and had no clue Stryper were still active. It was such a pleasant surprise to find out they were but even more to discover that their new stuff is so good.

This seems like a great place for me to say once more that In God We Trust is great. And yes, better than THwtD. 

The only way to settle that question would be a  *cough* Stryper ranking thread *cough*

Raegoul wrote:

Pethead wrote:

Raegoul wrote:I wouldn‘t go so far to say Stryper are better now because their 5 first albums (yes, IGWT too) are bona fide classics and some (not all) songs aged like fine wine. When To Hell With The Devil Comes On I still get goosebumps to this day…

But I agree the new albums, in particular Fallen and NMHTP, but (to a slightly lesser degree) also GDE and ETDB are just as good as the old stuff, which I find truly amazing. Murder ByPride isn‘t half bad either btw.

I was away from the Christian metal scene after Against The Law and had no clue Stryper were still active. It was such a pleasant surprise to find out they were but even more to discover that their new stuff is so good.

This seems like a great place for me to say once more that In God We Trust is great. And yes, better than THwtD. 

The only way to settle that question would be a  *cough* Stryper ranking thread *cough*

You know, I was thinking of doing one, but I was afraid people were getting tired of them...

Pethead wrote:

Raegoul wrote:

Pethead wrote:

Raegoul wrote:I wouldn‘t go so far to say Stryper are better now because their 5 first albums (yes, IGWT too) are bona fide classics and some (not all) songs aged like fine wine. When To Hell With The Devil Comes On I still get goosebumps to this day…

But I agree the new albums, in particular Fallen and NMHTP, but (to a slightly lesser degree) also GDE and ETDB are just as good as the old stuff, which I find truly amazing. Murder ByPride isn‘t half bad either btw.

I was away from the Christian metal scene after Against The Law and had no clue Stryper were still active. It was such a pleasant surprise to find out they were but even more to discover that their new stuff is so good.

This seems like a great place for me to say once more that In God We Trust is great. And yes, better than THwtD. 

The only way to settle that question would be a  *cough* Stryper ranking thread *cough*

You know, I was thinking of doing one, but I was afraid people were getting tired of them...

Then I‘d say you got another think coming bro 

For me, it would be Lordchain, Stryper, and Saint.

I think Saint’s post-2000 output is equal overall to their 80s stuff, but nothing tops Time’s End for me.

Frozen Fire wrote:

Son of Nun wrote:Stryper is definitely better now.

Impellitteri's last few are their best.

Hortor's last album is the best thing he's done.

Pretty much all the old Christian Thrash bands that have re-united are WORSE now.

In general, I think that most bands get worse as they go on so I can think of many more

Agreed on Stryper

Agreed with Nature of the Beast because it is my favorite Impellitteri. To that point I thought the last three albums had gotten progressively better with Wicked Maiden being slightly less than the classic material, Venom being on the level and NotB being above.

Haven't followed Hortor beyond Dios de dioses. They are actually the subject of controversy, selling things they do not make good on. I actually purchased said album from the band and they never sent it. I ended up ordering it elsewhere 7 months later after not getting any response to my inquiries. I figured it was a one off mistake until I found online that this was common for others and that they also sell/sold bootleg T-shirts. I hope they are more okay than testimonies would imply. I prefer Ancient Satanic Rituals Are Crushed To Dust to Dios de dioses personally.

Agreed on your other comments as well.

Saint - I won't say better but a long consistent run since they came back. Too Late For Living is still my favorite but several of their new albums top all the rest.

I haven't been able to get into the early Impellitteri stuff that much but love Wicked Maiden on.

I know about the controversy with Hortor but I really hope it's a thing of the past. Fredy (the main man) says that people don't know the whole story. I don't know. What I do know is that I've personally ordered from him twice (once in 2020 and once this year) and he delivered both times. The first was through Discogs and the second was by direct message on Facebook. There were some delays the second time and I had to get on his case but he eventually sent my (rather sizeable) order and included some extras. I'm friends with him on Facebook and I've seen him posting the packages he's sending while at the P.O. and seen other people say they got their stuff so if there was a problem in the past, I really hope he's turned over a new leaf. I also think Dios de Dioses was a down album, but I believe that Dharma Esencia de Impureza is easily Hortor's best.

I haven't listened to later Saint too much but I do like In the Battle. I have all the others up until Josh Kramer was not the vocalist (can't bring myself to listen to those right now), but need to listen more. I think it will be hard to top the early stuff.

One band that I have revisited on occasion on youtube is Leviticus and listened to most of their 4 or 5 albums. I recently took the plunge and ordered all the CDs on Girder and the vinyl to Setting Fire and Knights of Heaven. I had I shall Conquer cassette back in the 80s and didn't care for it that much. I've never had their other albums. After hearing I Shall Conquer on youtube I appreciate it more. They have gottne better with each album. I also ordered the Live at Bobfest and the Bjorn Stisson CD he did in 1987. 

I have to agree with the posts above. My 2 favorite bands #1 Stryper and #2 Impellitteri has released some great stuff recently. The 4 newest albums from Stryper are my top spots of their album ranking. Impellitteri has released some awesome albums in the 90s like Screaming Symphony and Answer to the Master. Their recent albums are great to like Wicked Maiden, Venom and The Nature of the Beast. There are 2 or 3 songs on Venom that are ok but the other 9 or 10 songs are good. I have THe Nature of the Beast on vinyl and on CD as a Japanese import with different artwork and with a bonus disc that has music performance videos.

Also, after their foible with the female vocalist, I would have to say that I enjoy the new album by The Brave ever bit as much as I did "Trust".  I won't say they are "better", but they are definitely on par with earlier output and poised to top it.

alldatndensum wrote:Also, after their foible with the female vocalist, I would have to say that I enjoy the new album by The Brave ever bit as much as I did "Trust".  I won't say they are "better", but they are definitely on par with earlier output and poised to top it.

I would agree - in fact I think The Brave's new album is possibly their best yet overall.

Pantokrator is better than they used to be.   They began in 1996 so that is a 25 year career.

Messenger (U.S.), Lordchain, and All For The King are much better now than when they first started.

I’m probably alone in this, but I think Waiting in Darkness is the best thing Sacred Warrior ever did. In general, I think each of their albums improved on the previous one.

Pretty much all the old Christian Thrash bands that have re-united are WORSE now. wrote:
In general, I think that most bands get worse as they go on so I can think of many more

Hopefully, Temple of Blood can improve and break that trend if they ever end up making another one.

average joe wrote:

Pretty much all the old Christian Thrash bands that have re-united are WORSE now. wrote:
In general, I think that most bands get worse as they go on so I can think of many more

Hopefully, Temple of Blood can improve and break that trend if they ever end up making another one.

I think folks here will think we are better than before. We definitely have some of our fastest material on this album so we have not tried to go "groove" like so many others.

I also expect that Consecrator have continued to improve and expect that when they record again that it will be just as good and heavy as before.

Temple of Blood wrote:

average joe wrote:

Pretty much all the old Christian Thrash bands that have re-united are WORSE now. wrote:
In general, I think that most bands get worse as they go on so I can think of many more

Hopefully, Temple of Blood can improve and break that trend if they ever end up making another one.

I think folks here will think we are better than before.  We definitely have some of our fastest material on this album so we have not tried to go "groove" like so many others.

I also expect that Consecrator have continued to improve and expect that when they record again that it will be just as good and heavy as before.

I hope you have incorporated some shouting in place of the Prince Valiant singing. I think the operatic vocals detract from the thrash vibe. Even Jimmy Brown realized that before he made What A Joke.