Vyper - Prepared To Strike (Reissue / Remastered) (2024) (FLAC)

The album has a crisp, crunchy production with highly melodic vocals that soar over the guitar riffs. Singer Christy Black is atypical for a glam metal singer, avoiding the squeaky and raspy high-pitched vocals that were the signature of groups like Cinderella. He has wide vocal range, with a smoothness to his voice closer to something like Rob Halford from Judas Priest.

Speaking of Judas Priest, the song “Dealer” sounds highly influenced by the faster tracks on albums such as Defenders of the Faith, with highly proud and epic, soaring heavy metal feel. It sounds hardly glam at all, but the glam is more evident in power ballads such as “Nighttime is Wild,” which relies on a dark but magical atmosphere combined with a glam-esque naïveté. A lot of the tracks have a tinge of AOR influence, such as “Cold as Stone,” but a majority of the songs like “I'm Not Waiting” and “She's Nasty” have the more typical glam metal vibe.

The biggest problem with this album is that there are too many mediocre tracks with awkward choruses, or that just aren't particularly catchy or emotive. “Can't Stop Dreaming” is pretty boring for example, and Black tends to be inconsistent with the amount of passion he puts into his performance, ranging from highly convincing to simply going through the motions.

This album is an enjoyable listen with a few incredible songs. However, it is not a consistently great listen from start to finish, although it never falls below the line of mediocre. First Strike is highly recommended to fans of heavier glam metal as well as traditional heavy metal.

Tracklist
1 I'm Not Waiting
2 Cold As A Stone
3 Diamonds
4 Nighttime Is Wild
5 Runnin With The Pack
6 Can't Stop Dreamin'
7 Dealer
8 Climbing Up The Walls
9 Drivin' Me Insane
10 She's Nasty
11 Afraid Of The Dark
12 Time Flies
13 Daddy's Girl

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