Stryper (Salvation Through Redemption Yielding Peace, Encouragement and Righteousness) [1] is a Christian glam metal band, originally formed in California. They are known for their use of religious and Christian imagery throughout their performances, and are generally considered one of the first outspokenly Christian metal bands.
Because of the associations of heavy metal music with Satanism and the occult, many Christian commentators [2] have criticized the bands image, finding it incongruous with the message of Christianity. While the band claim to promote Christianity, opinion is varied as to whether they can be considered representative of the Christian community.