When Skillet lead singer John Cooper looks at his audience each night, he sees something that still catches him off guard — longtime fans, high schoolers and pre-teens with their parents.  

For Cooper, that multigenerational appeal is surprising and inspirational to Skillet, which is closing in on its 30-year anniversary. 

“I’m shocked,” Cooper said with a laugh. “I’m grateful, but I’m shocked. I’m surprised so many people are still listening to us, and, in fact, the number is growing.”

The multi-platinum Christian rock band has sold more than 23 million albums, earned two Grammy nominations and built a global following that now includes more than 12 million monthly Spotify listeners. Its signature hit, “Monster,” has surpassed 5 billion streams worldwide and earned a place in Spotify’s Billions Club.

Yet Cooper remains humble about the band’s longevity.

“I thought we had some good songs, but to last this long has been a shock to me,” he said. “I didn’t think we were good enough to last for 30 years.”

Skillet will bring that catalog to Phoenix on Sunday, Nov. 1, when the band performs at The Van Buren as part of its “Comatose 20 Year, Still Screaming Tour.” The trek celebrates one of the group’s defining albums, but Cooper said fans should not expect a typical “greatest hits” show.

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Rather than scattering songs from “Comatose” throughout the night, Skillet performs much of the record in sequence before playing fan favorites from the rest of its catalog.

“It makes the show a little bit more artistic,” Cooper said. “I don’t typically say that Skillet shows are artsy. They’re more like energy. This one is adding a bit of a different flavor because some of the older music was a little bit more artsy.”

Pulling off the tour required more preparation than Cooper initially expected.

“Not only did we have to relearn, but there were also songs we’d never played — ever,” he said. “We had to learn a few and reshape them a bit to fit what we’re doing now.”

The anniversary tour coincides with a new beginning for Skillet: “After the Storm,” a six-song independently released EP. Cooper described it as heavier and more personal than the band’s catalog. 

“This EP is special to me,” Cooper said. “It reignites what Skillet was always meant to be — which is music that helps lift people out of dark times. I wrote these songs because I needed to be lifted out of my darkness.”

Produced by David Cowell and Cooper’s wife, Korey, the personal “After the Storm” marks a return to Skillet’s heavier musical. Cooper traveled to his hometown of Memphis to record for the first time since Skillet’s 2003 album “Collide.” 

The collection has connected quickly with listeners. Cooper points to the reaction to the song “Scream,” which fans were already singing along with just days after it debuted.

“Our fans are really, really connecting with this record,” he said. “I think it’s fair to say, in a way, that maybe they haven’t connected with a Skillet record to this degree in a few years.”

At the same time, the message remains rooted in the band’s long-standing philosophy that rock music should inspire rather than divide.

“We’re a faith-based band,” Cooper said. “You don’t come to a Skillet show and hear cuss words and us yelling at people. That’s not a judgment on anybody else’s art. That’s just not what we do, and so it kind of creates a very inclusive environment.”

That welcoming atmosphere has helped create a family-oriented fan base, one that Cooper believes is partly responsible for Skillet’s continued growth.

“Rock music helped lift me out of bad times,” he said. “When I was younger, I was angry and suffering from depression and felt alone. Rock music helped lift me out of that. For me, this should be a very inclusive, family-oriented thing because music heals.”

As Skillet approaches three decades together, Cooper said the band isn’t interested in celebrating its past as much as continuing to build its future.

“I can’t believe anybody is still listening to Skillet,” Cooper said. “The fans are really connecting with it, and I’m just thrilled.”