Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to STRYPER‘s Michael Sweet. Sweet spoke about the upcoming Stryper album.
When asked about the upcoming new Stryper album “The options for the new album were to postpone it because of my eye. I have a long road to recovery to be able to see out of this eye so I am going to be wearing a patch for a while. I realized when I started writing the album just two and a half three weeks ago, it’s a lot more difficult to play as well. Your perception and hand placement that falls on the guitar neck and everything is off a little bit. I decided we are not going to put the album off because that just makes no sense for too many people It’s not just me that is involved there are many people that are involved and that is going to alter everyone’s plans and schedules and so I made a decision we are going to push on and do it and we’re doing it. The guys fly out in two weeks and we start rehearsals on the 25th of January. We are going to rehearse two songs and then go and record them, then rehearse two songs and record them, we are doing it a little differently this time. Maybe it will be a little more metal because of the eye patch.
When asked what will the new album sound like? “I always go back to Soldiers Under Command when I do a new album and somehow try to recapture a little bit of that energy and that raw power but I always want to record something new. This album has its own signature on it already I can tell you that. I don’t want to compare it to Guns N’ Roses but it’s got a little bit more of that raw groove oriented but it’s metal all the way. There is no official piano, acoustic ballad on this album.”
When asked how many songs on the album and the lyrical themes? “Eleven songs on this album. The lyrics are already being written in an unusual way and I will leave it at that. There is a little bit of a spin on the lyrics.”
When asked when the time frame will be for the new album “We will turn it in in mid April 2022, if all goes well and if I had to guess the release and I can’t say for sure I would say the end of the year, maybe October, November of 2022.”
Rock sensation and STRYPER founder and frontman Michael Sweet announces his 5th annual Christmas concert with new partnership with VenueNet (tickets.venuenet.live), a brand new premier social platform for concert live streaming. This fully interactive concert experience brings the spirit of Christmas and the music you love right to your laptop or mobile device. Michael’s Christmas show has been a success for years in the Massachusetts area but now fans across the globe will have an opportunity like never before to be a part of this yearly celebration. Featuring original music and Christmas classics (with a twist) this once in a lifetime experience is an opportunity for fans to see Michael like never before as he streams directly from the newly opened state of the art Bank Of New Hampshire Stage in Concord, NH.
For this unique fully interactive concert experience fans will have three price options to choose from that will offer them varying degrees of access to Michael during the live concert experience. (Ticket options below)
$10.00 – General Admission
Access to view the livestream on VenueNet
Access to watch the Re-Play until December 25th
$25.00 – Front Row
Access to view the stream and, using your devices camera, have your image featured on the fan wall (full stage LED Video wall) that the band will be performing to
Access to the replay until December 25th
$100.00 – VIP Experience
Access to view the stream and, using your devices camera, have your image featured on one of two freestanding video displays directly in front of Michael that the band will be performing to
Access to the fully interactive (two-way communication) Post Show VIP talk back session.
Access to view the replay for an unlimited amount of time.
Michael Sweet: When you’ve fronted one of the most trailblazing groups of the MTV generation, written a stable of Billboard charting singles, filled arenas all the world over, said goodbye at the peak of it all, took stock in a thriving solo career, got the band back together for yet another record breaking run and even took a stint co-leading one of the most legendary classic rock acts ever, then you undoubtedly have a story to share. But there’s still much more to Michael Sweet than selling over eight million albums in Stryper or singing and guitar slinging for Boston, including an equally riveting behind the scenes story packed to the brim with triumph, heartbreak and redemption. Musically speaking, Sweet is coming off yet another creative high in the Stryper camp thanks to their return to form record No More Hell To Pay. Besides making an instantaneous Top 40 debut on the Billboard 200, it landed at #2 on the Top Christian Albums charts, #3 on Top Hard Rock Albums and #6 on Top Rock Albums. It’s certainly a testament to the band’s perseverance, whetting the public’s appetite all the more for solo music from Sweet.
Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon recently spoke to STRYPER’s frontman Michael Sweet on Sept 4 2020. Topics in the chat include a rundown of the tracks on the new album The Devil Even Believes, (via Frontiers). Sweet’s reaction to a controversial album review (here) recently posted online and details about an up and coming in studio live album that the band will be releasing in the coming weeks.
Photo in video by Chad Barger
Tell us about the new album
“We are really excited and you guys know me I get excited about every release. Sometimes I get jabbed a little bit for saying every new release is the best. I really 100% believe and feel in my bones that this is our best album and there are so many reasons why. It’s not just because of the music or the production but because of the times we were recording it in and it’s our first album with our new bass player. Everyone knows that Oz (Fox) has some health issues and we were all able to overcome. Just so many reasons why I feel that it is our very best. Then when I listen to it as a whole and the way it flows, I think it’s got all the perfect qualities for what everyone expects. One person wants more 80’s and they get it with the song ‘Invitation only’. One person wants more heavy they get it with ‘Blood from Above’. One person wants mid tempo they get it with ‘Do Unto Others’. They want a ballad they get it with ‘This I Pray’. We kind of put everything in there to please everyone and you never please everyone but this album is going to come the closest.
Tell us about the live in studio recordings that will be coming out soon
“I will tell you what we did during the pandemic, since we could not go out and play. We flew the guys out here and quarantined for a few weeks then we went into the studio and we recorded for On Demand which people will be able to rent and or buy new album in its entirety playing it from start to finish and it is killer. Live in the studio and it’s killer. We had seven cameras and it will be coming out in the next 6 weeks. And then we did To Hell With The Devil at the same time from start to finish, every song. There will also be footage of us talking about the songs. We did that to offer people the live experience of this new album. When you listen to it , it sounds like you are listening to a record. So it’s studio audio quality and video but it’s live.”
“Even The Devil Believes” track listing: 01. Blood From Above 02. Make Love Great Again 03. Let Him In 04. Do Unto Others 05. Even The Devil Believes 06. How To Fly 07. Divider 08. This I Pray 09. Invitation Only 10. For God & Rock ‘N’ Roll
Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to singer /guitarist Michael Sweet of STRYPER who will be releasing his upcoming solo album called ’10’ on October 11 via Rat Pak Records in North America and Frontiers Music Srl in Europe.
Watch the interview here:
Sweet spoke in depth about his new upcoming solo album, his duet with Todd Latorre on the solo album, gave hints towards the musical direction for the next Stryper album and release and gave a quick health statement on Stryper guitarist Oz Fox who is currently fighting brain tumours.
When asked about the sound he wanted to achieve on his upcoming solo album ’10’
“With this album I wanted to take it a step further than my last solo album One Sided War. When I was writing the new album I decided I wanted guest guitarists to join me on the album to do the solos cause, I wanted it to sound a little less Stryper in that sense. But there’s that other side of the coin and humbly I say this I don’t say it with an ego or anything at all. I play guitar in Stryper and I write most of the songs and I discovered that Stryper guitar tone back in 1979. So I can’t escape that Stryper sound nor would I so that Stryper sound can be also heard on the album. Fans want to hear some of those flavors from the past the glory days and if you don’t give them to them and you give them something totally different you’re alienating yourself from your fan base and in my opinion that’s not very smart. So I try to mix it up, retain some of the past and mix it with the present. I’m always trying to outdo myself I want each album to get better and I feel I really believe that the best is yet to come.”
When asked about the duet on the new album with Queensryche Todd Latorre (proclaimed Atheist) called Son of Man
“I’ll tell you the story behind that duet/ collaboration and I don’t think Todd would mind at all he and I are really good friends. Todd is a proclaimed atheist but when I look at Todd and I think he’s more Christian than most Christians. The reason why I say that is because he’s a nice person he’s just a good guy. There are proclaimed Christian that go on rants and do all kinds of B.S. that completely destroy the Christianity side of things, that maybe that doesn’t represent Christ. But you know Todd Latorre is a great representation of God’s love because he’s just a great loving guy. Now when I when I asked him to sing the song and I sent the lyrics to him he was totally cool with it. And the reason why he said he was cool with it is because he respects everybody and he knows that I respect everybody. I’m not here to judge anybody and he’s not here to judge anybody so that’s why he was able to sing those lyrics with the smile and with conviction because he gets it.”
When asked about plans and musical direction for a new Stryper album
“Next year Stryper is going to make a new album. We go into the studio in January/ February 2020 and the album will come out mid next year 2020. I’ve got a few riffs I’m gonna really dive into over the next three to four weeks, getting a bunch of guitar riffs on my phone and once I have you know 9, 10, 11, 12, guitar riffs in November/December I will lock myself away in a room and I’ll just start going through songs. On the upcoming Stryper album we’re gonna do some things where people are gonna hear it and say, you gotta be kidding me? Were going to surprise and shock people in a really good way. It’s gonna be a metal album, it’s not gonna be a pop album or pop rock or glam metal. We’re gonna really pull some things out of the hat man try to blow people’s minds.”
When asked a health update on guitarist Oz Fox’s who is fighting a brain tumour
“Oz just went to South America with us (Stryper) to play. We’re hoping and praying for the best and that things turn around that he continues to get healthier and and stronger. Most important he can live a long healthy life, that’s the priority. It’s a balance between keeping people informed and retaining some sort of privacy for Oz and his family.”
“Ten” track listing:
01. Better Part Of Me (featuring Jeff Loomis of ARCH ENEMY)
02. Lay It Down (featuring Marzi Montazeri)
03. Forget, Forgive (featuring Howie Simon)
04. Now Or Never (featuring Gus G of FIREWIND)
05. Ten (featuring Rich Ward of FOZZY)
06. Shine (featuring Ethan Brosh)
07. Let It Be Love
08. Never Alone (featuring Joel Hoekstra of WHITESNAKE)
09. When Love Is Hated (featuring Joel Hoekstra of WHITESNAKE)
10. Ricochet (featuring Tracii Guns of L.A. GUNS)
11. With You Till The End (featuring Mike Kerr and Ian Raposa from FIRSTBOURNE)
12. Son Of Man (featuring Todd La Torre of QUEENSRŸCHE and Andy James)
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to guitarist frontman of StryperMichael Sweet. Sweet spoke about his upcoming solo album, his upcoming Stryper Greatest Hits & Covers That Influenced Our Generation tour, how new bassist Perry Richardson is fitting in and a health update on Oz Fox.
Watch the interview here:
When asked about his upcoming Stryper’s Greatest Hits & Covers That Influenced Our Generation tour
“We decided that we wanted to put together a set that kind of showcases our roots and where we come. We made The Covers album and that was an album that kind of showcased where our musical history lies, so we wanted to take that a step further and kind of make a tour out of it. We’re are doing roughly 10-11 covers mixed in with Stryper songs. Maybe mix it up a little bit like one night we’ll play this cover and the next night we’ll play a different cover maybe one night do a Scorpion’s tune the next night do a Maiden tune or the next night do a Cheap Trick tune or Black Sabbath.”
When asked if Stryper will get slack from their Christian fanbase for playing Black Sabbath songs
“I think our Christian base expects us to do Christian based songs, the funny thing is though if you really dive into Black Sabbath and you get into their lyrics and the history of the lyrics you realize that they are based on a lot of them are based on Christianity and based on a belief in God in Christ. I know the Geezer Butler wrote a lot of those lyrics, After Forever is a song that we covered and you read those lyrics, those are lyrics that Stryper could have written. Of course Black Sabbath the name kind of sets it up as evil but when you get into it you realize that they weren’t necessarily speaking out for evil, no they were they were just speaking out against evil in a lot of their lyrics. In the song War pigs people hear the line Satan laughing spreads his wings and they think oh my god this is so evil and you read the rest of the lyric you know it’s not.”
When asked about the Stryper set list on upcoming tour
“The tricky part is is we have now we’ve built up quite a catalogue so it makes it tough to do everything that everyone wants to hear. We got to do the classics yeah you know songs like To Hell With The Devil and Always There For You, Calling on you and Soldiers Under Command, there are certain songs that are staples in the set. We’re doing a lot of the classics and we’re doing some new songs, 10 or 11 Stryper songs and then 10 or 11 covers.
When ask about how it was coming along with new bass player Perry Richardson
“Oh gosh we keep saying to ourselves where were you in 1984 and you know obviously he was doing other things. Perry, he’s our guy man I don’t know what else to say he he’s such a perfect fit for us in all areas and he’s just such a good guy man I don’t know what else to say. Perry has been so refreshing and you know he’s just got this spirit about him where you never have to worry. You never have to worry with Perry in the sense of knowing his parts, if you give him a set list a month before rehearsal, you know he’s gonna be ready. Yeah you never have to worry about him performing you know he’s gonna go onstage and give his all and smile and have a good time. You never have to worry about him as a person, you know being nasty or doing bad things or saying bad things you just never have to worry about that. Perry all around is just a an amazing guy, an amazing musician and a team player and we’re so honored and proud to have him. I’ve said this before I’ll say it again I’ll keep saying it, it would be interesting to see the history of Stryper if Perry Richardson was in the band back in the day. Yeah it would have been would have been very interesting to see.”
When asked about his upcoming new solo album 10
“It’s finished, it’s called Ten, it’s being mastered right now and then we’re gonna start laying out a plan for videos and and songs. I got to do photo shoot in about five weeks I think it is six weeks. The album’s now going to come out September 2019, we were shooting for a little earlier June or July release but that just wasn’t in the cards for a number of reasons. We don’t want to rush anything but I can tell you this it’s called Ten because it’s my tenth album and because there is a title track on there about the 10 commandments, a really really powerful song, real heavy, it smacks you in the face and it ends like kicking you in the gut. It’s really cool man. I’ve got a different player on every song and it started out where I was gonna have just a few players and then I thought you know it would be really interesting to bring in a different guy on every song. I started putting names out there and reaching out to people and they started agreeing to do it and then I had guys reaching out to me.”
When asked about how Oz Fox’s health
“He’s doing good he changed his diet in his lifestyle and he’s feeling better, he’s lost some weight, he’s in a good place right now. Obviously they’re still keeping tabs on the situation has a couple spots on his brain and they’re just keeping an eye on it.”
Other guest musicians who will appear on Sweet’s new disc include guitarists Joel Hoekstra (WHITESNAKE, NIGHT RANGER), Jeff Loomis (ARCH ENEMY, NEVERMORE), Marzi Montazeri (EXHORDER, PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS), Gus G. (FIREWIND, OZZY OSBOURNE) and Andy James.
STRYPER’s latest album, “God Damn Evil”, was released in April 2018 via Frontiers Music Srl.
Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke with STRYPER front man Michael Sweet. Sweet spoke about the New Stryper album, a new song called Take it to the Cross that will feature Death Metal growls, new bassist Perry Richardson faith and the shooting of the upcoming Stryper Documentary
Watch the interview here:
When asked if he would consider doing a project with Dave Mustaine from Megadeth
“You got to talk to Dave about that. I mentioned it to Dave in multiple texts, let’s write, let’s co-write let’s do this let’s do that and he always invites me out to his place in Nashville. Dave has always been very gracious and I have never been able to get to Nashville or at least in the past few years to plan out an actual session with Dave to write. But Dave and I at some point I hope will collaborate and do something together. I love Dave I respect him I think he is a brilliant mind, brilliant musician and he is a friend of mine.”
When asked if being a Christan was part of the job description in hiring Perry Richardson
“It’s a valid question, to answer your question, NO and it might make people gasp, it might shock people, it might even lose a few fans by hearing Michael Sweet saying that. What is at the top of the priority list is that they are good people, that they are clean and sober and that they are really good musicians and for Stryper a really important piece is that they can sing. we are a vocal band. It’s not easy to find somebody that can sing and that can play and that is a great person. ”
“The Christan thing is that doesn’t always make you a great person. Some of the biggest idiots I know claim to be Christian and then vice versa. Is it something that would be really great to see and have of course, it’s funny cause Perry has said that he is a Christian. But we didn’t go there.”
When asked if Perry Richardson played bass on the New Stryper Album
“The situation with the new Stryper album Perry had a schedule to fulfill and we were on schedule to make the new album so there wasn’t anyway he could play on the album, so next time around we will see. So for the new album we hired called John O’ Boyle who played bass on my last two solo albums, his performances will speak for themselves.”
When asked about the musical direction of the new Stryper album
“The new album comes out in late April 2018. I can tell you this this is Stryper’s best album. There is a song that is close to Yahweh (song from Fallen album ) and it’s really different it will surprise a lot of people. The title of the album is very controversial and very shocking, it holds its own and perhaps surpasses To Hell with the Devil in terms of that catch phrase. There is a song called ‘Take it to the Cross and we brought in Matt Bachand who plays guitar in ‘Shadows Fall’ and also plays Bass in ‘Act of Defiance’. And Matt has a great growl voice. So we brought him in on ‘Take it to the Cross’ (new song) and on the chorus you will hear Matt growl and at the end of the song you will hear Matt growl.People are going to hear that and say that”s no way Stryper! More in line with Thrash, Death Metal but not over the top. People are going to hear it and say WHAT THE HELL? ”
When asked about the Stryper Documentary
“We started shooting it while making the album and we are going to continue filming and shooting throughout this year on tour and interviewing lots of people, from Pastors who have changed their lives who were alcoholics and drug addicts, to celebrities who grew up listening to Stryper, people unexpected. We are trying to show the side of the affect Stryper has had on people’s lives and of course the music, tons of home video footage too.”
Chief Shock Video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s ASA unveil the long-overdue release of "Collective Failure" + first music video for title-track! Check it out and stay tuned for more news! Click image to watch the video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
Ads
Visionary artist KIMMO KUUSNIEMI's ANCIENT STREAMING ASSEMBLY (ASA) have released “Aurora Nuclearis”, a powerful 12-minute audiovisual experience, dedicated to the Late Keyboardist Esa Kotilainen. - Click image to watch the video
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 