STRYPER’s New Album Is Tentatively Due In September

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STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet spoke to 80's Glam Metalcast about the band's recently completed new LP which is tentatively scheduled for a late 2020 release via Frontiers Music Srl. "It's a great album," he said (hear audio below). "There's 11 tracks on it. I get poked fun at for saying it's our best album. I say that with every album, but I really believe that with every album; I think that we're getting better as we go, and each album, I think, really literally gets better. And we're honing in and perfecting our craft and getting better at what we do. And I'm excited about this one. This is a really exceptionally great album. It's got a really great feel to it. We have a new bandmate on the album, [bassist] Perry Richardson. He's put on a lot to the table in terms of the groove and the foundation with his bass playing and also with his vocal harmonies. And I can't wait for everyone to hear it." As for a possible release date for STRYPER's new music, Sweet said: "From what I understand, the album is gonna come out in September. It was originally gonna be released in October, and they moved it back earlier to September, which is great. From what I understand, I think the first song from the album [will be made available] sometime in June. And believe it or not, we're planning on doing a music video — unless something happens that we don't know of or that's out of our control [that] we're not aware of — and it's gonna be really cool, man. I can't wait for people to hear it and see the reaction. It's a great one. It's gonna be fun to get out and play these songs live when we can and are able to do that." Most of the recording sessions for STRYPER's new disc took place at SpiritHouse Recording Studios in Northampton, Massachusetts with engineer Danny Bernini. Among tracks set to appear on the LP is "For God And Rock & Roll". This past September, Sweet told The Metal Voice about the musical direction of STRYPER's follow-up to 2018's "God Damn Evil": "It's gonna be aligned with the last album, but taking it a step further. We're gonna do some things where people are gonna hear it and go, 'You've gotta be kidding me,' that's gonna 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 and all these silly terms. It's gonna be a metal album. And we're gonna really pull some things out of the hat, man, and try to blow people's minds." Formed 37 years ago, STRYPER is the first overtly Christian metal band to go mainstream. The group's name comes from Isaiah 53:5, which states: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." STRYPER's albums include "To Hell With The Devil", "Second Coming", "No More Hell To Pay", "Fallen" and the aforementioned "God Damn Evil". Sweet's tenth solo album, "Ten", was released in October via Rat Pak Records in North America and Frontiers Music Srl in Europe.