Michael Sweet: We've Evolved, We're Not The Stryper of 86, this is Stryper 2024

Updated: Jul 12

The Metal Voice recently did a live chat on youtube with Front man Michael Sweet of Stryper about the bands upcoming studio album 'When we were kings' which will be released on Sept 13, 2024 via Frontiers Records

Watch full interview here

Excerpts from the chat

When asked about the new Stryper studio album

"We really listen to the fans. I like to post questions and get fan response and not only get it but actually give the fans what they want. Let's face it, if it wasn't for the fans no band would have a career. The fans make you who you are. It's a balancing act trying to appease the fans and appease yourself. It's really difficult. We want to please the fans and we want to please ourselves, so we want to feel good about the music and be happy too. We've evolved. We're not the Stryper of 86 we never will be ever again and we're not ashamed of that. We just won't be that. We're a new band. Now this is Stryper 2024 and hopefully everyone's still on board and there's new people coming on board now with the new sound. There's little bits of modern music in there you can hear the little things here and there but not too much. We're not a modern rock band we don't want to be but we want to step into 2024 and not sound like 1986 again. "

When asking about how some people do not like his voice

"There are still the haters out there that don't like my voice or who say my voice is demonic (laughs) and that's ok. I understand I have a very interesting voice, it's very unique. Love it or hate it, that's fine. If you don't like it I get it. If I was not in Stryper I might hate my voice too. It's very operatic, it's very over dramatic Not everyone loves Dio's voice either. I have friends that can't stand Dio's voice because they thought he was over dramatic and I'm like to each his own. I have friends that can't stand Rob Halford's voice. They can't listen to Priest because of his voice. I get it but I'm not here to please everybody I'm here to please the fans. I'm here to please myself and at the end of the day I've been successful and nobody can take that away from me."

When asked if the new album is the best Stryper album of all time?

"Here's the thing, I do. I absolutely do and I'll tell you why I do because I really believe that it is. Here's the deal, when I listen to this latest Stryper album I'll go back and listen to older Stryper albums. I'll listen to something from 'Fallen' and then from 'Goddamn Evil'. I'll listen to something from 'Even the devil believes' or 'No more hell to pay' and then I'll listen to something from 'Final battle' and that all sounds really good and cool. But this (album) has a little extra special sauce on it. I'm not sure what it is but it may be just because it's fresh and new I don't know but I really think that we certainly haven't gone backwards. We haven't gone down a step or a level. I think we're certainly right there with all those other albums but I think maybe even a little beyond those albums and time will tell if fans agree. The goal is for me and the band to make our best album. I don't think we have yet. I think we're getting better as we go. I think all these recent albums blow away the past. I know people get mad at me for saying that that's okay because those people have memories that are tied to those albums and Nostalgia that's tied to those albums but we blew away uh To hell with the devil and In God We Trust three or four times already.

When asked about his thoughts on how the state of Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom Bill HB71

"I don't really know a lot about that, it's something I'll have to research and read up on. I do know this, just about everything else is allowed in schools right now. Children basically pledging allegiance to a rainbow flag you know, that's okay, that's perfectly acceptable. I mean so why can't the Ten Commandments be in there? Why can't the Bible be in there you know? That's where I have a problem. If we're going on to allow everything else, then you have to allow everything else, or not."

The LP's first single, "End Of Days", arrived in late June. A follow-up single, "Loves Symphony", will be made available on July 18.

"When We Were Kings" track listing:

01. End Of Days

02. Unforgivable

03. When We Were Kings

04. Betrayed By Love

05. Loves Symphony

06. Trinity

07. Rhyme Of Time

08. Raptured

09. Grateful

10. Divided By Design