Faithsedge third and most melodic release to date “Restoration” has been released June 24, 2016 through Scarlet Records. Our review of “Restoration”can be found here.
The remaining members of Stryper, Michael Sweet (guitar, vocals), Oz Fox (guitar) and Robert Sweet (drums) just released the following joint statement:
Dear fans and friends,
We wish Timothy Gaines nothing but the best, and we will always remember the history and the good times that we all shared together. We have done our best to remain courteous and professional despite the barrage of disrespectful comments, posts and tweets that have been made public time and time again by Tim and Brandee on what seems to be a daily basis.
The accusations that have been made that our decision to terminate Tim is based on his divorce couldn’t be further from the truth. We have all struggled with separation and divorce in our relationships over the years, and it has never affected anyone’s position within the band.
The band decided to take a hiatus in order to give Tim time and space to work through his personal issues. However, based on Tim and Brandee’s intentional, erratic and hostile behavior, which has damaged Stryper and threatened to undermine the band’s ability to go forward professionally, we were left with no other choice but to part ways. Tim and Brandee have left their scars and have hurt us in more ways than you can imagine.
We were also forced to retain legal representation based on a public post/threat that Tim made about suing the band in 2016.
Tim is our brother, and we love him but this has become a toxic relationship at this point and due to that, we cannot continue on with our mission and stay true to who we are and what we represent with Tim in the band.
We’re excited about the future and we will be making an official announcement very soon about our new album, tour and bassist.
We love our fans and we appreciate your support and patience as we work through these changes. The best is yet to come!
Stryper
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Stryper is scheduled to enter the studio in November to begin work on in its new album for an early 2018 release.
Stryper‘s latest album, “Fallen”, entered The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 43 with first-week sales of just over 10,000 units — nearly all from pure album sales. The set followed the No. 35-peaking “No More Hell To Pay”, which was released in 2013.
Our review of “Fallen” can be found here.