Legendary  hard rockers Stryper will enter the studio this weekend to begin recording their new album for a late spring/early summer release via Frontiers. The band’s guitarist/vocalist Michael Sweet told Eddie Trunk‘s SiriusXM satellite radio show, “Eddie Trunk Live”:

‘The [other] guys [in Stryper] come out here in three days, to my house, and they’re gonna be here for eight days. I’m gonna teach ’em all the songs. We’re gonna go through two songs a day and get ’em down — really, really get ’em down. Then we’re gonna go in the studio. We load in on February 1 at the studio we always record at, SpiritHouse [Recording Studios] in Northampton, [Massachusetts]. We’ve done the last five albums there. We’re gonna load in on [February 1] and we start tracking on [February 2].’

Regarding the musical direction of the new Stryper material, Sweet said: ‘It’s gonna be… I don’t wanna scare any fans away or anything, but it’s gonna be the heaviest album we’ve done. Not in the sense that it’s gonna be thrash metal or anything like that. It’s definitely got a little bit of a darker vibe to it lyrically and musically. Some of the songs are tuned down — not like the modern dropped B stuff; I’m talking like the E dropped to D, ‘Unchained’ Van Halen kind of stuff. And it’s just got a heavy sound to it. And I think when people hear it, in a good way, they’re gonna go, ‘That’s Stryper? What?’ I think they’re gonna be shocked.’

The new album will be the follow-up to “No More Hell to Pay” which was released on November 1st 2013  in Europe and November 5th 2013 in North America via Frontiers Records. The effort was made available in two formats — standard CD and deluxe digipak featuring exclusive video content. Produced by Stryper guitarist/vocalist Michael Sweet himself, the set features some of Stryper‘s strongest and heaviest material ever.

To read our review for “No More Hell To Pay” click here.

“No More Hell To Pay” stormed the charts in November 2013 debuting at #3 on the Current Hard Music Albums and Top Hard Music Albums charts, #6 on the Top Current Rock Album charts, #33 on the Billboard Top 200 Current Albums and #35 on the Billboard Top 200 selling over 9500 copies the first week. Stryper also regained their dominance on the Christian charts landing at #2 on the Contemporary Christian Albums and #3 on the Billboard Top Christian/Gospel Albums. “No More Hell To Pay” also reached #1 on the iTunes Top Rock Album Charts and #8 on the iTunes Top Album Charts when it was released on November 5th, 2013.

Stryper is one of the top Christian rock bands of all time. Comprised of the original line-up, Stryper has been rocking since 1984, and is responsible for such ’80s metal classic albums as “Soldiers Under Command”, “To Hell With The Devil” and “In God We Trust”. In fact, Stryper is the first band to ever have two songs in MTV’s Top 10 simultaneously with their hits  ’Free’ and ‘Honestly.’ After a sabbatical for much of the 1990′s, Stryper returned strong in the early 21st century. To date, the Dove Award-winning and Grammy nominated band has sold upwards of 10 million records worldwide.

Stryper released a concert CD/DVD combination called “Live At The Whisky” In September 2014 via Frontiers. The live recording was captured at a sold-out show November 2013 at the legendary Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, California. The 16-track collection documents the band’s first show in support of its latest, critically acclaimed release, “No More Hell To Pay”.

Check our review for “Live At The Whiskey” here.

Video below ‘Symphaty