Tony Cummings reports on glam metal survivors STRYPER soon to embark on a 40th Anniversary Tour

Stryper

The veteran rock and glam metal band Stryper make an eagerly awaited return to the scene on 13th September. Frontiers Records will be releasing Stryper's 'When We Were Kings' album in a variety of formats including vinyl LP, black-yellow LP, test pressing LP and CD. The LP's first single, "End Of Days", arrived in late June. A follow-up single, "Loves Symphony", was released o 18th July.

About "End Of Days", STRYPER said: "'End Of Days' is a heavy track musically and lyrically. It has a classic sound with a few modern twists and turns along the way. Lyrically, it's probably the most fitting message according to the times we are living in. It really does feel like the 'End Of Days' in many ways. We're not only a divided nation, we're a divided world. It's time to make things right."

In a recent interview with Canada's The Metal Voice, frontman Michael Sweet spoke about the musical direction of the band's recently completed follow-up to 2022's 'The Final Battle' album. He said: "I think what it's always been in the past 10 years, 12 years. It's kind of similar to the last album and the album prior to that. But this album has some different twists and turns to it. And you have to hear it to understand that. When I was writing the songs, I wanted to make sure the choruses kind of went from - the verses might be in a minor chord, a little more on the darker side, and the choruses go to a major chord, a little bit more on the lighter side. Not lighter, but happier side- more major, melodic, more of an anthem, sing-along kind of thing. Then when it comes back to the verse, boom, it darkens up a little bit. You hear more of that kind of stuff."

Stryper's 40th Anniversary Tour of the US will begin this autumn.