Since the origins of rock and roll, the genre has been pointed out as diabolical music by the most conservative voices. But as their … Satanics Majesty ‘The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin, it would be more appropriate to say that it has been the artists who have appropriated the devil to their convenience, either as a symbol of rebellion, with the intention of scandalizing or as a simple marketing tool.
However, in the world of rock not everything is arms raised with the sign of the horns and t -shirts with inverted pentagrams. God also has faithful preachers who spread his holy word on stage, guitar in the rister. Among them are the Sweet brothers, who have been singing proclamations like ‘to hell with the devil’, ‘I believe in you’ or ‘in God we trust’ in the songs of Stryper, the most important and iconic band of Christian heavy metal.
This summer, the American quartet will act again in Spain after a long absence. His return will materialize at the Rock Festival Imperium in Cartagena, where Stryper will offer one of the outstanding performances of the day on Friday, June 27, just before Scorpions. His reunion with the Spanish public will serve to celebrate his four decades of career, but also to present his recent new album ‘when We Were Kings’, on whose cover the members of the band are portrayed as apostles with Jesus Christ. A declaration of intent. Before the appointment, the truth could chat with the singer and guitarist Michael Sweet through videoconference.
-Stryper has just celebrated your 40th anniversary, did you imagine that it would last so long?
-No, at all. When I left the band in 1992 I thought it was over. I felt that the chapter had closed and passed page. I wanted to save my marriage, spend more time with my children and face what would come. I edited my first solo album in 1994 and worked quite well. I had a great time doing things as a soloist.
-Your concert at the Rock Imperium Festival will be the first to be offered in Spain since 2018.
-It is very difficult to tour today, depending on the level you are. There are bands that are at a lower level, can travel with fewer people and need less money for production and others. And, on the other hand, there are the poster heads that earn $ 150,000 or 200,000 for each concert. Those can afford private airplanes, people who take their luggage, transport the equipment, brush their teeth … we are in an intermediate place. We have a certain amount of production, chosen very carefully, and we travel with more than ten people. That costs money. Many times we do not receive the offers or are not enough for us to make it happen. It is a matter of balance. In the United States we are doing well, but it is much more difficult to go abroad.
-Trayper’s last album, ‘When We Were Kings’, it seems especially inspired. Was there a special effort on this occasion or any change when shaping it?
-I compose all the material and basically I feel in this same room with a battery software, an electric guitar and a practice amplifier, and I simply write the songs, usually one day. The only different thing was my mentality. I set out to try to make the songs a little more chaking, like hymns, so that people can sing with me. It is a bit more eighties in that sense. I also tried to move from a darker sound to something a little more cheerful and light. I don’t want to say pop, but a little more about old school.
-I think that Stryper’s classic melodic style combines very well in the 80s with the toughest facet of his latest albums.
-It’s great to say it because that is just what we try to do, combine the sound of both stages. It is what the old fans who have been with us have been with us, but at the same time we want to stay relevant in 2025. We have become more ‘heavies’ over the years, we sound tougher than in the 80s, and I do not think there is turning back. It’s something we love because we grew up listening to Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and gave. But we are also like to make songs like ‘When We Were Kings’, which return us a bit in the popular style of ‘Free’ or ‘Calling on You’.
-In the album there are songs like ‘End of Days’ or ‘Imperfect World’ that show a great concern about the state of the world. Do you feel that everything has become darker in recent years?
-I think we live in a very volatile era. Almost everyone can get some type of military and only one person is needed to start something in another country. I don’t think we should live in fear, but at the same time I think that anything can happen with technology. In addition, some people who govern certain countries, without giving names, do not seem to be quite well avenues. They have a dictator or communist mentality. In my opinion, that is not good, so we should prepare. As an American, I’m glad to hear that we are doing this or that to protect ourselves from people who try to govern the world or seize other countries. This gives to speak long and lying. We live interesting times and who does not admit that is because he lives under a rock and is not aware of what is happening in the world.
-You have always been quite honest about the change of registration of his voice with age and the decision to adapt Stryper’s songs to the vocal range of his maturity, what do you think about the singers who destroy their throat trying to sound like when they were 20 years old?
-It has been starting to refine half a tone below and this has made me a little easier to reach some notes and sing in certain ranges. I have managed to adapt and, thank God, I still have enough capacity to interpret the songs. Generally, when I listen to someone trying to sing with the same hue of yesteryear and it costs him, he is never good. To be honest, it is a bit heartbreaking to hear and witness it. They should try to make it a little easier. If you cannot sing the songs at least at a level that does justice, it may be time to consider doing something else. But it is easier to say it than to do it. If you are a singer, how can you do something else, especially when you are over 60 years old? There is no easy answer for that.
-Bruce Dickinson, by Iron Maiden, is a good example of a singer who continues to do a good job despite the fact that his tone has become thicker with age.
-Correct. His voice has changed a lot, like everyone else’s, but he is doing a fantastic job finding how to overcome it. That is the key. I think I’m doing quite well. I am very lucky to continue doing it, although it costs me. It often happens to me, when we give three concerts in a row, that the third is much more complicated. In part it is because I do not sleep well. Resting is very important and if I have only been able to sleep five hours at night I will be 50%. Bruce, may God bless him, is one of those who have realized that, but every time we see more singers with difficulties. We depend a lot on what surrounds us. You can wake up with your voice well but if you eat the wrong food you can spend the rest of the day with a congested voice. If you go to a dry climate it also affects you. I think the singers have the most difficult job. Batteries like to try to wear that crown. My brother does it, but after playing, because of the way he breathes while touching the battery, he can’t speak, so I say: “Come, salt and sing now.” If you touch the guitar or battery you can go out with flu. Even if you don’t feel good, you can do it. But you can’t sing if you have flu.
-The tours are very demanding and tensions of colleagues usually arise, but you have the added difficulty that one of them is your brother. How do they get along on the road?
-How leader of the band I am, in a way, the one who carries the helm. Me and my wife, who is co-manager, have much more responsibility. She travels with us supervising everything and everyone. The only times we can get a little tense is when we try to reach somewhere in time or when we all meet. But in general we get along, we keep going together, having fun and enjoying.
-It is not usual to find bands that speak openly about God. Why does Satan have a better reputation in the world of rock?
-If God is important in your life and part of who you are, why should you be afraid to talk about it? I can’t understand it because I am the opposite. I am a guy who would get on stage in front of 10,000 people and talk about God even if they hate him, I have no problem with that. But, at the same time, I believe that people are increasingly afraid to talk about God because many times they are persecuted or ridiculed by their beliefs. Internet has contributed to it. They are thrown on them to say what they like, who they support or who they are. It is very sad.
-Stryper has shared a poster with anti -Christian bands. Without going any further, King Diamond will also be in Rock, linked to the Church of Satan of Anton Lavey. Doesn’t a problem imply?
-Ot over the years we have touched with many bands: Christian, non -Christian, satanic … of everything. We see it as an opportunity. Sometimes when we arrive at a festival we ask ourselves: «How will this come out? Will they boo us and be beaten? We have gone through very scary situations, but in the end it always goes well. We go up there, we play our music and the public ends up appreciating and respecting us.
-Do you think being an openly Christian heavy metal band has made Stryper more difficult to get commercial success?
-Yes of course. We have had great opportunities for what we sing and what we represent, but they have also closed the door again and again. We have listened many times like: «Ah, that Christian band? We don’t want them to touch us ». We could go back in time and leave behind God and perhaps we would have reached a higher level, we could have become a band that touches stadiums, who knows? But we wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. We are very proud to have stayed firm and remain who we are, and we will not deviate from that at all.
-Your companion Oz Fox, Stryper’s second guitarist, has had to deal with a complicated recovery process after detecting two brain tumors, how is he?
-He has been great. We went on tour last year and everything went well. We have all had complications and we continue here. My brother and Perry -bajista- have had health problems, nothing serious. I have had problems with sight and thyroid cancer. We overcome the difficulties and move on.
