By RockMusicstar.com -CEO Thomas S. Orwat, Jr.

Christian hard rock band, Stryper just released a brand new CD entitled “Murder by Pride.” They will begin touring in support of it commencing Sept 11, when they play the House of Blues in Boston, MA.

Recently, we talked to Stryper frontman/vocalist/guitarist Michael Sweet discussing the new CD and much more. During the next few weeks, we will by posting parts of the interview right here on RockMusicStar.com.

When asked about the bands recent performance at the rock festival Rocklahoma, Michael Sweet said the following. “Well, Rocklahoma was a good experience. Unfortunately, the numbers (attendance) that saw us play seemed a little low. I’m not sure if it is the economy, but I heard that the numbers were low all weekend long. But, other than that it was a one-off for us and it was the first time in a long time that we had played. We don’t do very well with one offs. We are a band that needs to get together, rehearse two to three weeks and then get into the groove. It takes a couple weeks to do that. Then we are locked in and solid and hopefully some what tight. But as far as Rocklahoma, there were some bloopers in there and we were a little rusty and rough around the edges. But, we did have a good time. We always enjoy every opportunity we get to go out and play and give people hope and encouragement through our lyrics.

But it was a tough gig with the low numbers and the heat. I don’t do well in high extreme humidity. It’s tough on you when you’re trying to run around and put on a show.”

When asked if he would rather play Christian festivals instead, Sweet replied "We've done a ton of festivals like that(Rocklahoma). We've gone overseas and been thrown into the lions den. We played a festival in Holland years ago with Testament, Raven and all these dark metal bands." He adds "We look for opportunities to go out and share our message to those that aren't typically going to want to hear it or have the opportunity to hear it. We enjoy doing that."

 When asked about the new Stryper CD entitled "Murder by Pride," Sweet commented "We went back to our roots. That was the focus of making this record. We went into the studio and said, let's get back to what people want to hear from us. That is guitar-harmony-solos, high pitched vocals and back ground vocals.All the things that people missed on our last CD "Reborn," we gave to them on this new album. We went out of our way, yet at the same time we didn't want to repeat ourselves or go through the motions and just put something out that Stryper 's already put out or redone. We wanted something fresh, something new. We went into the studio and experimented a little with some of the tones. We tried to combine the old with the the new. And I hope and pray, that we accomplished that. So far, from the reaction of the people that have heard the CD, I think we did. That's really encouraging."

When asked where "Murder by Pride"ranks with the other Stryper releases, Sweetconfidently announces, "I think it's our best record yet.Time will tell if everyone agrees with me. But, it's a mature record, it shows that we came a long way in the lyrics, the music,, the way the songs were put together. And the process of writing, recording and arranging. I think that it just flows. Every song is different. It's an eclectic mix of different styles, from ballads to real heavy rockers. It works and it flows nicely. I couldn't be more pleased with the way this record turned out."

www.stryper.com