STRYPER shares music video for 'When We Were Kings' title track
16-08-2024
Christian metallers STRYPER have shared the official Gavin Holmes-produced music video for “When We Were Kings”, the title track from their upcoming album, which is due on September 13 via Frontiers Music Srl.
Watch “When We Were Kings” below.
STRYPER guitarist/vocalist Michael Sweet comments: “We wanted to take you back in time, to see a small glimpse of the band back in the early days. Gavin Holmes did an amazing job of creating an animated time machine that relives and revives the incomparable ’80s. When We Were Kings!”
Watch the previously released “End Of Days” below.
About the album’s first single, “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, STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet spoke about the musical direction of the band’s recently completed follow-up to 2022’s “The Final Battle” album, tentatively due in September. 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.”
Regarding the lyrical content on the upcoming STRYPER LP, Sweet, who is responsible for almost all of the songwriting in the band, said: “[There are] a couple of twists and turns. There’s a song called ‘Betrayed By Love’. It’s a dark song, musically and lyrically. It’s not a happy, typical STRYPER song that people might expect, like ‘Honestly’. It’s a song about being betrayed by someone you loved or love. And I think people will hear that and think, ‘Oh, wow. This is different.’ It’s a great song. It’s really cool. But there’s little twists and turns here with the lyrics. The lyrics are a little different. And really cool. I can’t wait for people to hear it.”
Formed 41 years ago, STRYPER‘s name comes from Isaiah 53:5, which states: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
STRYPER‘s albums include “To Hell With The Devil”, “Second Coming”, “No More Hell To Pay”, “Fallen”, “God Damn Evil” and the aforementioned “Even The Devil Believes” and “The Final Battle”.
Michael is joined in STRYPER by his brother Robert Sweet (drums),Oz Fox (guitar) and Perry Richardson (bass).
