The Christmas / Holiday episode of the exclusive 53:5 -The Official Stryper Podcast with Matt (Matman) Herring is now available for streaming here. Following is an overview of the episode:

"In this action packed episode we take a look at recent news and the final bunch of shows in support of God Damn Evil. In Going To Church we look at the crazy fast paced world we live in and what God expects us to do to slooowwww dowwwn. Matt shares his (and others) story about his introduction to the world of Stryper. And finally... this episode contains holiday cheer from Stryper and some of their fans! Enjoy!"

Stryper frontman Michael Sweet recently checked in with the following update:

"Writing songs has always been part of my DNA. Once I get into that mode the floodgates open. I spent the past few days working on some ideas and so far I have 11 that I like. Now I need to weed through them and arrange them and program drum grooves to make em’ feel right. Joel Hoekstra and I are co-writing 2 songs together so I’m waiting to hear what he comes up with and that will make 13 tracks total (12 for US, one bonus track for overseas).

So far there are old school, straight ahead metal ideas à la Priest and Dio, as well as a few up tempo riffs à la Maiden. There’s also a few ballads with a bit of a Zeppelin vibe. I’m sure there will be a few other ideas to come over the next few weeks as well.

Between now and the first week of January I’ll arrange and fine tune everything as well as compose the lyrics. So far I’m really excited about the musical direction and I’m sure you will be too. I’m bringing back a few of those classic hooks and melodies that some of you have asked for. Ask and you shall receive.

It’s going to be a killer album, friends! We start tracking on 1/14 and it should be turned in by mid April at the latest (it would be sooner but Stryper is going to Japan in early February and rehearsing so I’ll be taking a few weeks off from recording).

The album will of course be released in 2019 via RatPak Records. Thank you all for believing in me and for your undying support. I couldn’t do this without you and I’m blessed to be able to encourage and inspire all of you through music.

God Bless and stay tuned."

On October 31st, Stryper performed at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, CA. They opened their set with a first ever performance of the new song "Take It To The Cross", taken from the band's latest album, God Damn Evil. Fan-filmed video from the show is available below.