Two of hard rock’s most notable figures have partnered up for a new project. Iconic vocalist/guitarist Michael Sweet of Stryper and legendary guitarist George Lynch of Lynch Mob/Dokken have teamed up to form a new supergroup Sweet & Lynch. Joining them on this new musical adventure is bassist James Lomenzo and drummer Brian Tichy. Sweet has posted a message as to why he decided to do the project:

“Why did I decide to do Sweet & Lynch? I was approached by Serafino at Frontiers Records to sing and write for what he was referring to as a ‘supergroup’ project (one of the first) that Frontiers would be putting together and releasing. I was of course not only intrigued by the idea but also humbled that he would ask me!

Jon Levin (Dokken) was suggested as the possible guitarist and I suggested to Serafino getting the man himself, Mr. Scary (George Lynch) involved. Serafino was of course excited about the idea. Frontiers has told me how happy they are with my production on the new Stryper albums so I immediately suggested producing as well. Serafino also agreed.

I contacted George ASAP and he quickly agreed to be a part of this exciting project. It was decided that he and I would co-write everything together and that I would produce. I knew George from a few Stryper/Lynch Mob shows and we seemed to hit it off in terms of personalities. Many of you know that George considers himself to be a freethinker/atheist and I'm of course a devote Christian.

You may ask how does an atheist and a Christian work together in a band situation? The answer is respect. Although I don't agree with Georges spiritual/religious views (and he doesn't agree with mine assumedly), we respect each other as musicians, friends and human beings. I'm free to do many things with the hope that maybe; just maybe my life might have a profound effect on people I come in contact with. I've spoken with George many times over and he always strikes me as a genuine soul and someone who cares for and loves people. Bottom line? He's a great guy and I'm proud to be a part of this with George.

Although we don't see eye to eye in our beliefs, we respect each other enough to not let that come between us. I believe that the uniqueness of each other helped created a very unique piece of art. Only To Rise could not have turned out any better in my humble opinion and George is equally as thrilled as I am.

Now add to this Brian Tichy (drums) and James Lomenzo (bass) and together the four of us have painted a masterpiece (in my opinion) and we cannot wait for all of you to hear it in its entirety.

A little more history: George wrote 60-90 second ideas (intro, verse, chorus) guitar oriented riffs/songs and then I arranged and wrote lyrics and melodies and mapped everything out. I then flew Brian and James out and we tracked the basic tracks (drums, bass, guitars) and then we tracked the background vocals (Robbie LaBlanc & Charles Foley).

A funny side note: some people have said that the vocals sound like Stryper. I'm not even singing within the background vocal stack, just the lead vocal over the vocal spread/stack.

Also, some people have said that some of the songs sound like Stryper. Well, either George Lynch is the biggest Stryper fan on the planet or oddly enough, the guitar/song idea he came up with just so happen to have a little Stryper flare. I think it's very different than Stryper and the only common ground is the sound of my voice, which is instantly recognizable.

So, the new album is coming out on January 27th and it's available for pre-order now at Amazon & Pledge. If you haven't ordered it yet, please do and we will be extremely grateful for your support of this very cool project. We're just trying to keep rock alive, since we all know that it's dead:-)

Love you guys, God Bless and rock on ~ Michael”

Their new song "Time Will Tell" is now available for streaming via their PledgeMusic.com page here.

The band will release their debut album, Only To Rise, on January 23rd in Europe and January 27th in North America via Frontiers Music Srl. Sweet & Lynch recently launched a pre-order for the new album via PledgeMusic. The pre-order features various bundle packages for fans and is live at this location.

"When I was approached to help put together an all-star lineup, instantly I thought of George Lynch,” explains Michael Sweet. “George is one of the most talented guitarists out there and a ‘bucket list’ player for me. George wrote riffs/basic ideas and I wrote melodies, lyrics and arranged and completed the songs. I knew that we would compliment each other's style. When you add the amazing rhythm section of Brian Tichy and James Lomenzo, you just can't go wrong with this line-up. It really is a special project and I'm honored to be a part of it!"

From the opening notes of “The Wish” to the drum solo finish on the album-closer “Only To Rise,” it is evident that this musical partnership between Michael Sweet’s unmistakable voice and George Lynch’s signature guitar tone has yielded incredible results. Songs “Like A Dying Rose,” “Me Without You” and “Strength In Numbers” showcase the diversity that permeates throughout the entire album.

Sweet & Lynch released a lyric video for the 9/11 inspired track “September” which can be seen below. An EPK featuring Michael and George discussing this new project can also be found below. Only To Rise was produced by Michael Sweet who also produced the last Stryper album, No More Hell To Pay, which received massive fan praise and critical acclaim alike.

Only To Rise tracklisting:            

"The Wise"        

"Like A Dying Rose"
"Love Stays"
"Time Will Tell"
"Rescue Me"
"Me Without You"
"Recover"
"Divine"
"September"
"Strength In Numbers"
"Hero-Zero"
"Only To Rise"

"September" lyric video:

EPK:

Plans are currently being worked out for Sweet & Lynch to play a few live shows in the spring of next year, making this different than any other supergroups that record together but never play live. More information will be announced in the near future. If the past records of these four musicians are any indication, no fan will want to miss these shows.