STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet has checked in with the following update with regards to the band's new album, Second Coming:

"Why did we re-record old songs? That's a multiple answer question.

First, because we wanted to cut out the middle men and have a little more control over our own songs.

Second, we wanted to 'fix' some things that have annoyed the 'hell' out of us for the past 30 years such as: no bass in the mix of The Yellow And Black Attack or Soldiers Under Command, and no Tim on the mix of To Hell With The Devil. The fact that I sound a little more like a man instead of a helium induced kid at Disneyland :-) The sheer joy of still loving these songs and still being able to perform these songs (well, we'll let the experts be the judge of that). And last but not certainly least? We did it just because we wanted to :-)

So there you go, the mystery is over and the reasons have been revealed.

Seriously, we're really excited about this record. It's one of the few re-records that I believe will stand against any of the originals if not surpass them. If you liked The Covering, you'll love Second Coming!"

The new album will be released on March 22nd via Frontiers Records.

The tracklist is as follows:

'Soldiers Under Command'

'Makes Me Wanna Sing'

'Reach Out'

'Loving You'

'Loud 'N' Clear'

'The Rock That Makes Me Roll'

'Calling On You'

'First Love'

'Surrender'

'To Hell With The Devil'

'Free'

'Sing Along Song'

'More Than A Man'

'The Way'

'Bleeding From Inside Out'

'Blackened'

Stryper recently announced they will be headlining a winter NAMM House Of Blues show Anaheim, CA on January 26th, and that vocalists Todd La Torre (QUEENSRŸCHE, CRIMSON GLORY) and Jeff Scott Soto (TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, ex-TALISMAN) will be joining the band on stage during the show. Vocalist Tony Harnell (ex-TNT) has been added to the roster and is due to perform Stryper's 'The Rock That makes me Roll' and the UFO classic 'Lights Out'.

As previously reported, La Torre will be performing the IRON MAIDEN classic 'The Trooper' and Stryper's 'Surrender' with the band. Soto will be performing QUEEN's 'Tie Your Mother Down' and Stryper's 'All For One'.

Tickets are now available here.