“After years of speaking to fans and hearing comments like “more guitars”, “more solos” and “more screams”, I decided to keep those comments in mind as I wrote each song. It was important to me to try to get back to that early sound of Stryper yet at the same time, to remain relevant today. It’s certainly not an easy thing to do but as I listen to “Murder By Pride”, I think that was accomplished. 

I got the idea of the title “Murder By Pride” from seeing pride consume dreams, goals and many times, lives.  We all deal with pride and it can be crippling, so I wanted to write a lyric and a theme that would be a constant reminder of that. This record has been in the works for a long, long time and I can only hope that it was worth the wait!” ~ Michael Sweet