Stryper frontman Michael Sweet has cleared up a question fans were bound to ask about the Christian metal veterans’ next record: longtime guitarist Oz Fox doesn’t play on it. For the first time in the band’s history, Sweet tracked all of the guitar parts himself.
The album in question, Throne Of Thorns, is Stryper‘s 18th studio effort and is due out September 25 via Frontiers Music Srl. Speaking with Alan Dixon and Jimmy Kay of Canada’s “The Metal Voice“, Sweet explained that the subject came to a head after a written interview with an Italian outlet praised Fox‘s playing on the record — praise that didn’t match what actually happened in the studio.
Rather than let the misunderstanding spread, he decided to address it head-on. He said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):
“Well, I’ll tell you, just because I just did an interview for [a media outlet from] Italy, and they asked me the question directly. They said, ‘Oz did a great job on guitar on this album.’ And then they said, ‘What’s your favorite solos that he did?’ And I postponed the interview, ’cause it was a written e-mail interview, and I called Oz and I said, ‘Hey, man, we better talk about this, ’cause I’m gonna start getting questions and whatnot.’ But basically, on this album… Oz had problems with his blood pressure and regulating that, and it really affected his pitch and his hearing, and he wasn’t able to play. He wasn’t able to play, and he was having trouble at rehearsals with Robert [Sweet, Stryper drummer and Michael‘s brother], and Robert came and pulled me aside and said, ‘Hey, Mikey, I just wanna warn you, Oz is having some trouble.’ And I said, “Oh, gosh, okay.’ And then when it came time to track guitars for Oz, and sure enough, he wasn’t able to do it. So, I’m basically playing all the guitars on this album, which is a first. It’s different, and maybe that’s part of the difference in the sound, or maybe not. Who knows? But I tried really hard as a guitar player myself to make it sound like two guitar players, with the style of sections and adding harmonies here and there, coming in and out, doubling, and I really tried my best to make it sound like Stryper sounds.”
Sweet also signaled that Fox would speak to the situation in his own words soon:
“So, there you go, guys. We’re gonna release a statement, and Oz wants to, obviously, explain and add to that down the road very soon, before the album comes out. But I just wanted to let you guys know that that’s the situation with this.”
Fox‘s health has been a long and difficult road. It began in August 2018, when he suffered his first seizure on stage while playing with Sin City Sinners at Harrah’s in Las Vegas. That collapse led doctors to discover two tumors in his head — one sitting near his ear and the other toward the back of his brain.
Stryper adjusted quickly. Within weeks of that first seizure, the group carried on with dates in Australia and Japan as a three-piece, and later brought in Howie Simon to cover guitar duties on the road while Fox was sidelined.
The years that followed brought more setbacks. By August 2019, Fox reported that the tumors had grown. In October 2020, he was hospitalized briefly after another severe seizure. And when Stryper mounted its spring 2024 acoustic run, the “To Hell With The Amps” tour, Fox‘s most recent brain surgery kept him off that outing as well.
Stryper last released new music with its Christmas album The Greatest Gift Of All, which arrived in November 2025, also through Frontiers Music Srl.
