Stryper will host a 10-day tour of the Holy Land February 12-21, 2011. The once-in-a-lifetime VIP tour will be limited to 150 people. Stryper fans will be able to spend time with the band during this unique travel opportunity, with portions of the trip being filmed for an upcoming DVD.
"Oz, Robert, Tim and I are excited to go to Israel and see first-hand the birthplace of Christianity," says lead vocalist/guitarist Michael Sweet. "And to be able to share this experience with some of our fans makes this even more incredible."
The tour will visit the following locations in Israel:
* Caesarea: A city built by King Herod the Great
* Mount Carmel: Where the prophet Elijah defeated the false prophets of Baal
* Galilee Boat Ride: Where Jesus walked on the water
* Caesarea Philippi: Where the disciple Peter first confessed Jesus as the Messiah
* Nazareth Village: A recreation of a village at the time of Jesus
* Jordan River Baptism: An opportunity for those who wish to be baptized in the Jordan River
* Masada: Where the final Jewish revolt against the Romans took place
* The Dead Sea: A chance to float in the most therapeutic waters in the world
* Pools of Bethesda: Where Jesus healed the man who was lame for 37 years
* Garden Tomb: The place of Jesus’ crucifixion and Resurrection
* Yad Vashem: Memorial to the Holocaust
* Western Wall Tunnels: 60 feet below the modern city of Jerusalem
* Jerusalem: The City of God
* Mount of Olives: Where Jesus rode the donkey through the Eastern Gate
* Garden of Gethsemane: Where Jesus prayed before He was betrayed by Judas
* Western Wall: Holiest site in Judaism
Due to limited availability, this trip will sell out quickly. Reservations can be secured for only $300.
To register, please contact ari@ihtours.com or 1-877-999-8868 ext 415.
The cost for this unique travel opportunity is $3,299.00 per person, which includes airfare out of Los Angeles, New York or Toronto; hotel accommodations; all buffet breakfasts and dinners; air-conditioned transportation; an English-speaking tour guide and entrance fees to all of the sites. Price is based on double-occupancy and does not include airport tax, tip fee or lunch meals.
For more information, please contact joe@amaral.tv or 1-877-628-2800.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Ted Kirkpatrick Fugue in D Minor rough cut
Well folks, I've reached the half century mark - today is my 50th Birthday (although I still feel around 30) - so I thought I would celebrate with all of you by offering a track from my very nearly completed new solo release IN THE SHADOW OF THE MASTERS. I hadn't intended on putting up any more tunes from it, as it will be going to mastering and manufacturing very soon, but you only turn 50 once, right? Plus let this be an apology from me for pushing the release date back a little...
This is FUGUE IN D MINOR - BWV 565 by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was written around 1705 and is the epitomy of HEAVY! To say this piece is brilliant is a gross understatement. The complexity, the melodies, the huge chords, the quiet parts, and the ultra-loud blast-you-out-of-your-pew parts are all awesome. The drumming was very challenging, as the mid-tempo groove ebbs and flows almost imperceptibly and there are numerous precise timing issues and lots of time to play different beats and fills. I have always tried to treat the drums as a musical instrument and not just "rhythm", and I hope I did a good job for all of you and Mr. Bach.
The track is mixed, but not yet mastered so downloading is not available - the finished mastered tune will sound about 1,000 times cleaner, fuller, bigger kicks, louder...better! So - the track may only be up a short time.
One of my dreams when I get to heaven is to be able to go back in time and attend concerts played or conducted by the composers themselves... but for now - sit back and picture yourself sitting in a church in Weimar, Germany 300 years ago with none other than the master Bach himself seated at the organ playing this.
Looking forward to releasing the entire album - lots of hyper crazy drumming on it. Now... where's all my birthday presents? Haha... http://tourniquet.bandcamp.com/
This is FUGUE IN D MINOR - BWV 565 by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was written around 1705 and is the epitomy of HEAVY! To say this piece is brilliant is a gross understatement. The complexity, the melodies, the huge chords, the quiet parts, and the ultra-loud blast-you-out-of-your-pew parts are all awesome. The drumming was very challenging, as the mid-tempo groove ebbs and flows almost imperceptibly and there are numerous precise timing issues and lots of time to play different beats and fills. I have always tried to treat the drums as a musical instrument and not just "rhythm", and I hope I did a good job for all of you and Mr. Bach.
The track is mixed, but not yet mastered so downloading is not available - the finished mastered tune will sound about 1,000 times cleaner, fuller, bigger kicks, louder...better! So - the track may only be up a short time.
One of my dreams when I get to heaven is to be able to go back in time and attend concerts played or conducted by the composers themselves... but for now - sit back and picture yourself sitting in a church in Weimar, Germany 300 years ago with none other than the master Bach himself seated at the organ playing this.
Looking forward to releasing the entire album - lots of hyper crazy drumming on it. Now... where's all my birthday presents? Haha... http://tourniquet.bandcamp.com/
Friday, May 21, 2010
PRESS RELEASE: Deliverance - 'Temporary Insanity'
Roxx Records and the Christian Metal Realm are very excited to announce the details on their long in the works, highly anticipated tribute album celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Southern California Christian Thrash legends Deliverance!
‘Temporary Insanity – A Salute to Deliverance’ is set for release this August and hosts a variety of artists paying tribute to the band, some current, some past and even some special reunions all came together to lay down tracks for the disc! Including current and former members of bands such as The Crucified, Vengeance Rising, Deliverance and Hirax just to name a few. And special reunions from Oil and Eternal Decision all coming together just to contribute tracks for this project!
Arttie Parker owner of the Christian Metal Realm says “This CD started out in our online forum well over a year ago when some of the bands that frequent the board wanted to do a few tribute songs to ‘D’, then I started talking with Bill over at Roxx Records about it and it morphed in to a full on tribute CD with tons of artists in the mainstream Thrash and Christian Metal scenes all wanting to contribute to this project and give props to Deliverance as you can easily see by looking at the list of bands and artists we have lined up!”
Artist & Track Listing
Deliverance – Flesh & Blood (A 25th Anniversary Special Re-recording)
Deliverance – In U ( A 25th Anniversary Special Re-recording)
Oil – Attack (w/ Ron Rinehart, Blake Nelson, Jason Vanderpal & James ‘JJ’ Jenkins)
Applehead / Fasedown – Belltown (w/ Greg Minear, Michael Phillips, Jim Chaffin & Tim Kronyak)
Lambs Among Wolves – Greetings of Death (w/ Glen Rogers, Daniel Cordova& Roy Z)
Stricken – No Time
P / C / W – What a joke (Michael Phillips, Jim Chaffin, Scott Waters, Tim Kronyak)
Grave Robber – Awake
Ghostemple – If we faint not (features Josh Kramer of Saint & the members of Templar)
Faith Factor – Weapons of our warfare
Whisper from Heaven – Anymore
Venia – Desperate Cries
Days of Affliction – River Disturbance
Grave Forsaken – Bought by blood
Eternal Decision – Belltown (Marking the first time the band has recorded since they disbanded)
Not enough for you? All Pre Orders are going to come with a completely separately packaged 2nd disc with even MORE Salutes to Deliverance including a previously unreleased Deliverance track called ‘The Hunger and the Thirst’. You will want to get your pre-order in for this one as we will only be printing enough for all those that get in on this very special pre-order offer! And look at all the bonus tracks you will get on this exclusive disc…
Bonus Disc Artist & Track Listing
Deliverance – Hunger and the thirst (Previously Unreleased)
Oil – Screaming (w/ Ron Rinehart, Blake Nelson, Jason Vanderpal & James ‘JJ’ Jenkins)
The Sacrificed – Slay the wicked
Krig – Weapons of our warfare
Coriolis – What a Joke
Leper – The Call
Unforsaken – Stay of execution
Crucible Divine – Ramming Speed
Walk on Water – Learn
Incarnate – If you will
Visions of Reality – Blood of the covenant
Saint Spirit – Prophets of Idiocy
Bloodpaid – Words to the…
Bi-Polar Echo – The Call
Pastor Brad – A space called you
AND we’re even going to throw in a limited edition Jimmy Brown signature guitar pick, pick # 2 in the series of limited edition signature guitar picks put out through Roxx Records only available to all of those that pre-order.
The CD is just one of several 25th Anniversary celebration items lined up for Deliverance this year, with special 25th Anniversary shows already lined up playing a festival in Southern California and a possible festival date overseas this fall. As well the band well be putting together some special 25th anniversary commemorative items together this year including a very special limited edition T-Shirt.
Need even some more Deliverance in your life? As well as debuting the tribute CD ‘Temporary Insanity’, the Up from the Ashes festival will also be one of your first opportunities to pick up copies of two brand spankin new releases from Jimmy Brown and Deliverance courtesy of Retroactive Records!!
August will see the re-release of a historic release from the Deliverance back catalog with the Limited Edition CD release of ‘What a Joke!’ That’s right for the first time since it’s original release you will be able to get a completely restored and remastered edition of this Classic Deliverance Release to add to your collection, complete with bonus tracks!
August will also see the release of the second installment of Deliverance front man Jimmy Brown’s alter ego band Jupiter VI entitled ‘A Message From Home Part1’. Following on the heels of their first underground classic release ‘Back From Mars’ this second installment is set to take you to the next level of what the underground scene has embraced as a true piece of cult rock history!
For Full information and pre-order details visit www.roxxproductions.com
Styper instrumental preview of new song "God"
This is just a 30 second preview of just the instruments. No vocals.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Stryper ‘GOD’ Auction
Christian Rock Legend Michael Sweet returns to SongVest to share a portion of Stryper’s new, unreleased single “God” off their upcoming “The Covering” album on Big 3 Records. “After the “Alive” auction went so well, we decided to offer fans something no one has ever done before: the rights to a song before it’s released. We’re very excited about being the fist,” said lead singer Michael Sweet.
Two versions will be up for bid May 15 – 22.
Lot #1: The Platinum Edition - 2 Lots
Two versions will be up for bid May 15 – 22.
Lot #1: The Platinum Edition - 2 Lots
- 12.5% of Michael Sweet’s Writer’s Share of the song’s royalties
- Exclusive studio access to witness the final mastering of “God” to take place sometime between June 18 and June 21 (travel and accommodations paid for by purchaser)
- Special Acknowledgement in the album credits
- Personalized, one-of-kind platinum album award with handwritten lyrics and signed CD
- 2.5% of Michael Sweet’s Writer’s Share of the song’s royalties
- Gold single award signed by Michael
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Guardian: Rockin' in a Free World
You can download Guardian covering Neil Young's "Rockin' in a Free World" here
Stryper - "The Covering" Due This Fall
The new STRYPER album entitled "The Covering", featuring all original members - front man Michael Sweet, drummer Robert Sweet, guitarist Oz Fox and bassist Timothy Gaines - will be released in the fall of 2010. Leader Michael Sweet has issued the following update:
"Just as promised, I wanted to outline some more details regarding the new Stryper record. We grew up listening to many different styles of music and there is a list of bands that influenced us throughout our musical education. Bands like JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, SCORPIONS, VAN HALEN, UFO, DEEP PURPLE,LED ZEPPELIN, QUEEN, KANSAS and many others, helped to shape our sound and make us who we are today, musically speaking. We grew up on the streets of LA playing every club in town from Gazzari's to The Whisky to The Troubadour to you name it. We played covers from all the bands mentioned above and we shaped our own sound from listening and performing songs from these classic bands. We wanted to step outside the box and record a record that shows you, the fans, where we come from - our historical, musical roots so to speak. It's a side to Stryper that no one has really seen or heard before, or at least quite like this. We performed 'On Fire' by Van Halen on a few tours and we also performed 'Breaking The Law' by Priest on this last tour. The response was far beyond our expectations each time we performed these songs. People seemed genuinely surprised to hear Stryper cover these songs and even more surprised to hear Stryper perform these songs relatively well. This will be an opportunity for Robert, Oz, Tim and myself to loosen up and have some fun. For those of you who may think that we're walking away from our faith - your wrong. We've never been more serious about our faith at any point in our lives. It is however important to enjoy what you do and lighten up from time to time. That's what we plan to do. This will be a fun record to make and we hope that this comes through, as well as the chance to showcase the abilities that we've been blessed with. More details to come and a specific song list and sequence to follow. We're looking forward to geting back into the studio and more important, to seeing all of you on the road again this year!
Be well, be blessed and let the games begin."
Some of the songs
JUDAS PRIEST - 'Breaking The Law'
IRON MAIDEN - 'The Trooper'
KISS - 'Shout It Out Loud'
SCORPIONS - Blackout'
OZZY OSBOURNE - 'Over The Mountain'
SWEET - 'Set Me Free'
VAN HALEN - 'On Fire'
DEEP PURPLE - 'Highway Star'
BLACK SABBATH - 'Heaven And Hell'
UFO - 'Lights Out'
KANSAS - 'Carry On Wayward Son'
Story taken from: Brave Words
"Just as promised, I wanted to outline some more details regarding the new Stryper record. We grew up listening to many different styles of music and there is a list of bands that influenced us throughout our musical education. Bands like JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, SCORPIONS, VAN HALEN, UFO, DEEP PURPLE,LED ZEPPELIN, QUEEN, KANSAS and many others, helped to shape our sound and make us who we are today, musically speaking. We grew up on the streets of LA playing every club in town from Gazzari's to The Whisky to The Troubadour to you name it. We played covers from all the bands mentioned above and we shaped our own sound from listening and performing songs from these classic bands. We wanted to step outside the box and record a record that shows you, the fans, where we come from - our historical, musical roots so to speak. It's a side to Stryper that no one has really seen or heard before, or at least quite like this. We performed 'On Fire' by Van Halen on a few tours and we also performed 'Breaking The Law' by Priest on this last tour. The response was far beyond our expectations each time we performed these songs. People seemed genuinely surprised to hear Stryper cover these songs and even more surprised to hear Stryper perform these songs relatively well. This will be an opportunity for Robert, Oz, Tim and myself to loosen up and have some fun. For those of you who may think that we're walking away from our faith - your wrong. We've never been more serious about our faith at any point in our lives. It is however important to enjoy what you do and lighten up from time to time. That's what we plan to do. This will be a fun record to make and we hope that this comes through, as well as the chance to showcase the abilities that we've been blessed with. More details to come and a specific song list and sequence to follow. We're looking forward to geting back into the studio and more important, to seeing all of you on the road again this year!
Be well, be blessed and let the games begin."
Some of the songs
JUDAS PRIEST - 'Breaking The Law'
IRON MAIDEN - 'The Trooper'
KISS - 'Shout It Out Loud'
SCORPIONS - Blackout'
OZZY OSBOURNE - 'Over The Mountain'
SWEET - 'Set Me Free'
VAN HALEN - 'On Fire'
DEEP PURPLE - 'Highway Star'
BLACK SABBATH - 'Heaven And Hell'
UFO - 'Lights Out'
KANSAS - 'Carry On Wayward Son'
Story taken from: Brave Words
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