Michael Sweet, ‘One Sided War’ – August 2016 Release of the Month

Thirty-plus years into delivering power vocals and hard rocking music, Michael Sweet is back with his latest solo album, One Sided War, and the Loudwire readers have voted the disc as the August 2016 Release of the Month. It was a tight race, but in the end, One Sided War edged out Skillet's Unleashed in the poll.

Though primarily known for his work in Stryper, Sweet has been steadily releasing solo material since the early '90s and his latest effort finds the vocalist cranking up the volume for one of his hardest rocking solo albums to date.

"Musically it’s my heaviest solo album," Sweet says about the new disc. “It’s not thrash metal but there are definitely some songs on there that will pop out at you. There are some songs that have a bit of the Iron Maiden / Dio feel to them, as well as some songs that have a little bit of a Van Halen influence to them. It’s a very guitar-oriented, hard rock/metal album with lots of melodies and hooks."

"It's very different from Stryper. It's an opportunity for me to branch out and try different things with the arrangements. I brought in some different musicians - Joel Hoekstra, John O'Boyle, the bass player, is unbelievable, Will Hunt, Ethan Brosh," adds Sweet in an EPK about the disc, adding, "I love solos and I love music with high pitched vocals and melodies and whatnot, but I also like to combine it with a modern-day production."

Loudwire recently premiered the video for the lead single and album opener, "Bizarre," and it's a face-melter with some blistering guitar work to compliment Sweet's vocals."'Bizarre' is a throw back to my love for bands like Van Halen and Dio — a musical frenzy with thought provoking lyrics and a blazing band," says the vocalist.

Other key tracks on the album include "Radio," a humorous track taking a jab at all the rock acts attempting country music crossovers, "Can't Take This Life," a duet with up-and-coming vocalist Moriah Formica, the title track, the blazing metal rocker "Comfort Zone" and the album's lone ballad -- "Who Am I?"

Sweet and his solo band recorded One Sided War at Spirithouse Recording Studios in Northampton, Mass. You can look for the album dropping in stores on Aug. 20 via Rat Pak Records. Sweet currently has a variety of bundle package pre-orders available at the Rat Pak site, while the album is also available to pre-order via Amazon, iTunes and GooglePlay.

Congrats to Michael Sweet as One Sided War is the Loudwire August 2016 Release of the Month.

Michael Sweet "Bizarre"

See the Results of the Fan-Voted August 2016 Album of the Month Poll