STRIKER - City Of Gold
September 3, 2014, 10 years ago
(Napalm Records)
Canadian traditional heavy metal purists, Striker, continues its high-level attack on its third full-length album, City Of Gold. Building off its strong sophomore release, Armed To The Teeth, the 11 tracks presented here have a ferocious bite and an immediate accessibility. The Edmonton-based quintet’s musical branches hang from the same retro-NWOBHM tree as bands such as Enforcer, White Wizzard, Skull Fist and Steelwing, to name a few. Striker’s musical playbook is constructed of hellacious melodies, fiery dual-leads, fist-pounding choruses and spot-on falsetto wails. Vocalist Dan Cleary takes the bull by the horns here as the young wailer has listed the late Carl Albert of Vicious Rumors as one of his biggest influences. And it shows impressively here. Guitarists Chris Segger and Timothy Brown seem to have attended the school of Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden, Accept and Judas Priest when it comes to their well-timed twin guitar leads. From the barn-stormin’ riffs and pounding rhythm section of the crushing opener “Underground,” Striker get off to a great start. From the fierce, thrashing riffs — Megadeth style — on “Crossroads,” to the Painkiller-era Judas Priest worship of “Start Again,” to the Accept-like riffing of the title track and “Mind Control,” the band delivers a balls-out slab of traditional heavy metal.
