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Album Review – Striker / Ultrapower (2024)

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These Canadian metallers are made of metal, their circuits gleam, and they’re ready to show us all the endless power of heavy music to the sound of their striking seventh studio album.

Blending classic Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, and 80’s Hair Metal, Power Metal and so on, Edmonton, Canada’s own powerhouse Striker has been making “shredtacular” anthems since their inception back in 2007, which is also the case with their seventh studio album, titled Ultrapower. Produced, mixed and mastered by Josh Schroeder, and displaying a stylish, metallic cover art by Al Perez of Ramone Sketch, Ultrapower is a strong and solid follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2017 self-titled album and their Juno Award-winning 2018 effort Play To Win, showcasing a collection of the band’s tinkering and exploring new avenues, all brought into being with tons of energy and passion by frontman Dan Cleary, guitarists Tim Brown and John Simon Fallon, bassist Pete Klassen, and session drummer Jono Webster.

The maniacal laugh by Dan ignites the thrilling, metallic Power Metal hymn Circle of Evil, one of the heaviest songs from their past few albums, with Tim and John taking the song’s punch and electricity to a whole new level with their wicked riffs and solos. Then venturing through the realms of Hard Rock and Glam Metal it’s time for BEST of the BEST of the BEST, with its inspiring lyrics flawlessly declaimed by Dan (“If I could show you the top of the world / All of the things I’ve seen / Every long and winding road / All that I gave up to get what I’ve got / Maybe you’d understand / Why I’m never gonna stop”); and the sound of the saxophone brings a “Michael Bolton” vibe to Give it All, an 80’s-inspired, mellow rockin’ tune where Pete and Jono dictate the pace with their classic kitchen. It’s pedal to the metal as Striker will kick you in the head in Blood Magic, again showcasing their always catchy choruses and the beautiful heaviness of their guitars and drums, whereas Sucks to Suck keeps the adrenaline flowing in the album, a nice tune with a chorus that is as cheesy as hell (but that should work really well if played live).

Back to a more direct Heavy Metal sonority form their early records we have Ready for Anything, where Dan kicks some ass on vocals as usual supported by his bandmates’ classic backing vocals, making it impossible not to headbang nonstop to such electrifying tune. Once again paying a visit to the Sunset Strip in California, the band fires City Calling, proving how versatile their music can be, with Pete sounding ruthless armed with his thunderous, metallic bass; and let’s keep this Rock N’ Roll party going in Turn the Lights Out, where the guitars by Tim and John exhale heaviness and melody while Jono keeps hammering his drums in great fashion. Then we’re treated to Thunderdome, their personal tribute to the 1985 cult movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, presenting a pounding rhythm led by the crushing beats by Jono, while Dan and his henchmen keep roaring the famous movie line “two men enter, one man leaves”, whereas Live to Fight Another Day is another AOR/Melodic Rock-infused creation by the band, sounding as if it was taken from one of those teen movies from the 80’s, with Dan delivering the goods with his powerful vocals. Finally, closing the horn-raising Ultrapower we’re treated to Brawl at the Pub, a no shenanigans, classic Striker hymn where the heaviness of their riffs and beats matches perfectly with the soaring vocals by Dan, all complemented by a beyond powerful guitar solo.

“Ultrapower is the amalgamation of 5 years of writing and exploring music. With influences from AOR to Speed Metal, Hardcore to Hair Metal, Steely Dan to Deathcore, you name it, it made its way into the album. In the end with the help of Josh Schroeder’s guiding hand, we melted it all together to present something uniquely Striker. Lyrically we’ve stuck to the Striker tradition of writing montage songs for movies that don’t exist, songs about our spiraling serfdom, and lyrics about the evils that lurk in the shadows,” commented the band about their new album, also saying that “we wanted the album artwork to represent how we feel as a band right now. We are an engine that is fired up and ready to roll. We’re made of metal and our circuits gleam.” Hence, in order to join Striker in their quest for Heavy Metal, you can start following the band on Facebook and on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel, stream their music on Spotify, and purchase a copy of the hard-hitting Ultrapower by clicking HERE. Striker are more-than-ready to show us all the power of heavy music with Ultrapower, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy the ride with one of the best (of the best of the best) bands of the current Canadian landscape.

Best moments of the album: Circle of Evil, BEST of the BEST of the BEST, Ready for Anything and Brawl at the Pub.

Worst moments of the album: Sucks to Suck.

Released in 2024 Record Breaking Records

Track listing
1. Circle of Evil 3:44
2. BEST of the BEST of the BEST 3:19
3. Give it All 4:14
4. Blood Magic 4:35
5. Sucks to Suck 3:15
6. Ready for Anything 3:56
7. City Calling 3:45
8. Turn the Lights Out 2:49
9. Thunderdome 4:01
10. Live to Fight Another Day 4:00
11. Brawl at the Pub 3:47

Band members
Dan Cleary – vocals
Tim Brown – guitar
John Simon Fallon – guitar
Pete Klassen – bass

Guest musician
Jono Webster – drums (session)

Album Review – Striker / Play To Win (2018)

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Blending classic Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Power Metal and 80’s Hair Metal, one of the biggest exponents of contemporary Canadian metal music strikes once again with a brand new album, always playing to win.

Champions in blending classic Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Power Metal and 80’s Hair Metal, Canadian shredders Striker are back with another good album titled Play To Win, the sixth in their undisputed career and a follow-up to their two previous award nominated winning albums, their 2017 breathtaking self-titled opus Striker (nominated for a JUNO award, winner of an Edmonton Music Award and Western Canadian Award) and the WCMA + EMA award winning album Stand In The Fire, released in 2016. That means this Edmonton-based squad comprised of frontman Dan Cleary, guitarists Tim Brown and Chris Segger, bassist William Wallace and drummer Adam Brown has been on an absolute roll in the past few years, not only delivering first-class metal for our total delight, but also spreading their music live across Europe and North America with bands like Sonata Arctica, Dark Tranquility and Warbringer, along with festival appearances at 70,000 Tons of Metal and Bang Your Head Festival, proving why they’re already considered one of the biggest exponents in contemporary Canadian Heavy Metal.

Mixed and Mastered by Hendrik Udd at Hendrik Udd Recording Studios, and featuring not only an old school artwork by Elvis Amaral (HipnoFX Audiovisual), but also the fantastic Randy Black (Annihilator, Primal Fear, Destruction) as a session drummer, who by the way also recorded the album Stand in the Fire with the band, Play To Win will please all fans of traditional metal and rock, keeping the name of Striker relevant and strong in the scene. “Play to Win: if you want to win you have to play the game. Find the rules and break them. This is our 6th album and 3rd independent release. If we followed the rules and listened to the industry people we’d have gone absolutely nowhere. Play To Win is about listening to yourself, following your own path, and playing that 5th ace hidden in your sleeve. This album is designed to light a fire under your ass and get you moving, and we made sure to get the most modern, ear melting sounds possible. It’s all about where metal is going, not where it has been, and this is our soundtrack to success,” commented Tim about the album.

And Tim and Chris begin slashing and shredding their strings from the very first second in the opening tune Heart of Lies, where the band delivers their usual ass-kicking fusion of Heavy Metal and Hard Rock, with Dan declaiming the song’s chorus beautifully (“Another victim to a heart of lies / Can’t see the truth behind those venom eyes / Another victim to a heart of lies / On deaf ears will fall the eagle’s cry”). Then leaning towards pure 80’s Hard Rock and Glam Metal, in special the crisp and passionate vocal lines by Dan, we have Position of Power, with William and Randy maintaining a solid and rumbling background throughout the entire song; followed by Head First, a good song that gets a bit too commercial at times, but that obviously brings Striker’s old school punch, sounding very rhythmic, groovy and melodic. In addition, Tim and Chris are once again on fire with their riffs and solos, making it a highly recommended addition to your road trip playlist.

Blending the music by Iron Maiden with Motley Crüe, Stratovarius and Van Halen, which in the end resulted in sheer awesomeness, Striker offer us the thrilling On The Run, showcasing a brilliant vocal performance by Dan while William keeps extracting that metallic sound we all love form his bass, whereas The Front is another classic song by Striker, also feeling as it was taken from an 80’s Hair Metal album. It’s a bit too smooth compared to the sonic massacre from their previous albums, but the crisp sound of the guitars and the precise beats by Randy make it very enjoyable and fun. The title-track Play To Win, a mid-tempo feast of rockin’ sounds, sounds even more inspired by the golden years of Hard Rock than ever, with the guitar riffs and solos by both Tim and Chris getting sharper and groovier, and albeit its lyrics are extremely cheesy, the message the band wanted to send is there (and that’s what really matters in the end). Then despite the excellent vocals by Dan, its tuneful guitar solos and a pleasant vibe, the power ballad Standing Alone never really takes off, getting way too mellow compared to what Striker are capable of doing.

Back to a heavier and more epic sonority, those talented Canadian metallers fire an electrified Heavy Metal and Hard Rock tune entitled Summoner, inspired by many classics by Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and other behemoths from the NWOBHM, also presenting the best guitar work of the entire album in my opinion. In Heavy Is The Heart the band shows how to do a proper power ballad, bringing passion to the musicality without forgetting the always needed dosages of electricity and rage, again presenting an inspired Dan leading his bandmates from start to finish. However, the closing tune Hands Of Time is another generic song that sounds and feels extremely soft if you’re a longtime fan of Striker, lacking the same potency and kick from their already classic tunes. Put differently, it’s far from being a bad song, but as we all got used to a lot heavier riffs and faster beats by Striker it’s hard to truly relish it.

As a huge fan of their self-titled album released last year, which I personally considered one of the best metal albums of 2017, I felt slightly disappointed with the final result in Play To Win. Nothing to worry about, though, as I guess I’m being too harsh on the guys from Striker, almost “demanding” that they had released another Heavy Metal masterpiece instead of actually enjoying their new album. There’s still a lot of top-of-the-line music to savor in Play To Win, available from their official website as a digital download or as a special edition CD, as well as from iTunes and Amazon, and you can also follow the band on Facebook, subscribe to their YouTube channel and listen to more of their music on Spotify (if you don’t do all that already). Striker are a band that keeps winning no matter what with each and every release (despite singing in their previous album that they were “born to lose”), and the flame of Canadian metal will remain alive and vibrant while we have those skillful metalheads from Edmonton among us, always playing to win.

Best moments of the album: Heart of Lies, On The Run and Summoner.

Worst moments of the album: Standing Alone and Hands Of Time.

Released in 2018 Record Breaking Records

Track listing
1. Heart of Lies 4:04
2. Position of Power 3:41
3. Head First 4:02
4. On The Run 3:52
5. The Front 4:02
6. Play To Win 3:49
7. Standing Alone 4:56
8. Summoner 4:04
9. Heavy Is The Heart 4:54
10. Hands Of Time 3:47

Band members
Dan Cleary – lead vocals
Tim Brown – lead and rhythm guitar
Chris Segger – lead and rhythm guitar
William Wallace – bass
Adam Brown – drums

Guest musician
Randy Black – drums (session)
Lindsay Robinson, John Kennedy and Nathan Schadeck – gang vocals