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INCOMING!

 

Striker - ULTRAPOWER (2024) (Record Breaking Records)
Release Date: February 2, 2024
LABEL: Record Breaking Records
DISTRIBUTION: CD Baby
For Fans of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Enforcer, Skullfist, Steelwing

Blending classic heavy metal, hard rock, and 80’s hair metal, Striker has been making shredtacular anthems since 2007. The band has toured multiple times across Europe and North America, chosen to open for Metallica in their hometown of Edmonton, AB, Canada along with many festival appearances that include 70,000 Tons of Metal, Wacken Open Air (Germany), Bang Your Head Festival (Germany), and more to add to the almost 1000 shows performed in their decade-plus career. The band has been honoured with multiple Best Album awards in their home country of Canada from the JUNO Awards(The Canadian equivalent to the American Grammy), Western Canadian Music Awards, and the Edmonton Music Awards. 

Striker is kicking off 2024 with their seventh studio album "ULTRAPOWER", which follows their Juno Award-winning self-released full-length "Play to Win" (2018) released on their label Record Breaking Records. The new album also features the band's latest lineup addition of long-time friend and guitarist John Simon Fallon (The Order of Chaos). For the band's seventh full-length, they teamed up with producer Josh Schroeder (Lorna Shore, Tallah, King 810), entering the studio in March 2023. With the band writing material since 2018, "ULTRAPOWER" is a collection of five years of Striker tinkering and exploring new avenues.

"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." adds the band.

 "ULTRAPOWER" follows Strikers six studio albums Eyes in the Night (2010, Iron Kodex), Armed to The Teeth (2012, Napalm), City of Gold (2014, Napalm), Stand in the Fire (2016, Record Breaking), Striker (2017, Record Breaking), and Play to Win (2018, Record Breaking).

 

CDs and digital downloads are available on Striker-Metal.com, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and CD Baby.

Track by Track (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY):

1. Circle of Evil - Circle of Evil is a Malmsteen-esque metal banger about secret societies and the evil dealings behind closed doors.

2. BEST of the BEST of the BEST - It’s right in the name. This one is about being the best of the best. Serving up some big riffs and hockey arena vocals that make you want to plow through the cars stopped in front of you making you late for work.

3. Give it All - Give it All is a song written for the soundtrack of an 80s action movie that doesn’t exist. It’s for the kid risking it all to win the big game, or the down-and-out cop that’s gotta push it to the limit to survive.

4. Blood Magic - Blood Magic is maybe one of Striker's most “progressive” songs, taking cues from bands like King Diamond the song structure is unconventional and punctuated with guitar solos. How many guitar solos are too many? Guess you’ll find out.

5. Sucks to Suck - We wrote Sucks to Suck as a joke song about vasectomies in 2020 I think. We wrote it and forgot about it until one day I woke up with it stuck in my head. After 2 years without listening to it, it just appeared back in my brain. I took that as a sign, that we had to go back and see what we could do with it. Obviously, it’s not about vasectomies anymore but it’s still got the hooks! Now it’s about how people don’t realize how shitty they are and ultimately you’re one of those people yourself!

6. Ready for Anything - Ready for Anything is a song about taking life by the horns and kicking it’s ass. It’s a pounding Striker classic about keeping your head up and smashing through life even when things suck. Big riffs, big melodies, big vocals. Lets gooooo.

7. City Calling - City Calling is a song that came out of our obsession with late 80s AOR and pop rock. Bands like Toto or even Kenny Loggins put out these hook-powered albums and we’ve always wanted to take a piece of that style and mold it into our own creation. This isn’t a metal song. It’s an ode to 1987.

8. Turn the Lights Out - Turn the Lights Out is Striker checking back in with ourselves from 2010. “Hey dudes, are we still shredding?” This one is about having hope for the future, making it through another day, and getting back at it in the morning.

9. THUNDERDOME - The label called and said “You guys need a song about Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome!” and we said, “We already wrote a song called Road Warrior are you sure?” to which they said “Bring me pictures of Spiderman!” and slammed their fists on the desk. So we don’t know why it’s about that other than it’s sick! This one also has some of Dan’s strangest most ACDC/Accept style vocals ever.

10. Live to Fight Another Day - Originally this was just a regular Striker song. Tim had the idea that we should just try turning it into a synthwave track. It fits like a glove. We’ve always been into Synthwave but never had the guts to do it ourselves. Until now! This is our first attempt at it and we are stoked about how it turned out. This one is another track about keeping it together and taking on life one day at a time.

11. Brawl at the Pub - To close out the album, we’ve got the spiritual successor to the fan favorite “The Keg that Crushed New York”. This song is quite literally about a brawl at the pub. It’s weird, it's fun, it shreds. Don’t take it too seriously, we’re just here for a good time.

ULTRAPOWER Album Band Line Up:
Dan Cleary - Vocals
Tim Brown - Guitar
John Simon Fallon - Guitar
Pete Klassen - Bass
Jono Webster - Drums

Live Band Line Up:
Dan Cleary - Vocals
Tim Brown - Guitar
John Simon Fallon - Guitar
Pete Klassen - Bass