Hailing from Edmonton, Alberta, Striker has embraced saxophone-led ’80s Heavy Metal in their new single, Give It All. The track is taken from their new album Ultrapower, which the band promise takes influences from “Steely Dan to Deathcore.”
“Give it All is a song written for the soundtrack of an ’80s action movie that doesn’t exist,” the band said. “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.”
The video for the song, which you can see below, is almost a celebration for shirtless saxophone player Tim Cappello (Tina Turner, 1987 vampire film The Lost Boys). A quick check on Google images shows that the guy apparently owns nothing with sleeves.
Smiles aside, it’s a cool song embracing Heavy Metal melody, harmonies, and, of course, the saxophone and is a wonderful lead into the album. “Starting with the album cover, we wanted the artwork to represent how we feel as a band right now,” Striker told us. “We are an engine that is fired up and ready to roll. We’re made of Metal, and our circuits gleam!”
Ultrapower was backed by over £18,000 from a Kickstarter fund. “The album itself is an amalgamation of five years of writing and exploring music,” the band said. “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.”
The band, who played The Sophie Lancaster Stage at Bloodstock 2023, released the single Best Of The Best Of The Best when launching the Kickstarter last year. “It’s mullets, it’s jet skis, it’s shredding,” vocalist Dan Cleary said. “What more do you want?”
The video is below, while you can see a dual guitar playthrough of the track at the foot of this page. “If you’re not simultaneously leaping into the bed of a truck while it’s doing a burnout as you rip through a killer riff, are you even shredding?” guitarist John Simon Fallon said.
Striker then moved to the legendary Edmonton vintage video store, The Lobby, to record the video for the fantastic Circle Of Evil. “Secret societies, shape-shifting reptilians, and evil forces?” the band asked. “You’d be running for your life too. We’ve got the nuclear codes, and we are launching Heavy Metal nukes directly into your ears.”
For the band’s seventh full-length, they teamed up with producer Josh Schroeder (Lorna Shore, Tallah, King 810). “In the end, with the help of Josh Schroeder’s guiding hand, we melted it all together to present something uniquely Striker,” the band said.
“Lyrically, we’ve stuck to the Striker tradition of writing montage songs for movies that don’t exist, songs about our spiralling serfdom, and lyrics about the evils that lurk in the shadows.”
Ultrapower is due out on 2 February 2024, and is available for pre-order at striker-metal.com/shop.
Wow, I’m blown away by the innovative saxophone heavy metal in this blog post! As a fellow music lover, I can appreciate the unique blend of genres and the way the saxophone is used to create a heavy, intense sound. It’s amazing to see how the artist has pushed the boundaries of traditional metal music and created something truly original. Keep up the great work!