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(7/10) That Canada rocks is nothing new. The country with the maple leaf flag is the homebase for bands like Rush, Voivod, Anvil, Skull Fist,...
And it's Striker too who call this country their homeland. Striker is a five-piece band from Edmonton, Canada and they commited themselves to metal. What they are playing is a mix of classical metal, partly based on the NWoBHM, and speed metal. This sounds very oldschool and in one or another way it is. But the joy with "City of gold" is the fact, that the production is pretty modern. This gives the album a fresh look and the whole thing doesn't sound too 'dusty'.
"City of gold" is their third album and the second for Napalm Records. It contains eleven songs which reflect a bigger step forward when it comes to the songwriting. The record doesn't need any warm-up phase. The opener "Underground" takes care about that. Fast and furious the track reflects the typical US-metal from the 80's and combines it with the early Anthrax. This is an awesome and energetic beginning of 44 minutes long journey through metal. Highspeed tracks like "Crossroads" and the riff monster "All for one" underline this along the way.
But the midtempo tracks are riff based rockers too. The title track is a good example. Based on a sharp and crispy riff the song has some moments of US metal from bands like the early Lizzy Borden.
Iconic for each song is the siren - the voice of frontman Dan Cleary. His vocals fits perfect to the sound of Striker.
"Bad decisions" is a song that stands out a bit from the rest. It's more 80's based hardrock, which remind s a bit to Ratt. It's a good song with the 'ohohoho' part in the chorus, but it seems a bit disconnected from the other songs.
"City of gold" is a cool metal album with raw power and straight-forward metal. For me it has it's strength esp. in the fast songs which might lead to severe neck problems due to headbanging. Good headbanging.
(7/10)
Tracklist:
- Underground
- City of gold
- Start again
- Bad decision
- Crossraods
- All for one
- Mind control
- Second attack
- All I want
- Rise up
- Taken by time
Label: Napalm Records
Genre: Heavy Metal
