Metal Underground.com

I cannot fully comprehend why, but the new Striker hit me in the same way as Metal Church’s “The Dark” did back when I impatiently ripped the shrink wrap from my newly purchased cassette in 1986. It had less to do with the sound, and more the head throttling energy. “Armed to the Teeth” comes out of nowhere to plant the Canadian flag firmly in my view of top releases for 2012. The sophomore full length effort from Striker blazes a trail of bloody bodies with its varying styles combining speed, power, and traditional metal in a way that slams down on the gas and never looks back. “Armed to the Teeth” surely grabbed my attention in ways never expected.

Stylistically nothing new, Striker takes the best elements of every form of metal I love and stirs the pot with brilliant musicianship and unbelievable pipes care of Dan Cleary. Describing “Armed to the Teeth” is like taking Judas Priest, Riot, Metal Church, Agent Steel and Anvil and forging them together like the shards of Narsil to form Anduril....er, Striker, eh!

The pure, unadulterated power of songs like “Let it Burn,” “Lethal Force,” “Wolf Gang,” and the absolute shredder “Feed the Fire” may not make you stop and say “how different,” but bloody hell...it will make you stop and say “Fuck Yeah!” “All the Way” literally pounds the listener into the ground with multiple punches while at the same time remaining utterly melodic at its underbelly. The opener “Forever” even has a riff that could find itself on Running Wild’s “Under Jolly Roger.”

Wrapped in the security of Michael Wagener’s perfect production, guitarists Ian Sandercock and Chris Segger blaze their “anvil” laden riffs around Cleary’s brilliant vox. The solos are some of the most exciting I have heard in years. The band is rounded out by the rapid fire rhythm section of bassist Dave Arnold and new drummer Adam Brown.

You want speed? You got it! You want power? All you can handle, bro. You want melody? Prepare to take flight! You want more riffs than you can take. It is all here and “Armed to the Teeth.” Oh yes, Striker has my full attention now.