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Sound check: Canadian band Striker mixes good guitar riffs with '80s metal, '90s new wave
Striker performs at Launchpad on Wednesday, Nov. 13. The band is made up of, clockwise left to right, vocalist Dan Cleary, guitarist John Simon Fallon, bassist Pete Klassen and guitarist Tim Brown.
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Canadian heavy metal group, Striker, returns to Albuquerque with new music and a new album.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really excited about it,鈥� said vocalist Dan Cleary. 鈥淲e鈥檙e on tour with our friends in Seven Kingdoms and Lutharo. It鈥檚 a bit of a long tour for us, so we鈥檙e pretty excited to get started. And, happy to come back to Albuquerque. It would be our second time playing there.鈥�
Striker is part of the 鈥淪hredding North America Tour鈥� that features headliner Seven Kingdoms and support act, Lutharo. The tour hits Launchpad on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
The first time Striker played in Albuquerque was in 2018 when the band was on tour with Death Angel. Since then, it won Heavy Metal Album of the Year for its album 鈥淧lay to Win鈥� at the Juno Awards in 2020. The Juno Awards is the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy Awards, on a smaller scale.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always really exciting as a band to get any kind of sort of mainstream acknowledgement that you know you鈥檙e doing something right,鈥� Cleary said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really nice and it鈥檚 a really big honor for us. The most famous Canadians, it鈥檚 funny, like Justin Bieber gets a Juno and he doesn鈥檛 even come to the award show. But for us, we鈥檙e really excited to be a part of it.鈥�
Cleary said the band did not get to celebrate its win due to it being in 2020 during the thick of the pandemic, but it is hoping to get recognition for its new music.
鈥淲e鈥檙e gonna see if we can get back in and running for the new album, and maybe we can actually go to the party this time,鈥� he added.
The band released its new album, 鈥淯ltrapower,鈥� in February.
鈥淲e released that earlier this year,鈥� Cleary said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 actually our seventh album, which sounds crazy, but we鈥檝e been working on it for a long time. It鈥檚 a really fun album.鈥�
The band worked with producer Josh Schroeder, who is known for producing heavier acts such as Lorna Shore, Tallah and King 810.
鈥淲e just thought it would be fun to go to a producer who does something totally different, to get a kind of a new take on what we do,鈥� Cleary explained. 鈥淎nd, the result was really cool. We鈥檙e really excited about the album.鈥�
Cleary said the end result was not too crazy or a far stretch from Striker鈥檚 sound.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 probably a sign that (Schroeder鈥檚) a good producer that can sort of bring the best out of the bands he鈥檚 working with, regardless of their style,鈥� Cleary added. 鈥淚 think when we went in, we were thinking, 鈥極h, maybe it鈥檒l be like really crazy and we鈥檒l do some really off the wall stuff.鈥� But in the end, he just worked with us to sort of bring out the best in us. And I think, we鈥檒l probably go back to him if we can, and maybe the next one will be the one where we start putting the Lorna Shore type stuff into our music too.鈥�
Cleary describes the song 鈥淟ive to Fight Another Day鈥� on the 鈥淯ltrapower鈥� album as a studio experiment.
鈥淭his song was originally a regular rock song with drums and guitar, and then our guitar player was like, 鈥榃hat if we did sort of a synth wave type thing with this? Like, different types of drums and electronic drums, stuff like that?鈥� And you know, we鈥檙e a band on our seventh album. We鈥檝e already done the regular rock song stuff. So we were like, 鈥榊eah, let鈥檚 try it.鈥� And it turned out really cool.鈥�
Cleary said the band has been trying to write a metal movie soundtrack during the entire time it has been a band.
鈥淲e think this one really fits in,鈥� he said of 鈥淟ive to Fight Another Day.鈥� 鈥淭his would be a great song on an 鈥�80s action movie soundtrack.鈥�
Striker鈥檚 music has a noticeable influence from the 鈥�80s and 鈥�90s genres.
鈥淲e鈥檝e always kind of been like a retro style band,鈥� Cleary explained. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been kind of in the genre of the new wave of traditional heavy metal, which is a lot of stuff that it takes inspiration from like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, that kind of thing. But, lately we鈥檙e sort of being more influenced by the later 鈥�80s, early 鈥�90s new wave. And then there鈥檚 also the AOR (album-oriented rock) stuff, which is like Journey and Toto and stuff like that. We鈥檝e always been super interested in mixing some of those sounds into what we鈥檙e doing, along with some good riffs.鈥�
Cleary said on the last two albums, the band has been experimenting with its music.
鈥淲e鈥檙e putting synth and keyboard and layers into our music,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚t just adds a lot, actually, and it sounds great. It鈥檚 sort of just like a perfect match.鈥�
