When someone mentions the word Canada to you, you think of a lot things including monuments, animals, sporting events, actors and maybe even musicians as well if you know any that originated from Canada. Heavy and Power Metal rockers STRIKER are just one of those bands and they are back with a brand new CD called "City of Gold" which I will now review.

Formed in 2007 and hailing from Edmonton in Alberta, STRIKER are a quintet of rockers who like to do nothing more than create heavy music that you can head bang and air guitar to while cranking it loud to annoy your neighbours to the point where they start banging on the walls yelling at you to turn it down or turn it off. So far, this quintet of Canadian rockers have released one demo, one EP, one single and three full length albums with the third one being the newest one "City of Gold".

The moment the first track "Underground" kicks in, you get a very clear idea of just what STRIKER are all about as you are instantly assaulted with heavy guitars and pounding drumbeats and then when the vocals kick in, that's when all hell breaks loose. In between choruses on some of the songs, there are some fast paced guitar solos from guitarist Chris Segger and the speed at which he shreds is insane and it makes you think, "Hold on, there's no way in hell that it's possible for a human being to play that fast" and that's exactly what we get here.

If the opening track wasn't enough to get your blood pumping then the next track will which is the title track "City of Gold" and then after that, 9 more head bangers kick in to whoop your ass including "Bad Decisions",  "All For One", "Second Attack", and "Rise Up".

There's no getting away from the fact that this record is very heavy and fast paced in places with not a single slow track in sight and with an album like this, you don't need any slow tracks or any ballads for that matter as it's all about Heavy Metal from start to finish with plenty of songs that will whoop your ass. The only thing that may seem a bit off at times is the vocals from Dan Cleary but if you look past that and I know most rockers and metal heads like myself will, then you are in for a real treat from this kick ass quintet that is STRIKER.

So now it's verdict time. The combination of Heavy and Power Metal works together brilliantly with a band like STRIKER and some of the songs on the new album may branch out into the Thrash Metal style but even if that happens, you'll always be left wanting more from this new album including the opening track "Underground", the heavy head banger "Bad Decisions", the fast paced "Crossroads", the in your face title track "City of Gold" and the closing track "Taken By Time" to the point where hitting the replay button on your stereo/music player is the only thing on your mind so you can head bang and air guitar to every song all over again.

If you do want more, then get the Digipak version of "City of Gold" where you get 4 more tracks to enjoy including "Two Minutes to Midnight", "Watching You", "Roll With The Punches" and "Fuck Volcanoes".