Striker will release their sixth album. The opening track is below:





1. Heart of Lies
2. Position of Power
3. Head of Power
4. On the Run
5. The Front
6. Play to Win
7. Standing Alone
8. Summoner
9. Heavy Is the Heart
10. Hands of Time

I don't understand these guys. Stand In the Fire was an incredible album, then they just rushed out that boring self-titled just a year later with zero marketing. It kinda just appeared one day, is exceedingly mediocre, and they didn't even bother to put in on Bandcamp even though they're no longer on a label. Now they have their third album in 3.5 years and it looks like they're again trying to promote it all themselves, forcing fans to pre-order insanely expensive versions of the physical album through their website and not even offering a digital option. They make killer music, but they run their band like it's 2007 and it's extremely confusing and frustrating as a fan.

At least this track sounds promising?

^Yeah pretty much that and what I said in the most anticipated albums thread. I really don't understand the rush with these releases and it's no surprise they were only able to conjure up 33 minutes of original material on the last one.

Same here. The s/t is ok, but was a rather big disappointment after the brilliant Stand In the Fire. That's their best one along with Armed to the Teeth. Land of the Lost is one of all time favorite songs.
The new song is great though, so I'm really looking forward to the upcoming one. Pre ordered the CD.

I was pretty let down by the S/T as well. It really didn't have a lot going for it, especially when compared to Stand in the Fire. I really don't think I'll be pre-ordering this one, especially when they're asking $40 USD for the vinyl, which is downright ridiculous. I have no problem with the band self promoting and doing things the way they want, and they seem like they've been fairly successful in the past few years, but I just can't justify handing over $50+ for a new record.

The new track is alright, doesn't really pull me in though.

Huh, for some reason I thought I was in the minority for not being a big fan of the s/t but I guess that's actually the popular opinion.

Apparently I need to listen to more than just the self-titled then. I do remember it just being okay.

City of Gold and Stand in the Fire are incredible records.

I've been playing Stand in the Fire lately. It's pretty fucking incredible. How that one and City of Gold aren't talked about as pretty much the best new trad metal albums on the scene is pretty wild to me. They're leagues beyond most other ones right now.

Hmm... A new song, but its title doesn't correspond to any of those added to the page here, nor to any off of their previous releases:

https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/S ... Win/728019

I'd guess that that's the real title of track 3 and the name listed for track 3 in this thread is a typo. Using "of Power" twice in a row seems pretty repetitive.

Yeah it's track 3. I realized I didn't comment here, but I've been listening to the album for a few weeks and it's really good. Probably towards the bottom of their discography (only beating out the last album), but it's still fantastic. The music is a far cry from the speed metal days of Eyes in the Night, but it's incredibly well-composed. No real complaints here. Heavy is the Heart is probably my favourite aside from Heart of Lies.

Sorry to say folks, but it's bad. Starts out pretty strong, but hits a mid album slump with the title track and never recovers, save for maybe The Summoner which has a cool harmonic riff during the chorus. At least Heart of Lies and The Front are pretty good. This is a 6/10 at best.

Yeah I've given it two listens so far and I'm not super impressed. The Summoner is the standout track for me but other than that it's just kinda not great.

I really like this even if it's more hardrock than heavy metal. Much better than the self titled, and so far top three in the Striker-discography, after Stand In the Fire and Armed to the Teeth.
Heavy Is the Heart and The Summoner are favorites.