STRIKER Win 2020 JUNO Award For Metal / Hard Music Album of The Year

         For Fans of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Enforcer, Skull Fist, Steelwing
 Photo Credit: Dana Zuk


Champions in blending classic heavy metal, hard rock, and 80’s hair metal, Canadian shredders STRIKER's sixth studio album "Play To Win", released via their independent label Record Breaking Records, has won the 2020 JUNO AWARD for Metal / Hard Music Album of The Year. As the most prestigious music award an artist can be given in the country, the 49th JUNO Awards were originally scheduled to be held at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on March 15th, 2020, but due to the COVID pandemic was forced to reschedule as a live stream on June 29th.

This was Striker's second JUNO Award nomination and first win.

"We are very grateful for the Juno win this year, especially as an independent band. The Juno is the culmination of all the support from the Canadian music industry we've had, from FACTOR, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Canada Council for the Arts, and many others, and helps us feel validated as artists. There was a strong lineup of talent at the awards this year, and just to be nominated among them was an honour. We hope everyone stays safe out there and we look forward to returning to live music!"

Striker's album "Play To Win" was nominated alongside Kobra and The Lotus - Evolution, Lindsay Schoolcraft - Martyr, Single Mothers - Through A Wall and The Agonist - Orphans.

Full details on JUNO Award winners and nominees can be found here.


 Featuring 10 fist-pounding shredtacular anthems, Striker's "Play To Win" was produced by the band plus mixed and mastered by Hendrik Udd (Firewind, Powerwolf, Hammerfall, Delain). The band supported the release last year with tours across North America with DEATH ANGEL, ANVIL, STEEL PANTHER, HOLY GRAIL, and BEWITCHER along with performing on 70,000 Tons of Metal. "Play To Win" followed their 2017 self-titled full length that the band supported with tours across Europe and North America with Sonata Arctica, Dark Tranquility, and Warbringer along with festival appearances at Bang Your Head Festival (Germany) and more to add to their almost 1000 shows performed in their decade-plus career.

Guitarist Tim Brown comments on "Play To Win":

"Play to Win: if you want to win you have to play the game. Find the rules and break them. This is our 6th album and 3rd independent release. If we followed the rules and listened to the industry people we'd have gone absolutely nowhere. Play To Win is about listening to yourself, following your own path, and playing that 5th ace hidden in your sleeve. This album is designed to light a fire under your ass and get you moving, and we made sure to get the most modern, ear melting sounds possible. It's all about where metal is going, not where it has been, and this is our soundtrack to success."

Album CD order, stream, and download available on Striker-Metal.com, Apple Music, Amazon, and Spotify.

Music Video - "On The Run" HERE.
Music Video - "Head First" HERE.
Lyric video - "Heart of Lies" HERE.

For More Info:
Striker-metal.com
Facebook.com/strikermetal
Twitter.com/StrikerMetal
Instagram.com/strikermetal
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"Play to Win, which might be their most balanced effort yet. It’s their most catchy, too: the likelihood you’ll be singing along with every song before they finish is very, very high." - Metal Sucks

"expertly combined killer arena rock choruses with well-done, cleaner verses." - Metal Injection

"Six albums in six years. That is something almost unheard of, even in the modern era of production that considerably lessens the time needed to record and mix albums. Striker always seems to provide a new album right around when I start to wonder, “Hey, I wonder what Striker is up to?”. PLAY TO WIN is the band’s 6th LP and to my ears, one of their best. Rest assured, the band has not altered their sound. This is still classic metal, mixed with modern elements that continues to leave all pretenders in a cloud of choking dust." - Metal Rules

“You can hear influences ranging from Dokken to Metallica on Play to Win, and it’s all done with masterful songwriting, performances and production. This is a slick, aggressively-mixed record that drips with excitement and replayability... Striker have produced their best record since City of Gold, and all fans of straight-up hard rock and metal need to own this album.” - Heavy Music HQ

“Striker have knocked this one out of the park and into the stratosphere. You’d be hard-pressed to find a catchier slice of fine cheddar this year, and I’d highly recommend it.” - New Noise Mag

Italian Power Metallers From The Depth New Single "Spread Your Fire"

Italian power metallers From The Depth are sharing their first single "Spread Your Fire" off their second full-length album “Moments” set for release on August 28, 2020 via Rockshots Records. The track is the heaviest song off the album.

The band adds:

"This is a very “motivational” song in terms of lyrics, we always try to give good messages to our fans and this is no exception. The way to find your inner strengths can be hard and full of barriers, but you don’t have to fear them, you must fight and react to reach your goals. The motivational mood of the lyrics perfectly fits the heavy riffing of the song without neglecting melody and the overall harmony mindset that’s our real “trade-mark”.

Listen to "Spread You Fire" at the following links:

YouTube

Spotify

Apple Music

Punchy and aggressive, fans who have been waiting since 2014’s EP “Perseverance”, are now rewarded with From The Depth's new 10 track album. Entitled “Moments”, the full length is a series of personal occasions in the band members' lives that they are reliving through their music, from hard times to the anniversary of the group forming. In the band’s own words:
“'Moments' is a way to celebrate relevant memories and episodes of everyday life while time passes by. Each aspect of the production has been taken care of with extreme attention to detail from song structure to the final master; nothing has been left to chance and we did our best to get out the most from each session during songwriting.”

After years of hard times, they are now fully operational with a killer stable lineup, and with the new partnership with Rockshots Records, From the Depth is ready to show fans what they have been working on. Starting as a power metal cover band with a distinct “melodic mindset”, From The Depth has come a long way since 2008, and the maturity and refinement really show in this new chapter.

Fans of Firewind, Kamelot, and Labyrinth, pre-order for “Moments” HERE.

 Track Listing:
1. Immortal (4:55)
2. Spread Your Fire (4:55)
3. Ten Years (5:09)
4. Streets of Memory (4:20)
5. Hypnos (1:51)
6. Forget and Survive (4:48)
7. Just Ice (7:46)
8. Missed (4:51)
9. A Matter of Time (5:47)
10. Somewhere (4:22)
Album Length: 48:48

Album Details:
Recorded at Domination Studio and Angle Room Studio.
Mixed and mastered by Simone Mularoni at Domination Studio.
Artwork by Péter Sallai
FTD logo by Jen Scarlet
Band pic by Emiliano Paola

Vocals: Raffaele “Raffo” Albanese
Bass: Santo Clemenzi
Guitars: Alessandro Cattani
Guitars: Raffaele “Raffo” Albanese (on “Streets of Memory”)
Drums: Cristiano Battini

Keyboards:
Davide Castro (on “Somewhere”, “Streets of Memory”, “Spread Your Fire”, “A Matter of Time”, “Ten Years” ending theme, “Immortal” cinematic break)
Andrea De Paoli (on “Ten Years”, “Forget and Survive”, “Missed”, “A Matter of Time”)
Oreste Giacomini (on “Immortal”)
Backing vocals and choirs: Raffaele “Raffo” Albanese, Roberto Tiranti, Giacomo Voli, Ros Crash, Angelo Guidetti, Marco Spitale, Stefano Nüsperli, Santo Clemenzi, Jennifer Ferretti, Marco Olmedi.
Ending choirs vocal line on “Immortal” by Alessandro Karabelas.


More info:
Rockshots.eu
Fromthedepth.it
Facebook.com/fromthedepthband
Instagram.com/fromthedepthband/


BIO:

From The Depth was formed officially at the end of 2008. In 2010, with their first solid line-up, they released the demo “The Will To Be The Flame”, which quickly sold out.

In 2011 the band signed with Rising Records for the release of their first studio album “Back To Life”, published and released worldwide in November of the same year. Meanwhile, they attended many European festivals playing alongside bands such as Megadeth, Sonata Arctica, Overkill, King Diamond, Iced Earth, Moonspell, Lordi, Sabaton, Rhapsody Of Fire, Dragonforce and more.

Between 2013 and 2015 the band went through some line-up changes, but slowly, during live shows, they started the writing process for the "Back To Life" successor. By the end of 2016, a new limited edition EP was published with the name of “Perseverance”.

From 2018 the actual stable line-up is in place and after some live gigs the band focused on studio material to finalize "Moments". The album was mixed and mastered by Simone Mularoni at Domination Studio in January 2020 and features, among others, musicians like Roberto Tiranti and Giacomo Voli. While working on new material, the band leveraged new members' ideas to write even more songs, and a new album is already written and in the early stage of production.

Lately, the band is also remixing and remastering "Back To Life" which is waiting for a new release, scheduled for the 10-year anniversary of the album in 2021.

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"Back To Life" has everything and more when it comes to a solid power metal album. The songs flow together smoothly and are well balanced between reckless guitar solos and stunning piano work. Also, the vocals were most impressive. This is definitely an album that you will want to check out. - Sorrow Eternal - 9/10

“From The Depth managed to stand out thanks to their quality and exciting work, which knows how to identify itself among the overwhelmed Italian scene” - Metalitalia.com - 7/10

“Finally! Finally some good Italian power metal, produced with all the trimmings, played with all the trimming and sung with all the trimmings! After too many negatives reviews by Italian bands From The Depth wipe out any doubt on our land's playing skills.” - Metal.it – 7,5/10