Kiss, Kansas, Queen, UFO, Styx, Journey, ELO, Boston, April Wine, and Eagles.

1. Crush The Head Of Satan
2. One Way
3. The Answer
4. State of Emergency
5. First Strike
6. Rock On
7. The Young Men Have A Vision
8. Riot
9. Suprise

Melodic Metal reissue from 1987...For fans of Stryper, Motley Crue and Kiss. Remastered, with bonus tracks, this heavy metal classic is avaailable for the first time ever on CD.

In 1986 Stryken released their first EP containing the songs Rock On and Surprise to be followed up in 1987 with their 8 song debut album titled ‘First Strike’ both on chrystal records. Now for the first time ever, you can own your very own copy of their full length debut which contain all original songs as well as special bonus song suprise from their 1986 EP., This special limited edition cd contains special artwork, liner notes and commentary from Doug Van Pelt. This is a limited Edition CD and only 2000 copies will be pressed.

Stryken made some real noise from Central Texas in the late 80s. Prior to relocating to Cedar Park (outside of Austin, TX) they were called Stryker and released an album in 1983 called "Blitzkreig." Contrary to some popular rumors, Stryker had its name copyrighted, but when Stryper hit the scene nationally  the next year, they changed their name to Stryken so as not to cause any further or unnecessary strife (It's the truth). I remember first hearing about the band by seeing their ads in national magazines, like Metal Edge. One such bold ad had the headline: "God Damned Satan, And Is About To Change Your Life..."These ads cause more than a small stir all over the nation. It's hard to know how many units they sold on their own label during those early years, but they kept busy filling mail-orders from all over the world.
 
When I saw their address was outside of Austin, Texas, I was shocked that I hadn't heard of them before. I soon scheduled an article and planned on interviewing them for the cover story of Heaven's Metal. I remember driving through the dirt roads between several manufactured homes out in Cedar Park's desert region. Holed up in the band's rehearsal shed were three out of the four long-haird musicians that made up the band. They had just released the 12" single "Rock On," with its Queen-like bombastic drum intro and the Beatlesque "Surprise" as the B-side. This cover story was a big moment for the year-old Heaven's Metal fanzine, as the band paid the print bill to make its cover a two-color design to stand out from the rest.
 
The band only played a handful of shows, but they made each one memorable. I'll never forget seeing them at a young alcohol-free "teen club" in Austin, where the Hopkins brothers, known as Dale and Stephen Strieker both wore their Fruit of the Loom briefs underneath their spandex and behind loin cloth coverings. "We're married guys," they blushed when asked about it. The album you hold in your hand was recorded later that year(1986) and released in early 1987. That summer saw the band members bringing a cross to a local Motley Crue show, where they stood outside with a giant cross and talked to passer-by about the Lord. They went down to San Antonio the next day for more of the same and found themselves handcuffed and detained for two hours outside the concert venue.
 
Later that year they were one of the first Christian metal bands to get released on the new compact disc format. Their anthemic single "Rock On" (a different version than the original) was found on the Righteous Metal album put out by Arrival/K-Tel Records. There was talk later about putting the band on the road with Venom as a "Heaven and Hell" tour, but it was not to be, as the band slowly but surely found itself involved in other entities.Vocalist Stephen Hopkins penned a song called "A Dark Day In Texas" after longtime coach Tom Landry was fired from the Dallas Cowboys. A video with Cowboys football highlights with his soundtrack underneath made many television news appearances. It was not the last time that Stephen would be on the news. In the 1990 elections he ran for State Representative so as to force local tv news stations to air his
campaign commercial (under an equal time law at the time), which was full of pro-life imagery that would normally never be seen on tv. Bassist Jeremy "Sammy" Nunes (known by the metallic moniker Ezekiel
Vade in Stryken) played in The Cry in and around Austin. Drummer Joey Puente (aka Joey Knight) has proven that he's got a fine pair of pipes, too, playing a few gigs in Austin and Houston in recent years (which also include singing Stryper's "My Love I'll Always Show" at my wedding in '92).Dale Hopkins has shown up in the papers lately by announcing his intention to run for the Texas House of Representatives.
 
While Stryken's musical career may only be a footnote in heavy metal history, this album represents their finest studio moment, with the powerful "Crush The Head of Satan" and the melodic "The Answer."
 

Stryken was a Christian metal band from Austin, Texas. They formed in 1986 and released one album, First Strike, the following year. The band has been characterized as a Stryper clone, however, they tended to lean toward the extremes of the genre. The theme of the album is militant spiritual warfare with a similar stance to that of Petra. The lyrics, however, go further than most similar bands. The song "Crush the Head" takes the graphic imagery so far that the band was accused of promoting violence. The band did not deny this charge, and stated instead that the violence was "well directed."

The band is best known for disrupting a June 1987 Mötley Crüe show. Before the show the band, wearing full armour suits and carrying a large cross, preached to the crowds twice. The first incident took place outside the venue, and the second in front of the stage. The band was arrested and released, no charges were pressed.

The armour suits were typical for the band, and were a reference to the "Armor of God" in Ephesians 6.