Annihilator Alice In Hell

Annihilator's brand of technical, thinking man's thrash metal garnered many fans with this fine debut, arguably the best release of the band's career. A brief acoustic guitar piece called "Crystal Ann" introduces the excellent title track: a psychological murder thriller supposedly based on a disturbed young girl's true story. Leader Jeff Waters takes himself a little too seriously at times (see the Edgar Allan Poe-influenced "Ligeia" and his ridiculously erudite commentary on each song's lyrics), but he is equally prone to refreshing flashes of humor on "Word Salad" and "Schizos Are Never Alone." The spectacularly named Randy Rampage proves himself to be a versatile vocalist on "Wicked Mystic" and "Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade" (seriously). The careening closer "Human Insecticide" is magnificent for its sheer speed.

Annihilator's brand of technical, thinking man's thrash metal garnered many fans with this fine debut, arguably the best release of the band's career. A brief acoustic guitar piece called "Crystal Ann" introduces the excellent title track: a psychological murder thriller supposedly based on a disturbed young girl's true story. Leader Jeff Waters takes himself a little too seriously at times (see the Edgar Allan Poe-influenced "Ligeia" and his ridiculously erudite commentary on each song's lyrics), but he is equally prone to refreshing flashes of humor on "Word Salad" and "Schizos Are Never Alone." The spectacularly named Randy Rampage proves himself to be a versatile vocalist on "Wicked Mystic" and "Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade" (seriously). The careening closer "Human Insecticide" is magnificent for its sheer speed.

Annihilator's brand of technical, thinking man's thrash metal garnered many fans with this fine debut, arguably the best release of the band's career. A brief acoustic guitar piece called "Crystal Ann" introduces the excellent title track: a psychological murder thriller supposedly based on a disturbed young girl's true story. Leader Jeff Waters takes himself a little too seriously at times (see the Edgar Allan Poe-influenced "Ligeia" and his ridiculously erudite commentary on each song's lyrics), but he is equally prone to refreshing flashes of humor on "Word Salad" and "Schizos Are Never Alone." The spectacularly named Randy Rampage proves himself to be a versatile vocalist on "Wicked Mystic" and "Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade" (seriously). The careening closer "Human Insecticide" is magnificent for its sheer speed.

Annihilator's brand of technical, thinking man's thrash metal garnered many fans with this fine debut, arguably the best release of the band's career. A brief acoustic guitar piece called "Crystal Ann" introduces the excellent title track: a psychological murder thriller supposedly based on a disturbed young girl's true story. Leader Jeff Waters takes himself a little too seriously at times (see the Edgar Allan Poe-influenced "Ligeia" and his ridiculously erudite commentary on each song's lyrics), but he is equally prone to refreshing flashes of humor on "Word Salad" and "Schizos Are Never Alone." The spectacularly named Randy Rampage proves himself to be a versatile vocalist on "Wicked Mystic" and "Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade" (seriously). The careening closer "Human Insecticide" is magnificent for its sheer speed.

Annihilator's brand of technical, thinking man's thrash metal garnered many fans with this fine debut, arguably the best release of the band's career. A brief acoustic guitar piece called "Crystal Ann" introduces the excellent title track: a psychological murder thriller supposedly based on a disturbed young girl's true story. Leader Jeff Waters takes himself a little too seriously at times (see the Edgar Allan Poe-influenced "Ligeia" and his ridiculously erudite commentary on each song's lyrics), but he is equally prone to refreshing flashes of humor on "Word Salad" and "Schizos Are Never Alone." The spectacularly named Randy Rampage proves himself to be a versatile vocalist on "Wicked Mystic" and "Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade" (seriously). The careening closer "Human Insecticide" is magnificent for its sheer speed.

Since 1989, Canada’s Annihilator have not stopped putting out records and touring the world. Despite the ever-changing climate of the Metal World (and releasing a series of "different" Metal records with various lineups along the way), Jeff Waters and company have consistently delivered strong albums since the band’s debut "Alice In Hell" (1989).
"For The Demented" (2017) captures some feel from Annihilator’s 1985-87 demos mixed with the first 4 Annihilator records. Back to the thrash meets melody but with some pure Waters guitar riffing, up-graded lead guitar shredding and vocals back to the demo-days meets the "King of The Kill" record.

Feast, the 14th album from thrash veterans Annihilator, finds the stalwart band sticking to what they do best with an album of driving and slickly produced classic metal. Much like their contemporaries Overkill, Annihilator have found solace in staying the course, refining their sound, waiting out the storm, and honing their craft while giants like Metallica fall flat while taking risks. However, while Overkill have been in the midst of a career revival, putting out some of their best work yet, Feast feels more like a reminder, letting fans know that they're still alive and kicking. And while what they do is still solid, there's a sense of vitality missing. Sure, there's plenty of aggressive and intense thrash to be found on the album, but it doesn't feel as though Annihilator are really pushing themselves very hard, giving the impression that they're reluctant to really put the pedal to the metal despite having plenty of fuel in the tank…

Aaron Randall advises his listeners to prepare for attack, but by then the battle has already commenced, as guitarists Jeff Waters and Goldberg roll out the usual power chords and the rhythm section of Wayne Darley and Mike Mangini piledrive every beat. Annihilator bring a certain efficiency to garden-variety speed metal, never wasting time, which, in a genre defined by excess, gives them a certain elegance.

Feast, the 14th album from thrash veterans Annihilator, finds the stalwart band sticking to what they do best with an album of driving and slickly produced classic metal. Much like their contemporaries Overkill, Annihilator have found solace in staying the course, refining their sound, waiting out the storm, and honing their craft while giants like Metallica fall flat while taking risks. However, while Overkill have been in the midst of a career revival, putting out some of their best work yet, Feast feels more like a reminder, letting fans know that they're still alive and kicking. And while what they do is still solid, there's a sense of vitality missing. Sure, there's plenty of aggressive and intense thrash to be found on the album, but it doesn't feel as though Annihilator are really pushing themselves very hard, giving the impression that they're reluctant to really put the pedal to the metal despite having plenty of fuel in the tank…

Annihilator's inconsistency continues with this solid self-titled output that abandons the band's recently employed modern metal soundscapes and goes back to a more basic thrash metal sound with a cold production one would rather expect from an industrial metal band. This partial stylistic return to the roots might be the reason why the band went for the rather unimaginative self-titled option here.