Annihilator Remains

Although marketed as an Annihilator album, Remains is actually a full fledged solo album by band founder Jeff Waters. And while it’s true that both King of the Kill and Refresh the Demon were also largely created by Waters with minimal help from other musicians, Waters replaced drummer Randy Black with a drum machine for this album! Aside from minor contributions to two songs by John Bates & Dave Steele, everything you hear on this album is Jeff.
What he’s accomplished here is actually quite admirable and should be viewed for what it is - a solo album done almost Completely solo. Jeff takes this opportunity to experiment with his songwriting choices, but really doesn’t veer all that far from his signature sound…

"Suicide Society" is the fifteenth album by the Canadian heavy metal band Annihilator. As usual, guitar wizard Jeff Waters handles all songwriting duties, plays all guitar & bass, engineers, produces, mixes and masters "Suicide Society"… and Waters is also back commanding lead vocal duties, as he did on the critically acclaimed “King of the Kill” (1994), “Refresh the Demon” (1996), “Remains” (1997) and other Annihilator albums over the years.

Despite all of the failed experiments and the revolving-door of vocalists throughout the '90s, Annihilator proves on Waking the Fury that they can at the very least write a solid, heavy collection of songs if pressured. No more humor-infused romps like "Brian Dance", no more overlong patience testers like "Hunter Killer"; everything is compact and lethality exudes from the band's determined approach. This becomes immediately apparent during the opener "Ultra-Motion", which detonates out of the gates courtesy of Waters' electrified picking hand and descending note clusters. Waters produced this album, lending a synthetic, artificial sheen to the guitars that remains one of the album's most memorable attributes. The guitar tone's awful reputation almost proceeds the music itself, akin to Overkill's W.F.O. and it's vehement bass tone.

Formed by ex-Annihilator bassist Dave Sheldon and Endast vocalist James Arsenian, Toronto/Montreal’s Exes For Eyes has recently gained attention for the innovative marketing technique that has surrounded the release of Tongues Like Figure Eights, its second record.Artistically, Tongues Like Figure Eights is less of an innovator than its marketing campaign would suggest. Though competently written and performed, the album is at too many moments reliant on Soilwork’s mid-career moments, and it’s no surprise that Soilwork vocalist Bjorn “Speed” Strid makes an appearance on “Done For Good”. That said, Tongues Like Figure Eights remains a professional and invigorating record that prominently showcases the vast experience that both Sheldon and Arsenian posses in the underground metal industry.