ANNIHILATOR

PAGE UPDATED IN 2022

Reviewed:
- Alice in Hell (1989)
- Never, Neverland (1990)
- Stonewall (1990, single)
- Set the World on Fire (1993)
- King of the Kill (1994)

- Bag of Tricks (1994, compilation)
- In Command: Live 1989-1990 (1996, live album)
- Refresh the Demon (1996)
- Remains (1997)
- Criteria for a Black Widow (1999)
- Carnival Diablos (2001)
- Waking the Fury (2002)
- Double Live Annihilation (2002, live album)
- The One (2004, EP)
- All for You (2004)
- Schizo Deluxe (2005)
- Ten Years in Hell (2006, DVD)
- Metal (2007)
- Live at Masters of Rock (2009, live album)
- Annihilator (2010)
- Feast (2013)
- Suicide Society (2015)
- Triple Threat (2017, live album)
- For the Demented (2017)
- Ballistic, Sadistic (2020)

- Metal II (2022)

- More Noise Vol. 1 (2025, compilation)


ALICE IN HELL          1989         (Roadrunner)

- Standouts: The whole damn thing!

Annihilator are one of those special bands to me. Well, that is, if you even consider them to be a 'band'. When you look at all the endless lineup changes throughout the years, it becomes quite clear that in reality Annihilator is simply Canadian guitarist Jeff Waters' own musical project. So really, given how long I've been following Annihilator and collecting near enough the entire discography, Jeff almost feels like an old mate of mine even though I've never personally met the guy (though I have seen Annihilator live a few times). Anyhow, Alice in Hell is one of my all-time favourite metal albums, and one that I consider to be one of the more important CD's in my collection. I got it when I was fourteen years old after reading a small article about them in either Metal Hammer or Classic Rock magazine. Naturally, I had to get my hands on this debut record, so I asked my local HMV to order me a copy of 1998 remaster. Yeah, I didn't have a debit card until I was sixteen, so I couldn't buy shit online. I had to order stuff in and pay for it when it arrived. Either way, it was worth it. I was blown away by this thing and became a die hard Annihilator fan almost immediately.

I always described Annihilator's trademark sound as 'intellectual thrash'. Well, I didn't actually - I just made that up now. Still, it's a fair description, at least when talking about them musically. I mean, Jeff Waters is a shoddy lyricist, but as a guitar player he is fucking awesome. Alice in Hell is chock-full of super-tight, technical speed metal riffs as well as clean classical guitar melodies to create something extra special in the world of thrash. The album begins with the pretty little classical/flamenco-ish acoustic guitar instrumental, 'Crystal Ann'. This is the perfect introduction to the band's trademark 'banger, 'Alison Hell'. Vocalist Randy Rampage (R.I.P.) is honestly a terrible singer in terms of ability, but his raspy punk sneer is absolutely perfect for this record! Makes sense then, that he was previously a member of the punk band D.O.A.. He makes 'Alison Hell' sound cheesy as fuck, that much is true, but in the best way possible! And obviously Jeff's riffing and solos on it are legendary. 'W.T.Y.D.' and 'Wicked Mystic' are full of razor-sharp and speedy riffs. Both are compact, but brilliant. 'Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade' manages to be catchy and melodic, but also very heavy and fast all the same. 

'Word Salad' is definitely in my top three Annihilator tracks of all time. This one has it all - crazy riffs, tons of creepy atmosphere, brilliantly melodic solos and even some proggy-like songwriting - just the works, really. 'Schizos (Are Never Alone) Parts I & II' is a blisteringly fast thrash metal instrumental that showcases, well, Jeff Waters' insane picking speed. And speaking of insane picking speeds, check out the closing track 'Human Insecticide'! Jeez, that is some tight playing! 'Ligeia' is probably the weakest track on here with it's at times slightly slower tempo, but even then it's still a solid enough thrasher with some cracking solos. The production is also decent; I swear the songs are actually just cleaned-up demos, but I could be wrong. Either way, the production is crisp enough to do Waters' technical guitar playing justice. And this whole album has a cool atmosphere that other Annihilator releases lack.

Like I said before, this is one of my favourite metal albums of all time. Obviously the fact it played a big part in my musical tastes from an earlier age makes me kinda biased towards it, but it really is a fine thrash metal album whichever way you look at it. I think it firmly sits among the best albums in it's genre (Reign in Blood, Master of Puppets, Rust in Piece, Pleasure to Kill, Beneath the Remains etc.), and I don't care if you disagree! 

Adam's rating: 9.4/10

NEVER, NEVERLAND          1990          (Roadrunner)

- Standouts: 'The Fun Palace', 'Road to Ruin', 'Sixes and Sevens', 'Stonewall', 'Never, Neverland', 'Imperiled Eyes', 'Kraf Dinner', 'Phantasmagoria', 'I Am in Command'

Screw you Nick Griffiths of the now-defunct Select magazine! Who does he think he is giving Never, Neverland a two-star review?! Yeah, I just looked at the Wikipedia page for this album, the follow-up to Alice in Hell. That has gotta be one of the lowest scores I've ever seen for what is generally regarded as another legit thrash/speed metal classic. Even Jeff Waters himself considers this to be his best. I personally don't agree with this, but I think if I'd started with Never, Neverland instead of the debut, then it probably would be my favourite Annihilator release. Really, it's a worthy continuation of what you heard on the previous, only with a touch more melody in the songs. I'd argue that overall Alice in Hell is a faster album, but the songwriting on Neverland is arguably more refined. Oh yeah, seeing as this is Annihilator, singer Randy Rampage was already gone at this point and replaced by Coburn Pharr. This guy lacks the punky sneer of Rampage, but his voice is better in terms of range and ability. That said, you can hardly call Coburn a 'good' singer. He's fine for this record, but I do sometimes think how much better the album could've been with a Joey Belladonna-type vocalist. Ironic really, given that I loved Randy's frankly dumb vocals on Alice in Hell!

Anyhow, basically everything you're getting on here is classic stuff once again. 'The Fun Palace' is a largely mid-tempo way to start this record, but it's a good 'un. 'Road to Ruin' is faster and never fails to get the old head bangin'. 'Sixes and Sevens' has a cool, creepy melodic introduction while the rest of the song barely slows down to catch it's breath and is full of endlessly cool guitar wizardry. 'Stonewall' is a highly melodic metaller, and probably my favourite here - all the musical arrangements are super memorable, from the vocals and the riffs to that lovely clean guitar melody that pops up every now and then. The title track consists of yet more melodic metal brilliance, and when Jeff's not thrashing, this is what he does best. Keep in mind he hadn't started writing terrible ballads yet... 'Imperiled Eyes' is fucking awesome, and full of some crazy guitar wankery as well as some oddly progressive jazzy transitions. The lyrics to 'Kraf Dinner' are a deliberate joke ("Macaroni maniac, a cheddar cheese heart attack", how cool is that?!), but the rest of the music is prime Annihilator and fits in just fine with the rest of the album. 'Phantasmagoria' is another ridiculously tight and frantic thrasher. 'I Am in Command' kicks fucking ass, 'nuff said. Worst song for me would be 'Reduced to Ash', but even so, it's still enjoyable even if the chorus is kinda lame.

Yeah, I still like Alice more, but these songs are largely brilliant still. I must admit that in the big list of Annihilator vocalists, Coburn Pharr has always been one of my least favourites. Thankfully the music here is way too good for him to really affect my overall opinion of this album. And my opinion is that this is a damn fine record of course.
Adam's rating: 9.2/10

STONEWALL (SINGLE)          1990         (Roadrunner)

CD single for 'Stonewall' off the Never, Neverland album. I don't usually bother with singles unless I find a copy dirt cheap and it has something exclusive on it. This features two live tracks as a bonus - 'W.T.Y.D.' and 'Word Salad', so that it made it worth owning. I think I paid less than two for it on eBay anyway. 

SET THE WORLD ON FIRE         1993          (Roadrunner)

- Standouts: 'Set the World on Fire', 'Bats in the Belfry', 'Knight Jumps Queen', 'Brain Dance' 

Some fans don't like this one, the reason being is the obvious attempt at trying to appeal to a wider audience. Yep, Set the World on Fire takes the basics of the first two records and adds more melody and hooks to the Annihilator brand of speed metal. Surprisingly enough, I've always quite liked this record. I mean, Jeff nearly always put melody into the bulk of the songs, and there's nothing on here that really screams 'sell out'. Well, not if you know anything about Annihilator that is.

I can't exactly ignore the fact that this was the album that spawned two sissy ballads - at the time of release this probably was a shock to the metal world. Sadly however, it's not unusual or rare at all to find at least one godawful ballad on any following Annihilator record. The two in question from Set the World on Fire are 'Phoenix Rising' and 'Sounds Good to Me'. The former is one of the lamest ballads from a metal band I've ever heard (and the sad fact is, there's later Annihilator ballads that end up being worse than this one) - the guitar work on it is fine, but Jesus H. Christ the fucking vocal arrangements on it make me wanna puke!! Utter garbage. As for 'Sounds Good to Me', meh... it definitely ain't as bad as 'Phoenix Rising', but it is still pretty crappy overall. 

Speaking of vocal arrangements, despite only being album number three in what is actually quite big discography at this point, we're already greeted by another replacement singer for Coburn Pharr here. This time it's a dude called Aaron Randall and once again he lacks the charisma of Randy Rampage. He can sing better than either Randy or Coburn, but he's still kinda faceless and gets the job done - but that's it. He's not awful by any means, but really not that great either. He'd sound better if he didn't have a lisp!! He didn't really, the band apparently had microphone issues during the recording... and to be honest, if I hadn't read Jeff Waters' comments on Aaron Randall's vocal performance, I wouldn't have ever noticed the lispy nature. But because I have read the stories behind the vocals, I can't UNHEAR it anymore!! Fuck's sake!

Thankfully, the rest of this album is good stuff. True, it's lacking the ferocity of a song like 'Human Insecticide' or 'I Am in Command', but the hookier riffs are still really good, and still unmistakeably the product of Jeff Waters. Like, he's still applying the majority of his guitar techniques from the last two records to this one, only the songs are catchier - and even if they aren't as fast overall, many do still thrash. I think most can agree that the title track is a classic, with that pummelling riff and outstanding guitar leads. And songs like 'No Zone' and 'Bats in the Belfry' are still heavy enough to qualify as thrash in my books, but they'll have you singing along and tappin' 'yer foot more-so than, say, those early Slayer albums. 'Snake in the Grass' is a blatant attempt at a radio hit, but honestly each of it's riffs are really cool individually. The chorus has tons of groove. The lyrics are shite as usual, but I dig 'Snake in the Grass' quite a bit overall, so yeah. 

And you've gotta love 'Knight Jumps Queen'. This tune is built around a seriously cool bassline, very catchy riffing and cheesy, chess-inspired lyrics. Even though Jeff is a terrible poet, the lyrical matter on this one really suits the whole vibe of this track. 'Don't Bother Me' is a good bit of jumpy fun while 'Brain Dance' is a goofy, appropriately-mental ditty. 'The Edge' is kinda patchy, I'll admit that. The vocal arrangements are questionable, but the guitar work on it is enjoyable once again.

What surprises me most about this album is simply the fact Jeff tried to make something more accessible in 1993 by releasing a speedy, thrashy heavy metal album with more hooks than usual. If he wanted to make money around this time he'd have scrapped any of his impressive musicianship and released a stripped-down GRUNGE album!! Set the World on Fire was destined to fail sales-wise because metal was dead in the early 90's mainstream charts. No wonder Roadrunner dropped 'em shortly after, and Jeff would end up releasing the next few studio albums under smaller labels. Of course, the sales don't actually speak for the overall quality of this thing - like I said at the start, I actually like this album (save for the ballads). It is a let-down after the first two, the ballads are terrible and it doesn't spend a lot of time kicking your ass. But the good songs on here are just that - legitimately good songs that are Annihilator through-and-through.
Adam's rating: 7.4/10

KING OF THE KILL          1994          (Earache)

- Standouts: 'The Box', 'King of the Kill', 'Annihilator', '21', 'Second to None', 'Hell Is a War', 'Fiasco', 'Speed'

With only two members present (Jeff Waters and drummer Randy Black), Annihilator in the mid-90's was even less of a band. Jeff even resorts to handling the vocals himself at this point, as well as all the guitars, bass work and production duties. And ya know what? I dig it, big-time. King of the Kill has been an album I've always been fond of, regardless of who's actually present for the recording. Annihilator has always been Jeff's brainchild whether you like it or not, and honestly, his vocals are no worse than Coburn Pharr or Aaron Randall. Of course, they're not great either, but he definitely has more grit and anger in his voice than either of the last two guys. And as for the songs, Jeff stuck to his guns. This was the mid-90's, and Jeff's saying "fuck you" to grunge, industrial and whatever the hell else was all the rage at the time. Hell, he's even given up trying to get radio airplay, unlike what you heard on Set the World on Fire. Yep, the vast majority of this album's material sounds like true metal to me.

The title track doesn't fuck around. It's built around some killer, technical speed riffs and lyrics all about lions. I mean, the opening line "I rule the jungle, I rule it with pride" is bollocks; lions don't live in the jungle, Jeff! You've been reading too many children's pop-up books! It does have a nice ring to it though. The self-titled 'Annihilator' and 'The Box' are cool songs. Both are slow, mid-tempo affairs, but both are driven by great bass and guitar riffs. Distorted vocals don't always do it for me, but they work rather well on 'The Box'. 'Bad Child' is tainted by silly personal lyrics as usual, but the music's great... as usual. I love the moody intro picking in particular. The rest of song is heavy and catchy enough too. '21' is awesome! Killer, killer bassline and a riff with tons of groove. Clichéd lyrics about blackjack, but luckily they add a lot of fun to this tune. 'Bliss' serves as a nice little melodic introduction to 'Second to None', which is a thrasher that's as tight as a drum. The intro to 'Hell Is a War' sounds like leftover from Set the World on Fire, but the rest of the song is fucking heavy stuff. 

I like the instrumental 'Catch the Wind'. This piece is centred around tons of very tuneful and enjoyable guitar melodies - almost jazzy at times. 'Fiasco' - what's not to like? Sounds like trademark Annihilator to me. 'Speed' I guess I could live without when talking about this album's tracklisting - sounds kind of like a wannabe Van Halen-Annihilator hard rock hybrid. It just doesn't flow very well with the rest of the tracks on this record. Then again, when looking at this song individually, I think it's pretty damn cool. The ballad 'In the Blood' isn't as bad or as embarrassing as the two you heard on Set the World on Fire, it does still manage to bore me overall, honestly.

Yeah, this one's never gonna be as good as Alice in Hell or Never, Neverland, but it is still a very strong effort none-the-less. It's difficult to find a speed metal album from 1994 as good as this. The production is very good, and while the songs aren't masterpieces, they're still really solid all in all. Some of these older Annihilator CD's are pretty expensive these days, and King of the Kill is no exception. I've got the 2010 Earache reissue (also hard to get today), and for some reason the order of the tracklisting is different to the original release. 

Adam's rating: 8.2/10

BAG OF TRICKS         1994          (Roadrunner)

A collector's disc, Bag of Tricks compiles a bunch of unreleased material - demos of oldies, live cuts as well as the stuff that really matters, studio tracks, naturally. 'Back to the Crypt', 'Gallery', 'Fantastic Things' and 'Evil Appetite' are the songs I'm referring to - actually, scratch the last one seeing as it's basically just 'Don't Bother Me' from Set the World on Fire in a very early state. But the others are songs that didn't make it to Alice in Hell and Never, Neverland, and are just decent Annihilator tunes in general. The live AC/DC cover, 'Live Wire' is pretty awesome too. A fun listen, but not essential.
Adam's rating: 7/10

IN COMMAND - LIVE 1989-1990         1996         (Roadrunner)

Can't really go wrong with this one 'cos it's a compilation of live material from the Randy Rampage and Coburn Pharr-eras of the band, arguably their greatest period. The performances are tight, but they don't sound that different to the studio recordings either. I had a hard time obtaining this CD however. Before I finally, successfully obtained a copy of this disc, I purchased it twice with bad results. The first attempt I was sent an email a few days after payment that the CD was actually out of stock and was accidentally still listed. I was given a refund which was fair enough, but the second time the damn thing got lost in the mail and never showed up - and I'd bought from that seller in the past so I assume it wasn't their fault. Of course, I could've got hold of this one at any time, but the prices have always been a bit odd, and I was waiting for a bargain. I guess my waiting sort of payed off, as I did get it cheap, but let's not forget the two unsuccessful purchases before-hand. Naturally, this one is out of print these days, but you can get it reasonably cheap if you buy it as an import. I'm kinda glad I got many of these discs years ago, as some bands can't afford to keep re-releasing their back catalogue, or they've had so many shitty record deals in the past that prevent them from doing so.
Adam's rating: 8/10

REFRESH THE DEMON          1996          (SPV)

- Standouts: 'Refresh the Demon', 'Syn. Kill 1', 'The Pastor of Disaster', 'A Man Called Nothing', 'Ultraparanoia', 'City of Ice'

After the band imploded and Jeff did basically everything himself on King of the Kill, he followed it up two years later with Refresh the Demon. If the album artwork ain't a homage to Uriah Heep's Abominog, then the Pope's a rabbi. Erm, yeah - anyhow, like King of the Kill, the music on this CD is almost always a no-frills, no-bullshit speed/thrash metal affair with basically all the signature ingredients you'd expect to hear on an Annihilator record. In short, it's a continuation of the predecessor, and I'm cool with that.

The title track is a classic. Love that spontaneous intro before it goes full-on speed metal. I love the melodic transition in the middle too, and who doesn't love a fake ending! Yep, it even fades out before fading back in again. 'Syn. Kill 1' is autopilot Annihilator that chugs along comfortably, sure, but autopilot Annihilator can still be decent and heavy, case in point this track. 'The Pastor of Disaster' on the other hand, is a deep cut. This is one of those bass-riffy numbers, like '21' or 'Knight Jumps Queen' that Jeff does so well. The lengthier 'A Man Called Nothing' has some prog-like tendencies with it's pretty intro/outro, weird little jazzy break in the middle, tons of heavy riffage and surprisingly good usage of distorted vocals. 'City of Ice' is another speedy number with a slight hint of rock n' roll in some of the riffs. Works for me though. So does 'Hunger', which has a catchy, fun groove. 'Voices and Victims'... well, this one's treading into filler territory I'll admit, but it's not terrible either.

My favourite song on here has gotta be 'Ultraparanoia'. Even though it doesn't do anything ambitious, this is just technical thrash metal at it's finest. Great riffs, great soloing - average vocals maybe, but like I said in the King of the Kill review, because Jeff writes all the music, he can match his vocals to the riffs quite comfortably. As for the worst song on here, predictably it's the acoustic ballad 'Innocent Eyes'. Yeah, yeah, I get that this is personal number that Jeff wrote for his newborn son, but it's rubbish either way. Like, seriously, who actually turns to a fucking speed metal album for sappy crap like this?! If Jeff made an album with his name and only his name on the cover, then I wouldn't be criticising 'Innocent Eyes' at all. Slap the Annihilator logo on the cover however, and tracks like these are just pointless. I dunno if I'd call it worse than 'Phoenix Rising', but it certainly isn't any better.

I enjoy this disc slightly less than King of the Kill. The only real reason is that I find the production to be a little too low-end and bassy overall. It isn't as sharp-sounding as it's predecessor, but even so, the production here is still decent in a retro kinda way. And the only song on here that genuinely sucks is 'Innocent Eyes'. Honestly, I find Refresh the Demon to be one of the more underrated records in this discography.
Adam's rating: 8/10

REMAINS           1997          (Music for Nations)

- Standouts: 'Tricks and Traps', 'Reaction' 

This was the third and final album in the 90's trilogy of Jeff Waters-fronted Annihilator records. After two strong efforts we get 1997's Remains, and as soon as track one, 'Murder', starts blaring from your speakers, you can immediately hear that something's not right here. Annihilator goes... industrial?? Yeah, pretty much. I mean, the riffs are still heavy and Annihilator-ish for the most part, but there's definite industrial beats beneath 'em. Honestly, I kinda like 'Murder'! I mean, it's not great by any stretch of the imagination, but I've always found it listenable. Jeff's spoken-word vocals are pretty lame, but as a whole this dark, brooding track is okay overall. 'Sexecution' - which is a fucking awful title (and the lyrics are just as awful too, naturally) - is not particularly great either. The rhythmic beat intro pisses me off (sounds like Jeff was ripping off Nine Inch Nails' 'Head Like a Hole'), but I like all the chugging riffs throughout, so it isn't entirely useless. 'Never' is very heavy and contains some ideas that are really strong, certainly good enough to have been on either of the last two albums. Sadly, the lack of any real solos and the use of drum programming hold back what is a good song at core.

Oh yeah, that reminds me - there is no drummer on Remains. Jeff did the full Monty and used programming and drum machines instead, which gives this entire record a very artificial tone, and automatically affects nearly every song on here that could have potentially fit on any 'normal' Annihilator album. I don't hate 'Dead Wrong' - it makes me nod my head and the solo is cool, but at the same time, those riffs have to be mimicking Pantera's 'Walk', surely?! 'I Want' is actually pretty decent for the most part; the only real issues it has are some of the vocal arrangements, and the way this album has been produced of course (which is true of everything on here).

'No Love' - well, alright, this one does legitimately suck. Those electronic beeps drive me nuts after a while, the riffs are boring... and Jeff, please stop fucking whispering! 'Human Remains' is also obnoxiously industrial. It's one of the faster numbers on here, sure, but all those added effects, beeps and whatever else really kick it to the curb. And even though distorted vocals worked on songs like 'The Box' prior, they really emphasise how dated 'Human Remains' in particular sounds. 'Wind' is far from the worst ballad Jeff's ever penned. At least it isn't sappy like a lot of the others are, and is definitely more metallic by comparison, but it's still very dull in the bigger picture. And the instrumental 'Bastiage' is simply one of the worst things you'll hear from any Annihilator record. It sounds like 90's video game music, which would be fine if it were actually written for such a thing!

What this album really does have going for it, are the songs 'Tricks and Traps' and 'Reaction'. 'Tricks and Traps' is one of my all-time favourite Annihilator songs. It's fast as fuck, tight as hell, the riffs are amazing, the solos are excellent... and there's no trace of industrial to be had anywhere. Well, the drums are still fake, but even this doesn't prevent 'Tricks and Tracks' from being a fully-blown classic Annihilator track. 'Reaction' is absolutely savage. This is a blisteringly quick thrasher, full of riffs comparable to the fastest Slayer material, and it just kicks ass on all levels.

It was quite difficult to settle on a score for this one. Apparently I originally gave it 5/10, meaning it was quite literally average to me. But there's only really four songs on here that I dislike ('No Love', 'Human Remains', 'Wind' and 'Bastiage'). Then there's five that aren't good as such, but are still listenable to me ('Murder', 'Sexecution', 'Never', 'Dead Wrong' and 'I Want'). And finally, there's two genuinely awesome numbers ('Tricks and Traps' and 'Reaction'). So really, I feel my original score was too low. The sad fact is, if you took away the stupid beats and industrial effects that plague a lot of these tunes, replaced the electronic drums with a real drummer, and if Jeff had actually bothered to do more in the way of guitar leads and solos, you'd likely have a solid Annihilator record all-round. Not one that's bordering on mediocrity, at least. Some people like to tear Remains a new asshole. Me, I don't think it's that bad, but it is one that should be treated with caution for sure.
Adam's rating: 5.9/10

CRITERIA FOR A BLACK WIDOW          1999          (Roadrunner)

- Standouts: 'Bloodbath', 'Back to the Palace', 'Punctured', 'Nothing Left', 'Sonic Homicide'

Most of the Alice in Hell line-up are back for this album - so Randy Rampage is on the microphone, while Ray Hartmann's back behind the drum kit. And that's cool! Certainly a breath of fresh air after the largely failed experiment that was Remains. The Slayer-y opener 'Bloodbath' definitely gets my blood pumpin'. This is a ridiculously fast and heavy number, but Jeff still reminds us that this is Annihilator by adding a ton of melody into his guitar solos. Great way to start this album, then. 'Back to the Palace' is pretty damn good too. The title is obviously referencing 'The Fun Palace' from Never, Neverland, and the riffs in the intro are a direct homage to that song. But once this track gets going, it's another blazing thrash-fest, which is what you want after all that industrial tampering on Remains. The mellow parts towards the end are a nice touch, as are Jeff's backing vocals. 'Punctured' has more of a 90's groove metal feel, but I dig it. The riffs are still unmistakeably Annihilator, and the mid-tempo pace of this song is a welcome change after two thrashers. The title track is a bit ropey though, sadly. The lyrics are awful, repetitive nonsense ("Can you use it? Can you break it? Can you destroy it?" etc.) - I mean, there's a long list of Annihilator songs with shitty lyrics, and it's a good job Randy's singing this particular track. There was always something not-so serious about his whole vibe anyway (plus, this is a man calling himself Randy motherfucking 'Rampage'!). As for the music on it, well, it's decent enough. Cool basslines, some groovy mid-tempo riffing.

'Schizos (Are Never Alone) Part III' is obviously an instrumental sequel to parts I and II from Alice in Hell. I don't have a problem with it. Jeff's guitar playing is usually enjoyable, and this is no exception. 'Nothing Left' is another raging number with tons of uber-precise, speed-picked guitar riffs that you've come to expect. 'Loving the Sinner' takes the mid-tempo heaviness of a song like 'Punctured', but also adds some Set the World on Fire-like melodic segments, with Jeff singing these particular parts. Not one of my favourites from this record, but still enjoyable enough for me to sit through. 'Double Dare' isn't one of Jeff's best thrash metallers by any means, but at least it is still that - an unpretentious thrash metaller with no unwelcome surprises. Yeah, it has some melody in the middle (again with Jeff contributing some vocal parts to this), but then most Annihilator songs do. 'Sonic Homicide' is a re-working of an early track called 'Powerdrain' that never made it to Alice in Hell. This is a great song that I think is one of the better one's from this record, it's just a shame the added distortion to the vocals takes away from the old-school speed metal vibe of this tune. They don't ruin it though, thankfully. The 'Powerdrain' demo can be found on the 1998 remaster of Alice in Hell. Lastly, there's a short instrumental called 'Mending' that concludes this CD. It's nothing to get excited about, just a mellow guitar piece that doesn't make or break this album either way.

As for Randy Rampage, I mean, his voice has aged slightly given the fact this album was recorded ten years on from Alice, but it's not like he could ever 'sing' in the first place. The important thing is that his snarly attitude is still intact, and that's what made him a good fit for this band in the first place. It's just a shame that he never came back for any future Annihilator project after this one. Apparently he was a liability on tour, a violent drunk; so Jeff had to fire him. Randy passed away in 2018. I went to an Annihilator gig in 2019 and Jeff dedicated 'Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade' to him. 

This album is often forgotten about when discussing the Annihilator discography, from what I can tell anyway. Like Refresh the Demon, I think Criteria for a Black Widow is fairly underrated in the big picture. The album cover is crap and doesn't do it any favours, that much is true - but the music leaves me feeling more than satisfied enough to consider it to be a strong record overall. I think giving it an 8/10 is a bit of a stretch however. There's not quite enough memorable songs on here that I regularly listen to for this to be a great album. Still, every tune on here is good overall, with a handful of very strong ones thrown in for good measure ('Bloodbath', 'Back to the Palace', 'Nothing Left'). No terrible ballads on this one either!
Adam's rating: 7.8/10

CARNIVAL DIABLOS          2001          (SPV) 

- Standouts: 'Denied', 'Battered', 'Carnival Diablos', 'Shallow Grave', 'Time Bomb', 'The Rush', 'Insomniac', 'Hunter Killer'

Ahh, now this is a good 'un! For Carnival Diablos, Jeff Waters recruited Joe Comeau as the singer. If you're a hardcore metalhead you'll know him from the cult underground speed/power metal band Liege Lord, and maybe from his stint in Overkill during the 90's. This guy was a great fit for the band, possibly my favourite Annihilator vocalist - and as you can see, there's been a lot of 'em! He's got a gravelly tone in his pipes, but he can still sing pretty well - and can also surprise you with his diversity at times. I won't say he has the best voice in general (more about that in later releases...), but in terms of just how well-suited he is for this band and genre, Joe was the man. And as for the songs - really damn good! The album starts off with two superb thrashers, 'Denied' and 'Battered'. Probably the best start to an Annihilator record since Never, Neverland. I'd like to slag off 'Time Bomb' for it's slow, plodding repetitiveness, but save for the silly spoken-word intro, I just can't! 'Time Bomb' rules, mainly for it's heaviness! There's also a couple of vocal lines where Joe manages to sound like a carbon-copy Rob Halford! Next up is the title track, which is a melodic slice of mid-tempo heavy metal, bordering on hard rock at times. Sounds like a bad thing on paper, but 'Carnival Diablos' is actually really catchy in a good way. Jeff sings the chorus in a kind of whiny, poppy style, which clashes with Joe's raw vocals, but I learned to like it more over time.

'The Perfect Virus' is a slower groove metal number. Probably one of the weaker tracks on this record to be honest, but I don't think it sucks or anything like that. It's just not as good as 'Time Bomb', which is very comparable. 'The Rush' is a fun old-school speed metaller. 'Insomniac' is a great, proggy metal track with tons of cool, heavy riffs and bits as well as several darker, moody parts. 'Liquid Oval' is nothing special, but it is a another nice little instrumental to break up the pace. 'Epic of War' is cool as hell - Joe somehow manages to pull off a convincing Bruce Dickinson impersonation around the middle of this one, and many of the guitar melodies also have a definite Iron Maiden-feel to them. You really can't go wrong with the scorching, sheer speed of 'Hunter Killer' either. This is one of those hilariously fast thrashers that Jeff likes doing, comparable to 'Bloodbath' or 'Reaction' from the previous two albums.

The most surprising song musically on this album is 'Shallow Grave'. Why? 'Cos it's fully-blown party hard rocker with an obvious comparison to AC/DC! And to the band's credit, they pull it off rather well! Yep, this is a fun song alright. Actually, I take back what I just said - the most surprising song on here is actually the hidden joke track at the end of 'Hunter Killer', called 'Chicken and Corn'! Unlike 'Kraf Dinner' from Never, Neverland, which featured jokey lyrics but was still in line musically with the rest of the album, 'Chicken and Corn' is intentionally silly both lyrically and musically. I still kinda like it though! On Spotify, 'Chicken and Corn' has been listed as an individual track at the end of this album.

In terms of any gripes I have, I always thought the production is lacking a little in the low-end side of things. The bass can be difficult to hear at times, but the guitar tones are nice and crunchy and on the whole the album still sounds good for the most part. Not the best-sounding Annihilator album, but certainly not bad. The songs are what counts, right? And if I'm honest, I still can't put Carnival Diablos in the same league as the first two - I just can't! Regardless, this is still a very strong effort full of memorable, diverse songs and in my opinion, a cracking vocalist who I consider to be the best-suited of all the singers Jeff's ever had for Annihilator.

Adam's rating: 8.7/10

WAKING THE FURY         2002         (SPV)

- Standouts: Great from start to finish. 

Joe Comeau stuck around long enough for this second studio album, which over time has probably overtaken Carnival Diablos for me. The songs here on Waking the Fury are excellent, the only thing that's always bugged me about it is the weird choice of guitar tones and production style throughout the record. The guitars have this deliberately fuzzy, hugely distorted sound which almost gives the album it's own layer of white noise, in a way. Even the drums are affected by this sound. When I was around sixteen I remember obtaining this and Carnival Diablos at the same time, as they were packaged together in a double slipcase by the SPV label, and the predecessor was my favourite by default of the two due to the production on Waking the Fury (even though I liked the songs). Like I said though, I actually feel like the weird production has gotten better over time - and the songs were great from the get-go. 

Now that's out the way, let's discuss the tracks. 'Ultra-Motion' is an appropriately frantic opener. Yep, it's what you want for an opening song. 'Torn' is slower, mid-paced - lots of groove, really catchy chorus. Really great. 'My Precious Lunatic Asylum' combines speed and mid-tempo grooves, and has some really awesome Jeff Waters soloing on it. 'Striker' - I love this one too. This is an old-school speed metaller with riffs that sit firmly within the Judas Priest Painkiller brand of metal, so it can only be awesome. The drum fill break in the middle sounds odd at first, but it works. 'Ritual' also has a very old-school vibe, with gallopy parts and an early Anthrax-sounding riff. Of course, Jeff adds plenty of melody in his guitar leads, reminding us that this is still Annihilator. 'Prime-Time Killing' and 'The Blackest Day' are two of the heaviest songs on the album. The former has some twisted riffs throughout, the latter is exactly what you'd want from a mid-tempo thrash song. And then you've got 'Nothing to Me', which brings back some of the hard rockin' AC/DC vibes that 'Shallow Grave' brought to the table on the predecessor. This time it isn't as obviously AC/DC-like, but the comparison is still relevant. Anyhow, 'Nothing to Me' is extremely catchy and a welcome break from the rest of the metal on this CD. 'Fire Power' has some simple pounding riffage, but the Maiden-esque guitar harmonies really bring it to life. The album ends on a scorcher, 'Cold Blooded'. This is a pedal-to-the-metal, full-speed assault, and how an Annihilator record is supposed to finish.

Looks like you gon' and dun' it again Jeff! Another corker of a record. Both this and Carnival Diablos have been regulars in the Annihilator discography since I first got 'em, but even so, I was betting that I would lower my score for Waking the Fury. I gave it a 9.1/10 previously, and I was predicting that I'd lower it to around an 8.8 for some reason (I lowered the predecessor's score from a 9 to an 8.7). Yeah, the 9.1 is ever-so-slightly too generous, but I really do still get a thrill out of each and every song on this record all these years later, so a 9/10 only seems fair. The strange production is a bit of a wild card; you might dig it like I do, or you may struggle to digest it at first - but the songs are cool as fuck, and you'd be stupid not to give the album a chance.
Adam's rating: 9/10

DOUBLE LIVE ANNIHILATION          2002          (SPV)

Best Annihilator live disc, hands-down. It's title obviously suggests that it's a two-disc affair, which it is of course. The more songs the better! Especially when it's got Joe Comeau on vocals, who pulls off all the old material as brilliantly as the stuff from Carnival Diablos and Waking the Fury. It was a bit weird to have the slow and moody 'Murder' as an opener, but it definitely sounds better in a live setting and with Joe on the mic instead of Jeff (no offense Jeff). Double Live Annihilation is a stellar live album.
Adam's rating: 9/10

THE ONE (EP)          2004          (AFM)

Oh man, what happened here?! Joe Comeau was out and new guy Dave Padden was in. And for Dave, this EP was not doing him or his reputation as Annihilator's new vocalist (at the time) any favours. The actual song 'The One' is fucking terrible. Hands-down the worst ballad Jeff Waters had ever written up until that point. Padden sounds like a pop singer on it, the lyrics are the slushiest, cringiest shite you'd ever expect to hear from a so-called metal band. And jeez, those vocal lines! "Na na na na na na na na na", what the fuck were they thinking?! There's also two different renditions of 'All for You' on here, a single edit and the full version that would appear on the following All for You album. Doesn't matter though, 'cos both are shite. Dave sings the chorus in a way that might as well be called 'emo' to me - you couldn't make this shit up! Even the harsher vocal parts sound forced. It's not just Dave's fault though, the music itself isn't particularly good either.

This EP's saving grace is the fact it has 'Weapon X' on it. This is a classic-sounding Annihilator thrasher in every sense of the word, and Padden does just fine with his vocals on it. No one uses CD-ROM's anymore so this won't have any effect on my rating, but there's also three live video clips of 'Never, Neverland', 'Refresh the Demon' and 'Alison Hell' on here that prove Dave can handle the old stuff just fine. In fact, when talking about Dave Padden as an actual singer, he's actually by and far the best one. At least Dave actually has the pipes for a ballad like 'The One', and all the other slushy bollocks like 'Phoenix Rising', 'Innocent Eyes' etc... He was also the only singer to also play rhythm guitar on stage, a pretty hefty task given how technical Jeff Waters' music is. It's just a shame that the man had such a rough start with Annihilator. What's even sadder is the actual All for You album itself...

Adam's rating: 4/10

ALL FOR YOU         2004         (AFM)

- Standouts: 'Demon Dance', 'Bled', 'Rage Absolute' 

Well, at least The One EP set you up for this mess of a record. 

Looking at contemporary reviews of All for You, it pissed off a lot of Annihilator fans and I can totally understand why. Dave Padden - despite redeeming himself on later releases - seemed like the wrong man for the job in '04. He lacks the old-school vocal metal qualities of guys like Joe Comeau or even Jeff Waters, nor did he look like your typical heavy metal vocalist either. Of course, looks shouldn't matter, but his vocals combined with his typically more 'modern' metal looks just made him seem all the more inappropriate for Annihilator. Yeah, he can sing cleanly really well, as well as having the ability to pull off harsher material - he just DOES NOT do it in a way you'd want to hear for this album specifically!

The woeful title track is first-up. You heard it already on The One EP, and it's pathetic, whiny alternative metal. The chorus is horrible, and even the harsher vocal parts sound forced. The only real traces of Annihilator can be heard in Jeff's guitar solos. Obviously the actual song 'The One' appears on here as well, and I've already discussed just how bad this ballad is in the EP review. The less said about it, the better. Which brings me onto 'Dr. Pyscho', which contains some of the worst fucking lyrics I've ever heard. Seriously, there is a spoken-word lyric at the start that literally goes "But what if the doctor was EVIL, and very, very mean...". Did a five year old write that?! What the FUCK was Jeff thinking?! Yeah, not even Dave utters those words! As for the music on this one, well, it's okay I guess. Melodic metal with some remnants of classic Annihilator in it. 'Both of Me' is kinda patchy too. For starters, it's far too long at over seven minutes. The riffy parts are just fine, but the clean interlude sounds completely out of place, and the vocals for it are once again more in line with some shitty alt. metal sound. And once again, Jeff does this cringe-inducing spoken-word bit to try and give this track more of an atmosphere. Yeah, it gives off more atmosphere alright. A low-budget, made-for-TV B-movie horror kind of atmosphere, that is.

Just when I thought Jeff couldn't write a ballad worse than 'The One', he churns out 'Holding On'. Worse still, Jeff was so pleased with the sappy piece of excrement that is 'Holding On', he decided to sing it himself. At least Dave can actually sing this kind of shit! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?! Annihilator crossed with... uh... Blink-182??! 'The Nightmare Factory' is marginally better I guess, but even so, it somehow manages to sound like some weak, wannabe System of a Down tribute. There's a couple of riffs on it that are okay, but it's still a failed experiment overall. 'The Sound of Horror' is just a 'meh' instrumental, and a dull note to end on.

The good news is that a small handful of genuinely good songs did slip through here. I like 'Demon Dance' quite a lot. Yeah, some of Padden's vocals don't do it justice, but the music is the same old thrashy Annihilator you've come to love. 'Bled' is very good too. This is a heavy, groove-laden thrasher with lots of great riffs, guitar harmonies - just the works, really.  Lastly, 'Rage Absolute' is also a gem. It's every bit as fast, technical and heavy as the anything else from the previous records. It honestly baffles me why they left 'Weapon X' off this album. I mean, it'd still be a largely crummy record, but at least it wouldn't be quite as poor.

Yep, this is pretty bad alright. Three good songs isn't enough to redeem All for You. I'll admit that some of the more sucky numbers might have a riff or two that I like, but the album as a whole is just all over the place and often reeks of crappy alternative/nu metal vibes. And the songs that do suck, really suck. Dave Padden didn't know what he was doing yet, but you can also easily blame Jeff for giving him mediocre material, a lot of which is very out of character for Annihilator, to work with. The lyrics too, are abysmal! A lot of people will tell you that Remains is the worst Annihilator album, but at least I actually like more than half of the stuff on that record. For me, All for You is the bottom of the barrel.

Adam's rating: 4/10

SCHIZO DELUXE          2005          (AFM)

- Standouts: 'Maximum Satan', 'Drive', 'Warbird', 'Plasma Zombies', 'Invite It', 'Like Father, Like Gun', 'Pride'

Damn, Jeff came back with a vengeance on this one! Schizo Deluxe is a massive, massive improvement over the shoddy All for You. It's essentially continuing on from where Waking the Fury left off, acting as if All for You never existed in the first place. Musically this album is pretty relentless, and Dave Padden suddenly decided to become awesome overnight. Basically everything he did with his voice that pissed me off on the predecessor he's managed to amend on Schizo Deluxe. No more whiny vocals, just a perfectly fitting voice for the raging music that's on offer here. Of course, whether or not he was a better fit for Annihilator than Joe Comeau was is entirely subjective - personally, I still think Joe was better as a whole for this band, but either way, Padden is great in his own right, and probably my second favourite Annihilator frontman behind Joe.

'Maximum Satan' is a great start to the record - slow, heavy, crushing stuff. A 'lotta groove too. 'Drive' is the first full-speed thrasher on here, and honestly sounds like it could fit on Waking the Fury (although the production here is drastically different of course) which is obviously a good thing. 'Warbird' is another mid-tempo track, but it's by far one of the heaviest Annihilator songs ever, and those riffs are fire! The crazy extended shout from Padden at the end of the song is a bit OTT, but then again, it does sort of suit the whole vibe of this album. As does 'Plasma Zombies'. I mean, with that title, it has to be a cool thrasher! And that it is. Sadly, the lyrics aren't literally about zombies made of plasma, but rather a metaphor for the negative effect video games have on children. Meh, not sure I entirely agree that video games are always a bad thing, but whatever. The music rules, including that weird creepy break around three minutes in as well. 'Invite It' is really damn cool too. This track has all the traits you love about Annihilator - tons of precise speedy riffs, intricate guitar leads and melodic solos, plus great vocals. 'Like Father, Like Gun' is a pretty stupid song title, but is one of the heaviest songs on this album. Plus, the chorus manages to be really catchy in terms of both the vocals and the groovy riff that plays. The frantic 'Pride' is yet another highlight. 

'Too Far Gone' is a tad weaker than the previous tracks. Jeff sings on it, not sure why. Not that he's bad or anything, it just seems odd that he, clearly the weaker vocalist, sings anything on here when Dave was available. As for the music, it's a heavy slice of old-school thrash. Still good, just a bit generic by comparison. 'Clare' is kind of weird too, sounding more like CKY at times than Annihilator in all honesty. I actually really like the moody verses in this one, but the chorus doesn't quite settle right with me. The crushing mid-section is really good too, but the song as a whole is kind of inconsistent and disjointed. 'Something Witchy' isn't perfect either, with some questionable vocal arrangements. The riffs are okay, but this certainly isn't a standout for me. 

Jeff himself considers this to be one of his best, and I find it odd that he rarely plays anything live from it for that reason. Apparently the marketing wasn't great for Schizo Deluxe and the album fell under the radar pretty quickly, and even if this is the case, it's on Spotify these days and you'd have to be galactically stupid not to listen to it. The last three tracks are unfortunately weaker than the rest of the album, but seven of the ten songs here are superb - and the production is tip-top. I'm not gonna say it's one of the all-time greatest Annihilator records, but it is pretty damn great when looking at this catalogue as a whole. 
Adam's rating: 8.5/10


TEN YEARS IN HELL (DVD)          2006          (SPV)
I had been aware of this DVD since it's release in '06, but I didn't obtain a copy until 2019! I don't really collect music DVD's in all fairness, and this one was kinda pricey for years. Then out of nowhere I found a used copy on Amazon Marketplace for a mere penny. 1 pence! Of course, with the shipping costs, it actually cost me something like £1.27 in total, but even so, it was basically free. The condition was described as 'acceptable', which was fine by me considering the price I paid, but when it arrived and I opened the package, it turned out to be near-mint condition, so that was even cooler.

Ten Years in Hell consists of two DVD's, the first disc features all the music videos they'd done from Alice in Hell up to 1999's Criteria for a Black Widow along with a few odd live performances and old band archive interviews, release party segments and rare stuff like that. I guess with YouTube a lot of this disc is now redundant - all the music videos are on there, but I doubt all the interviews and little snippets have been uploaded. The disc lasts nearly 2 hours, as does the second DVD. This one is basically one long and in-depth interview/documentary with Jeff Waters and occasional interview segments with John Bates, Coburn Pharr, Russell Bergquist, Mike Mangini and Neil Goldberg. I really enjoyed this disc - if you wanted to learn more about this band from the humble beginnings up to the early 2000's, Jeff and the other guys basically answer every relevant topic you could think of. Maybe I would've liked more dirt on the Joe Comeau era, but maybe there just wasn't much to say that was interesting at that point? Of course, this release came out in 2006, so there's been a ton of new stuff since then, but for what it is Ten Years in Hell is definitely worth owning for serious fans of the band.

METAL         2007         (SPV)

- Standouts: 'Clown Parade', 'Downright Dominate', 'Chasing the High' 

Even though this is far from one of the best Annihilator records, 2007's generically-titled Metal bears some significance to me personally. I bought it not too long after I'd picked up the first two albums, which I absolutely adored. Metal was the newest Annihilator CD at the time - in fact, I actually bought it when I was on a school trip in Berlin, and I was fifteen at the time in my final year at school. Yeah, I was the weird kid looking in record shops with any free time we were given... Anyhow, along with Alice in Hell and Never, Neverland, I played this thing to death during that last school year. Obviously going from a 1990 Annihilator album to one from 2007 is quite a substantial leap. Things have changed. Dave Padden sounds nothing like Coburn Pharr, the production is far more modern and the songs aren't exactly the same either. Didn't bother me at the time though - like I said, I played it death back then. Today however, there's quite a few things to whinge about on this record. Kinda surprising really, given how good Schizo Deluxe was. 

Firstly, Jeff decided to bring in a whole cast of guests for this album. We're talkin' a guest slot on every song. 90% of them are guitarists from other bands - granted, they're good guitar players (Jeff Loomis of Nevermore, Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom, Michael Amott of Arch Enemy and Carcass, Willie Adler of Lamb of God, Corey Beaulieu of Trivium etc...) - but the whole concept just seems pointless to me. They play a solo on each track they contribute to, with Jeff also adding solos of his own - but it's really not clear who plays which solos on each song. Unless you're a nerd like me who knows Jeff's playing style well enough that I can usually decipher if it's actually him playing or not, most people wouldn't have a clue. I'll admit that most of the bands these guys are from I don't care for, but they're still good guitarists either way - so this is purely subjective. The reason Jeff chose these guys is because those were some of the bigger metal bands of the time, so clearly he was trying to draw more newbies to Annihilator. But come on, Jeff's guitar playing is what Annihilator is all about! I don't listen to Annihilator to hear a dude out of Trivium play the solo! The good news is that the solos on this record are still decent whichever way you look at 'em.

The songs are hit and miss however, and save for 'Couple Suicide', I don't really understand why many of them take a step backwards after Schizo Deluxe. 'Couple Suicide' is terrible because it's essentially more alternative metal/hard rock in the same vein as the bad stuff on All for You. It's also the only song to feature guest vocalists rather than guest guitarists. The singers in question are hard rocker Danko Jones and ex-Arch Enemy frontwoman Angela Gossow. I will admit that I think Danko is a great vocalist and he has the voice for this kind of thing, but his vocals combined with Angela's growls clash horribly, and the song just sucks. No disrespect to Gossow - she was decent with Arch Enemy because they're a fucking melodic death metal band, but her vocal style does not work at all on this song. And to be fair, the music itself on 'Couple Suicide' is a far cry from what Jeff normally does anyway.

There's a few other mediocre numbers on here too. Not necessarily bad like 'Couple Suicide', just uninspired. Jeff Waters sings 'Operation Annihilation', an okay, if dumb, mid-tempo track. Not awful, just generic. 'Smothered' isn't that good either. Terrible lyrics, cookie-cutter riffs as well as a cringe-worthy spoken-word part. The music again is inoffensive, just bland by Annihilator standards. 'Detonation' bores me as well. The riff is a direct ripoff of Black Sabbath's 'Children of the Grave', and sounds like it was written in about five minutes. It's not unlistenable because it isn't touching on nu metal or anything like that, it's just disappointing.

Basically, the rest of this album I still like to this day. 'Clown Parade' might be lacking any old-school thrash vibes, but it does still thrash rather well. The chorus is catchy too. 'Army of One' again features shitty lyrics about the unification of heavy metal. There's a part that literally goes like this - "Anthrax and Motorhead, Exodus, Slayer, bang your head! Dedication where the going got tough, was never enough. Priest, Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath! They tried to kill it, force it underground, you can't take it down!". Like, what was Dave Padden thinking when Jeff handed him those lyrics?! The good news is that I actually really like the riffs, solos, and everything else about this song that I can overlook the childish lyrics. Heh, as a teen I was totally diggin' those lyrics! 'Downright Dominate' and 'Haunted' are really good blazin' thrashers too, as good as the really strong stuff from Schizo Deluxe. Can't fault 'em. 'Kicked' is great too, once it gets going. And so is the scorching closer, 'Chasing the High'. The drumming courtesy of Mike Mangini is very strong throughout the whole record.

One thing that does confuse me is the fact only the Japanese version of the record featured a cover of Exciter's 'Heavy Metal Maniac' as a bonus track. I've got a limited edition copy, and it doesn't have it! What you get with this release is a folding digipak and a bonus CD featuring songs from King of the Kill up to Waking the Fury (presumably this is something to do with the SPV label). The bonus disc is obviously irrelevant to me these days as I've got the entire discography, but it was useful to me when I was younger.

All those guest slots are weird to me, but most of them don't really negatively affect the songs or anything like that. Dave Padden knew what he was doing with his vocals, and the addition of Mike Mangini (best known for being Dream Theater's drummer these days) on drums again is cool. The problem with Metal is the fact there are a handful of dodgy songs on here, one of which is just flat-out bad ('Couple Suicide'). Otherwise I still do like the remainder of this album, but it definitely is still one of the weaker one's all in all. I guess when I bought it, I had no other recent(ish) Annihilator records to compare it to, which is probably why I liked it so much as a new release.

Adam's rating: 6.4/10

LIVE AT MASTERS OF ROCK          2009          (SPV)

Solid live effort, but I still prefer Double Live Annihilation. This is down to vocal preference I guess, but the fact this has less songs doesn't help either. I do think Padden is a great frontman - heck, he has the most ability of 'em all AND he's the only one to have played rhythm guitar too, so he's arguably one of the most talented musician Jeff Waters ever found on that front. I still think Joe Comeau was a perfect fit though. Thankfully the performance on this disc is still enjoyable, and to my delight 'The Blackest Day' from Waking the Fury was actually played here. Also 'Shallow Grave' from the same era has become a regular concert closer because it's just a fun, driving hard rock song. The majority of this show consists of songs from the first two albums as you can probably expect, but then this wasn't a headlining slot, so the band were obviously going to cram as many of the classics into their set as they could (although 'Clown Parade' and 'Operation Annihilation' from Metal appear too). One thing that really bugs me when I look at the album cover however, is the fact that part of the 'N' in the Annihilator logo is missing - not sure what was going on in terms of quality control there... This release also came out as  a DVD.
Adam's rating: 7/10

ANNIHILATOR          2010         (Earache)

- Standouts: 'The Trend', 'Coward', 'Ambush', 'Betrayed', '25 Seconds', 'The Other Side', 'Payback', 'Romeo Delight' 

The worst thing about this self-titled record from 2010 is the fact it's the only Annihilator release not to feature the classic logo on the cover (in my opinion one of the best logo fonts in metal)! Instead it has a zombie Alice with 'Annihilator' carved crudely into her forehead! Fortunately I remember the cover also having a sticker saying '66 guitar solos!' on it or something, from what I remember when I got this thing as a new release twelve years ago. And I might as well just get this out of the way now and say that Annihilator blows away the disappointing Metal. You can just tell straight away that this is the case with opening number 'The Trend'. It's a lengthy thrash piece with a shit load of solos, tons of great riffs and Dave Padden doing his best harsh vocal performance in a while. It's already better than anything from Metal. 'The Trend' is followed by two more full-speed, kick-ass tracks, 'Coward' and 'Ambush'. Even 'Betrayed' keeps up the pace, but the riffs on this one do have slightly more groove. It's also much catchier than the first three tracks, which are much more in-your-face overall.

'25 Seconds' has some cool typical Annihilator basslines in it, but some of the riffs and the growly vocals are much more modern - and at times, the music is proggier than usual. However, I really enjoy every aspect of this tune, and the two-hand tapping solo in the middle is pure Eddie Van Halen! 'The Other Side' is comparable to 'Betrayed' - fun, catchy old-school speed metal! 'Payback' is more of a groove metal cut than anything else, but the Pantera-esque riffs are really fun and the song in general still has Annihilator's stamp on it. And even though I rarely get excited for cover songs, I remember being really curious to hear Jeff's take on Van Halen's 'Romeo Delight'. Not only is it one of my favourite VH tracks of all time, it's also one of the fastest and heaviest things said band ever recorded - so I was praying that Jeff and Dave wouldn't fuck it up! To my DELIGHT (see what I did there...), they didn't fuck it up at all! It's like a slightly more metallic take on the song, with Dave nailing the vocals and Jeff providing a more crisp guitar tone. It doesn't really differ a lot from the original, but I'm okay with that. It's a fun way to end this record.

Is there anything negative to take home from here then? 'Nowhere to Go' is noticeably weaker than anything else on Annihilator. It's slower, with some heavy riffs but also a very melodic chorus. It's not really a bad song, nowhere near as bad as the worst songs on All for You or anything like that - it's just filler next to the other tracks. I'm not dissing Padden as he's great for 90% of this record, but I feel like this song would have worked a lot better with Joe Comeau. Couldn't really tell you why, I just do. 'Death in Your Eyes' is kind of directionless to me as well, even if I do like most of the individual parts of this song (save for the "Separate your mind" bit, which just doesn't flow well). Completely unrelated to the music, but being the fanboy I am, I tend to get any special edition version of whatever Jeff's releasing if I can. So I have the limited edition version of this album too, but it's nothing to get excited about. You get a big outer box with the artwork on it, that the jewel case sits in. Not too bad, but all you got on top of this was a bunch of pin badges, stickers and a keyring - all of which I've lost over the course of twelve years. I mean, how are stickers a big deal in what is effectively the 'premium' edition of a product?! At least the special edition Metal had an extra disc full of music. Well, I've only got myself to blame.

When all is said and done, this is an extremely competent record that is a slight step-up from Schizo Deluxe, and a major improvement over Metal. It's as good as I remembered; in fact, these days I'd say it's as good as Carnival Diablos. Sadly there's not enough truly awesome songs on Annihilator for me to give it a 9/10, but I'm also fed up of hearing people online claiming that Annihilator haven't released anything worthwhile since Never, Neverland (I get the impression a lot of these people haven't actually heard the bulk of this discography). There's a lot of really great albums post-1990, and this is one of them.

Adam's rating: 8.7/10

FEAST          2013          (UDR)

- Standouts: 'Deadlock', 'No Way Out', 'Smear Campaign', 'No Surrender', 'Wrapped', 'Demon Code', 'One Falls, Two Rise'

Back in 2013, when Feast was released, I remember buying a ticket for the Manchester date of the tour. According to setlist.fm they only played two UK shows that year, and Manchester isn't somewhere I go to attend concerts. In fact, the only gig I've ever been to in Manchester was Mastodon in 2017. If I don't book a hotel, I have to drive to Manchester for concerts because the last train back for me is 9:30 PM or something daft, and I like to drink when I go to gigs and try to avoid driving if I can. But I was willing to go to this particular show, 'cos, you know - it's Annihilator. Anyhow, I remember being stupidly ill with flu and not attending in the end, but part of me wishes I just drove up there anyway and watched the whole thing while sipping Lemsip. They barely toured the UK for the next few years aside from a few shows here and there. Looking at setlist.fm again, they played Birmingham at the end of September 2015 (when I was in America!) and again at the end of March 2018 (when I was in Czech Republic!). I did see them at Bloodstock festival in 2017 and in Wolverhampton in 2019, but the Feast gig in Manchester was important because it was the last chance I had to see them with Dave Padden on vocals, and I missed out. Yeah, Dave left the band in 2014, making him by far the longest-serving Annihilator vocalist beyond Jeff Waters. It was a shame he left because despite the rough start, he really moulded himself well into the Annihilator craft.

So yeah, Feast was the last album with Padden on vocals. Given how good the self-titled was from 2010, I had high hopes for this one. 'Deadlock' is a ferocious, blazing opener. Kicks ass if I say so myself. 'No Way Out' sort of reminds me of 'Refresh the Demon' - at least the mid-tempo break later in the song does anyway. This song has everything I look for in an Annihilator track - great thrashy riffs as well as catchy slower ones, an absolutely shredding solo, cool vocals... the lot. 'Smear Campaign' is another speed freak of a song, and some of Padden's vocal arrangements combined with the riffs actually give me punky vibes, which is cool. 'No Surrender' has some weirdly-funky bass and guitar parts, combined with other bits that thrash hard. The result is a strange funk-thrash hybrid, but it's always settled well with me personally. I reckon it's one of the more memorable tracks on this album, and not for the wrong reasons either. 'Wrapped' is pretty cool too. It's much more simple and straightforward musically, and I assume that's because rocker Danko Jones co-wrote the song with Jeff and handles the vocals on it. Yeah, this track doesn't thrash the same way the previous ones did, having more of a hard rock vibe if anything, but it is probably the most fun thing on this album. Jones also sang on 'Couple Suicide' from Metal... yeah, the worst number on that particular record, but it wasn't his fault as to why that song sucked so hard. In fact, I've always thought 'Wrapped' and 'Couple Suicide' showed some potential that Danko could actually fit in quite well as Annihilator's vocalist. It'll never happen of course - he has his own band, but one can always imagine.

'Demon Code' has Dave and Jeff doing vocal parts, and it works well in my opinion. The music on this one is metal through-and-through, but also quite proggy with many different thrashy bits, melodic segments and just several different moods in general. The start of 'Fight the World' sounds like a re-working of a mellow section of 'Both of Me' from All for You. The rest of this song is a solid thrasher. It's not one of my favourites on here as there's also another part of the song that essentially mimics 'Dead Wrong' from Remains, and the whole song just doesn't flow that well for me. That said, it's not one I feel the urge to skip when listening to Feast in full. 'One Falls, Two Rise' is a longer, epic-length track that closes this album on another positive note. Like 'Demon Code', this track has tons of proggy tempo changes and transitions throughout it's play-time, mixing in most of the signature Waters ingredients into it's songwriting. There's only one song on here I don't enjoy, and predictably it's the ballad 'Perfect Angel Eyes'. At least Dave sings it, and not Jeff I suppose. Even so, it very much treads into typical Annihilator ballad territory, meaning it's completely out of tune with the rest of the music on here. I wouldn't say it was as bad as 'The One' or 'Holding On', but it's still pretty lame. 

Unlike the underwhelming special edition releases of Metal and 2010's Annihilator, the deluxe Feast is a far more satisfying product. It comes with a second disc titled Re-kill. What this is, is a fifteen-track CD full of re-recorded oldies, updated with Dave Padden on vocals and modern production etc..  See, I rarely get excited for these kinds of projects - in fact, I actually find it quite lazy when a band releases records like these separately and expects fans to pay normal albums prices for them. However, when you've had as many vocalists as Annihilator have, it's always fun to see what the current vocalist can do with the older tracks (except for '21', which still has Jeff singing it. 'King of the Kill' on the other hand, does feature Dave on lead vocals). More to the point, Re-kill was never physically released as an individual purchase, just a bonus disc for Feast. And that's how it should be! I'll admit that the predictable stuff from Alice in Hell and Never, Neverland aren't that interesting (still good, just predictable), but everything else on here is a lot of fun, especially the new versions of 'Time Bomb' and 'Ultra-Motion' from the Joe Comeau era. I also like the fact they re-did 'No Zone' from Set the World on Fire, 'Bloodbath' from Criteria for a Black Widow and 'Refresh the Demon' from, uh, Refresh the Demon. Cool disc all in all, and as a whole the entire special edition package is great for fanboys like me. It comes in a chunky, book-style presentation with a 3D artwork cover.

I must say, I do prefer the predecessor - and I still think Schizo Deluxe is marginally stronger too, but Feast is still a damn good Annihilator record overall. As Dave Padden's swansong, it's a fine way to go out (I'd argue that this was his best vocal performance all-round).
Adam's rating: 8.2/10

SUICIDE SOCIETY          2015          (UDR)

- Standouts: 'Suicide Society', 'My Revenge', 'Creepin' Again', 'Narcotic Avenue', 'Death Scent' 

I only gave this one a 6.8/10 when I first reviewed it. Not sure what was going through my head, but I can probably hazard a guess and assume it had something to do with Dave Padden's departure. Yeah, Jeff's back to handling the vocals again, and when I originally reviewed Suicide Society, it was still the most recent Annihilator album and I hadn't seen them live with Waters fronting the band yet either. I'd gotten used to Dave and felt like he was a credit to the band's sound by that point. It's 2022 now though, we've had three Annihilator studio albums with Jeff back on vocals within six years and I've seen them twice live with Waters fronting the band. So yes, this is the first Annihilator album since Remains to have Jeff singing all the vocal parts. Even though he isn't the versatile singer Dave was, I'd say Jeff's gotten better at it over time. Moreover, his guitar playing is obviously as good as it ever was. And to be honest, if you liked albums such as Schizo Deluxe, Feast and the self-titled, then there's nothing to majorly complain about here. Musically it's fairly similar to any of those albums, it's just the vocals have changed of course. And let's not forget we already had three albums in the 90's with Jeff on vox.

I do think there's more lesser tracks on this album than either of the last two, however. 'Snap' is mildly enjoyable, but it has a kind of groovy alternative metal quality about it, and isn't gonna kick your ass anytime soon. I do still kinda like it, but it doesn't raise my pulse. 'The One You Serve' isn't really that good either. The intro is cool, but the riffs are the stuff of generic, plodding groove metal. Yeah it's heavy, but it's just not very Annihilator-ish if you ask me. 'Break, Enter' is fairly pedestrian (garbage lyrics too), but it does at least thrash and do what you want it to do. It's just that Jeff's written a million other better songs in the same vein. Not a bad tune in the slightest, just not very memorable.

In terms of the good shit on this one, well, the title track is very strong. It's built around an unusually simplistic but fun groovy riff, and the vocal arrangements are oh-so cool! The lyrics are appropriately cheesy, but this is a really catchy song with a great chorus and memorable guitar work. One of my favourite Annihilator tracks from recent times. 'My Revenge' is blistering stuff. 'Creepin' Again' makes fine use of the signature speed metal sound as well as melodic, mellow hooks. And 'Narcotic Avenue' is old-school Annihilator to the core. Sounds like it's come straight from the King of the Kill school of speed metal. The slow outro is a nice touch on this track too. 'Death Scent' is a strong mid-tempo thrash song with plenty of meaty riffs to digest. 'Every Minute' is a ballad-metaller hybrid that isn't quite the fail it could've quite easily been. It's not really a favourite of mine from this album, but it does wrap things up in a memorable way.

Suicide Society is a bit of a step down from the last two, but it's still quite a bit better than what I originally scored it. I don't consider the weaker aspects of this album to be Jeff's vocals, even if I think Dave could have probably pulled it off better (but that's purely because Dave is just a better singer full-stop). It's more like the songwriting just ain't there sometimes, but at least none of the weaker songs on here are actually bad, unlike some of the stuff from an album like Metal. That said, this is still a decent record with a few genuinely great songs on it. The deluxe version is packaged in the same way the special Feast edition was, which is nice. So you get 3D cover art once again, a chunky book-style digipak and a bonus CD. The bonus disc this time is nowhere near as good as Re-kill from Feast (but that was honestly some of the best bonus material from any band I can think of), but is still pretty decent to be fair. It features a live studio session with the band - including Dave Padden - blazing through some of the classics, plus a couple of Feast numbers. It's a fun performance. The remaining content feels like an afterthought - it's just Jeff talking about each of the tracks on Suicide Society, but the studio session left me feeling satisfied enough anyway, so who am I to complain.

Adam's rating: 7.3/10

TRIPLE THREAT        2017         (UDR)

Well, the title is irrelevant if you picked up the CD album version of Triple Threat. 'Double Threat' would've been more appropriate because it's missing the third disc of the package - the DVD. I'm not usually bothered by music DVD's regardless of the artist, so I went with the CD version. You can tell that the label spent a lot of time reviewing the finished product, 'cos even in the CD version the booklet still lists the DVD credits and Jeff's notes regarding it. Whatever. I might be a serious Annihilator fan, but I wasn't expecting too much from this live album. If Dave Padden was still on board, then I would've been, but I was a little disappointed with Suicide Society and the fact that Jeff Waters had reverted back to being the vocalist. Anyway, disc one features their set at the 2016 Bang Your Head festival in Germany (looks like a pretty cool festival, very similar line up-wise to my beloved Bloodstock Open Air here in the UK). The band sound pretty tight overall, and Jeff did a fairly good job with his vocals across all songs overall, though he's still a mere shadow of Dave Padden in this respect. I think everyone will remember the man for his insane guitar playing, not his singing. The setlist is a very thrashy one, if disappointing short. 

The second disc is pretty lame however. It's interesting in that they haven't done or released anything like it before, but then did anyone really want to see a technical thrash/speed metal band doing a live unplugged acoustic set in a studio? Jeff's always tried to make ballads a big part of Annihilator's music, but I honestly think he sucks at writing them. Some metal guys can write good, powerful ballads with good lyrics - Megadeth's 'A Tout Le Monde', Metallica's 'The Unforgiven' and Motorhead's '1916' for example - but Jeff just writes sappy, whiney pop-like tunes in this regard. Ballads like 'Sounds Good to Me', 'Holding On' and 'Innocent Eyes' were terrible to begin with, and even the acoustic versions of Annihilator classics like 'Stonewall' and 'Snake in the Grass' sound hilariously bad in this setting. True, 'Crystal Ann' sounds great, but that was a short classical acoustic instrumental to begin with. Yeah, this was a failed experiment in my honest opinion. The first half of the album is a decent, if unspectacular live show, the second a pointless acoustic set. I love this band, but goddamn it I hate those ballads!
Adam's rating: 5.5/10


FOR THE DEMENTED          2017          (Silver Lining Music)
- Standouts: 'Twisted Lobotomy', 'One to Kill', 'For the Demented', 'Pieces of You', 'The Demon You Know', 'Phantom Asylum', 'Altering the Altar', 'Not All There'

I was slightly underwhelmed by Suicide Society. It was a good album, but not great like Feast or the self-titled. Even so, my inner fanboy was still very excited for this follow-up to Suicide Society. Like the predecessor, For the Demented continues with Jeff handling the vocals once again. I'd heard 'Twisted Lobotomy' a few months prior to release when the band performed it live at Bloodstock festival in 2017, and it sounded pretty fucking good if you asked me. 'Twisted Lobotomy' is actually this album's opening track, and what a way to start the record. A full-on assault, with some insane picking speeds throughout the riffs. This is classic Annihilator. So is 'One to Kill', which follows up 'Twisted Lobotomy' with another kick in the nuts. Even the mid-tempo nature of the title track has some ferocity in it too. The riffs during the verse bits sound like they've been pulled straight from a record like King of the Kill or Refresh the Demon, and that's only a great thing in my books. And what's this? A ballad that doesn't suck?! Yeah, the brooding 'Pieces of You' is actually a decent ballad for once, and reminds me of Metallica's 'Fade to Black'. 

'The Demon You Know' has a lot of cool bass work on it, sitting comfortably alongside other similar Annihilator cuts such as 'Knight Jumps Queen' or 'The Pastor of Disaster'. The spoken-word verses work really well on this one too. A fun track. And 'Phantom Asylum' rules. This is arguably the closest Jeff's sounded to the first two Annihilator records in a very, very long time. 'Altering the Altar' is another rock-solid thrasher. 'Dark' is a brief, moody instrumental that leads into 'Not All There'. This song is proggy, with plenty of classic riffage, but also a jazzy, funky break in the middle and lots of weird transitions to match the song title. It's really great.

Stuff I'm not so keen on here is the fact there's no drummer present at all, making it the first Annihilator record since Remains to use drum programming for all percussion. Unless you're actually a drummer though, you probably wouldn't notice that the drums are fake. Drum machines must have gotten so realistic in this day and age that it actually, almost makes my complaint irrelevant. In terms of dodgy tracks, then 'The Way' is filler, plain and simple. It's like a punky take on Annihilator, but it's just so basic and out of touch with the rest of intricate songs on this record that the product would've been just fine without it. Maybe that was the point.

This album nearly got a 9/10!! It didn't, because... well... I dunno... the record as a whole just isn't as easy to take in as the other CD's that I consider to be their best. I can't really explain it. It is however, definitely the best since Waking the Fury. I've only reached that conclusion for this recent updated review, and never really realised just how much I actually like this disc. The more I listen to For the Demented, the more I'm reminded of golden-age Annihilator. It's the most old-school Jeff's sounded since the early 90's, with the lack of hooks and a focus on being as metal as possible (erm, we'll gloss over 'The Way'). On a side note, there's no special or deluxe release for this album, which was a shame. I was getting used to picking up whatever fanboy packages Jeff was releasing at this point. 

Adam's rating: 8.9/10


BALLISTIC, SADISTIC          2020          (Silver Lining Music)
- Standouts: 'Armed to the Teeth', 'The Attitude', 'Psycho Ward', 'I Am Warfare', 'Out With the Garbage', 'Dressed Up for Evil', 'Lip Service', 'The End of the Lie'

Kickin' off with the hard-edged thrash of 'Armed to the Teeth', I knew I was in for a good ride when I first heard Ballistic, Sadistic back when it dropped at the start of 2020 (a couple of months before the country went berserk for COVID). 'The Attitude' is a similarly angry, aggressive number with tons of speed and thrash to take in. The chorus on this track is hilariously dumb ("Fuck your attitude! Fuck your attitude! Fuck your attitude!"), but Jeff's never sang this angry before and the cheesiness of the chorus actually adds more charm, somehow. Plus, all the playing on this song is kick-ass. 'I Am Warfare' is one more violent thrasher to add to the list. This has to be the most aggressive Annihilator record ever! That said, 'I Am Warfare' does add some melody in the guitar solo. Then we're treated to yet more speed with the ultra-precise 'Out With the Garbage'. Jeremy Clarkson would approve of the SPEED AND POWER of this record!! 'One Wrong Move' is thrashy and groovy too, but it is one of the only songs on the album to actually feature a slow, moody transition in the middle. It's not a standout tune for me personally, but I still get some enjoyment out of it. Predictably, the closing track 'The End of the Lie' is yet another scorching cut. 

A handful of tracks on this record tread dangerously close to familiar territory. The overall structure of 'Psycho Ward' - the way the riffs have been played, as well as the addition of the clean guitar parts - are very similar to that of 'Stonewall' from Never, Neverland. 'Dressed Up for Evil' is definitely comparable to 'Word Salad', while 'Lip Service' is basically a sequel to 'Knight Jumps Queen' musically. Jeff himself admitted these songs were deliberate throwbacks, and normally I'm opposed to this kind of stuff. Black Sabbath's 13 for example, tries way too hard to sound like 70's Sabbath. So I feel kinda hypocritical by admitting that I really dig all three of these self-plagiarising tunes! 'Psycho Ward' is far better than it should be! 'Lip Service' is maybe taking it a little too far, but even so, you've gotta love those basslines and all the melody in the middle of the song.

Ballistic, Sadistic really is a relentless offering. This is the fastest, heaviest album Jeff's ever put out. It's unbelievably good at times, and the production/guitar tones are fire. But again, am I really gonna slap a 9/10 on it? I just don't think I can do that! The songs are really strong in general, but there's not a lot of variety on here compared to other Annihilator releases and the self-plagiarism of three songs can be a turn-off for some fans. I like those three tracks (especially 'Psycho Ward'), but I'd understand if someone else thought Jeff was just being lazy and unoriginal. And 'Riot' is filler for sure, just not memorable in the slightest. Still, if you were looking for the harsher side of Annihilator with just a few moments of melody here and there, you've come to the right place!
Adam's rating: 8.7/10

METAL II           2022          (Ear Music)

- Standouts: 'Chasing the High', 'Heavy Metal Maniac', 'Haunted'

Now that Annihilator have signed to Ear Music, apparently they're in the process of doing a huge reissue project of the back catalogue. True, it is difficult to get a lot of the albums these days without spending an arm and a leg, but I'd rather Jeff just worked on another new record of original material instead. Easy for me to say, I bought most of these CD's well over a decade ago. But whatever, if these upcoming reissues look nice, I might pick some of them up on vinyl. The real bad news is that a few months back, Jeff did a Q&A and says there might not even be any more new and original Annihilator albums after Ballistic, Sadistic. Like, what?! He's literally released four great records in the past few years (Annihilator, Feast, For the Demented and Ballistic, Sadistic), and now he's essentially saying he won't be able to top the last one. Great way to lower your own self-esteem, Jeff! I don't think what he said was a literal confirmation, but it didn't exactly fill me with confidence either.

And then there's this new CD, Metal II. It's not a sequel to 2007's Metal sadly, but rather a remake of it. When I heard this thing was in the works in 2021 I was confused, more than anything. Jeff apparently was never satisfied with the original Metal (which makes sense - it was weaker than usual), so he thought he'd rework it with Into Eternity and ex-Iced Earth vocalist Stu Block, and legendary Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo (who's also been drumming for shit tons of bands and projects lately). This had the potential to be great, but what makes zero sense is the fact Jeff himself left all the original guitar work alone and basically just replaced Dave Padden's vocals and Mike Mangini's drums. Like, I think some of these songs could've been reconfigured structurally, the lyrics could be edited, and Jeff could replace all those guest musician guitar solos for more of his own. If that was the case, chances are Metal II could have been a big improvement over the original. But no, that didn't happen.

Personally I had barely any issues with Dave Padden's performance on the original. At least the songs were actually written with his vocals in mind. Now, I'm not criticising Stu Block in general. He sang on that critically-acclaimed Iced Earth album, Dystopia. I've never heard Into Eternity, but the point is, Stu has credibility, and could very well be a good frontman for Annihilator for all I know. But with the songs on Metal II, he's essentially covering them. And he really over-sings a lot of the time and just makes them sound completely over-the-top at times. It actually sounds like he's covering these songs, even if you've never heard the originals. 'Army of One' had terrible lyrics anyway (though I always liked the music), true, but the way Block sings this one just makes it sound even stupider. And he's all over the place on 'Downright Dominate', which is one of the best songs from Metal. He tries to sound as evil as possible on 'Clown Parade' too (another song I always liked), and it just sounds forced and quite silly, honestly. The order of the tracklisting has changed, and since Eddie Van Halen passed away, Jeff adds 'Romeo Delight' to the album. Of course, it's the same as the version from 2010's self-titled. Personally, I liked Padden's take on it more than Stu's, but it's still a fun cover - just unnecessary. 

On the plus side, there's a few songs that sound as good, if not better with Stu handling the vocals. 'Chasing the High' was a standout on Metal, now it's only gotten better. Block goes for a Testament-style, Chuck Billy-esque aggressive vocal style that really does the song justice and gives it more of an extreme edge. 'Haunted' too, actually sounds better this time for the same reason. I'd say 'Kicked' - which I liked - is no better or worse now either. The Exciter cover, 'Heavy Metal Maniac' is now in the tracklisting too. This was originally only included as a bonus track for the Japanese release of Metal, so it's nice to have it in this version. Good cover too! The production and mixing is a slight improvement too, but not enough to really transform the songs. As for Dave Lombardo's drumming, I mean, there's nothing wrong with it at all. But then there was nothing wrong with Mike Mangini's drum performance either. Lombardo is a legend, but Mangini plays in Dream Theater for fucks sake! I'll bet Mike runs circles around Dave in terms of technical proficiency as a drummer. Either way, I don't think the drums make or break Metal II. They are what they are.

One of the biggest problems is simply the fact you can't polish a turd. Tracks like 'Smothered', and 'Detonation' were pretty poor in the first place, changing the lineup won't make any difference. And no matter what you do to enhance 'Couple Suicide', it's always gonna suck. Like I said before, this is why Jeff should have done more with the guitar work here. You know, played around with the song structures, add or replace other riffs, write new solos and melodies... but he didn't! Nothing's changed in this sense whatsoever. 'Operation Annihilation', the song Jeff sang on, is missing entirely. Meh, it wasn't anything special anyway.

Being the fanboy I am, of course I pre-ordered Metal II - despite not feeling any real excitement towards it at all. It's not bad as such, just kind of pointless. I think if I'd never heard the original, I'd probably be scoring it in the 6/10 ballpark, just like the 2007 version. But to me this is no better than what it's trying to improve upon, and the fact it is just a remake actually makes it worse to me, somehow. Apparently there's big plans for the Annihilator touring schedule, and Stu Block is supposedly signed up to sing live. I honestly think he could be great for the band if any of his other work is anything to go by, but the fact there's no plans to actually write and record any NEW music anytime soon just seems like wasted potential to me. So that's Metal II. Buy it if you're like me and have to own everything Jeff releases (chances are you don't own the Japanese Metal and therefore never had the Exciter cover - there's a reason to buy this remake), otherwise just listen to it on Spotify. In fact, Spotify only has Metal II, the original is missing.

Adam's rating: 5/10

MORE NOISE VOL. 1          2025          (Ear Music)

- Standouts: 'Annihilator (1985 demo)', 'Weapon X (2004 Demo)', 'It's You'

Unless Wikipedia is lying, apparently Jeff Waters has had a new Annihilator album in the vault since June 2023 - so where is it?! Why are we still waiting for it exactly 2 years later (it's June 2025 as of typing this)?! Well, at least we got some new goodies this year. King of the Kill, Refresh the Demon and Remains have all been reissued on CD and vinyl (and I'm currently awaiting my vinyl copies of King of the Kill and Refresh the Demon to arrive in the post - they were supposed to arrive yesterday along with this CD I'm reviewing, but HMV fucked up!) as well as this odds n' sods compilation titled More Noise Vol. 1. Sadly this disc isn't anything to really get excited over, even as a die-hard fan like myself. As I said, it's an odds n' sods CD, similar to Bag of Tricks from 1994, only not as good. Some of the tracks here I already had thanks to owning certain reissues of old albums. Like, I already had 'Slates' thanks to my 2010 Earache reissue of King of the Kill, plus the AC/DC cover 'Riff Raff' because of my 2002 SPV Refresh the Demon reissue and also the single version of 'Nothing to Me'... my copy of Waking the Fury is an old one from 2002, yet it has this single edit as a bonus track anyway.

The good news is that there's plenty of stuff here that I didn't already have, some of it rather good. The demo version of 'Bloodbath' is really cool, a) because the mastering sounds almost as good as the Criteria for a Black Widow album they'd end up on, and b) because it sounds as if Jeff sings the verses instead of Randy Rampage? So that's cool. The track 'Annihilator' (not the same as the one from King of the Kill) comes from way back in 1985, 4 years before they'd record Alice in Hell. I'm pretty sure it has Jeff's old mate and collaborator John Bates singing on it. Obviously it's very rough 'round the edges, but it's a nice insight into the really early days of Annihilator, and it's actually a pretty awesome thrash piece if I say so myself. I also liked the Remains bonus song, 'It's You'. Even though it's a slow ballad with an almost alternative rock feel (something Jeff doesn't always do so well!), I dig it. The 'Weapon X' demo is pretty fun to hear too - it claims 'no guitars', but it does still have guitar leads on it, just no riffs. Weirdly enough, this primarily bass guitar-driven take on 'Weapon X' still hits hard with Dave Padden's raging vocals. I like it a lot! Also, can't complain about the 1995 live version of 'The Box'. Any live tracks are welcome on these kinds of compilations.

Predictably though, there's some pointless crap to sit through here. 'Slates' is literally just 4 minutes of spoken-word fucking around in the studio while 'Fiasco' is 8 bloody seconds of the same shit!! I don't like 'Only Be Lonely' - I mean, it's nice to have another studio song from the King of the Kill sessions, but it's just a sappy acoustic ballad. I like 'It's You' much better. The demo version of '21' is not particularly interesting and why would I ever choose to listen to the watered down single version of 'Nothing to Me' over the full-length? And that's the problem with these sorts of compilations - they're just fan packages of unreleased material, which is often unreleased for a reason. So there's always gonna be some shite thrown in amongst the good stuff. The 'Vol. 1' part of the title also suggests to me that a 'Vol. 2' is on it's way, and if this is the case, I'd have preferred Jeff to have just released them as a 2-CD package. But of course, time will tell if we see another one of these discs. 

Overall I don't regret buying this - it's got Annihilator on the cover, so I had to have it! But you've really gotta be an enthusiast to justify it's existence! I'm just hoping we get an actual new studio album with Stu Block sometime soon. Fingers crossed.

Adam's rating: 5.5/10

Closing thoughts on this discography:

If you look at Annihilator as a band, this is a strange discography. Endless personnel changes, different singers and subtle shifts in style from time to time. Look at Annihilator as the Jeff Waters solo project it is however, and everything makes much more sense. He's the primary songwriter, and while there's albums that work better than others, every record still sounds like Annihilator at the end of the day. You've got some questionable works here; Remains and All for You are patchy, and Metal isn't all that good either. But then you've also got undeniable classics of the genre, such as Alice in Hell and Never, Neverland. There's also other winners to be found along the way, in albums like King of the Kill, Waking the Fury, Schizo Deluxe and the self-titled etc., and I think some of the more recent material like Ballistic, Sadistic and For the Demented do Jeff's legacy justice because they're so strong.

I've been a humungous fan of Annihilator since I was 14 years old and I see people online who claim "the only albums that matter are the first 2" all the time. I disagree with that statement a thousand times over, as you can see from this page.