Next month the earMusic label are set to reissue 3 albums from Annihilator's back catalogue - King of the Kill (1994), Refresh the Demon (1996) and Remains (1997) as well as a compilation of bonus songs titled More Noise Vol. 1. Since school I've been a huge Annihilator fan, and although I've owned all 3 of those '90s albums on CD for as long as I can remember, I've pre-ordered both the new King of the Kill and Refresh the Demon reissues on vinyl, because I've always thought it'd be nice to have them as LPs without spending an arm and a leg on older pressings. Maybe I'll get the Remains vinyl too someday, but I don't know if I like that album enough to own 2 copies. I've also pre-ordered the More Noise compilation on CD, 'cos I've got collector's syndrome that's why! Anyhow, I've been on another Annihilator binge lately after hearing the news of these reissues, and it's made me want to talk in general about them. In fact, I think I'm gonna start a series of these posts about my favourite bands, although I won't be sticking to any sort of schedule with them. They'll just be occasional.
Anyway, I started listening to Annihilator when I was maybe 14 years old (this would have been around 2006). They were one of the first metal bands outside the mainstream I really went out of my way to get into. By mainstream, I mean the big names like Black Sabbath, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest etc., the sort of bands that everyone's heard of. Weirdly enough, I specifically remember how and where I heard of Annihilator - the UK Classic Rock magazine did a heavy metal special issue covering the history of the genre, and examples of a few different bands within different subgenres. Under thrash metal were the obvious names like Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth along with bands like Exodus, Testament and possibly Kreator (my memory's not that good!). Oh, and Canada's Annihilator of course. Even though I had albums from all these more underground bands by the time I left school (underground by my standards at that time anyway), for whatever reason that little write-up about Annihilator is what made me go out and order a copy of 1989's Alice in Hell, their debut very soon after. Me and my mate used to go to our local HMV shop in town almost every Saturday to buy metal CDs with our pocket money and paper-round earnings, but we had to order in our 1998 Remastered copies of Alice in Hell. I even remember us picking them up the following weekend! It's weird how my brain remembers stuff that seem so insignificant, but considering the die-hard fan I am of this band, it probably wasn't an insignificant memory at all even if I didn't know it at the time.
I was of course, blown away by the technical prowess of Alice in Hell, and the speed and precision of the songs. But also the melody - guitarist and Annihilator brainchild Jeff Waters wasn't trying to write the heaviest, most aggressive thrash you'd ever heard. No, he was effectively writing what I consider to be 'thinking-man's thrash' with the album - maybe not lyrically, because the lyrics can be somewhat silly here and there (but still awesome all the same). But musically there's classical guitar-style playing and melodies to accompany the tight riffing and insane picking speeds, as well as a charming atmosphere. And the snarling vocal style of ex-DOA punker Randy Rampage (RIP) balanced out the nerdiness of the music perfectly! In short, this album blew me away, and songs like 'Alison Hell', 'W.T.Y.D.', 'Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade', 'Human Insecticide' and my absolute favourite 'Word Salad' are still regular plays for me today despite the fact it was over half my lifetime ago when I first heard them (I'm 33 now).
Naturally buying that classic debut led me to purchasing the rest of their discography, although I probably didn't achieve that for a couple of years because I had limited money until I got a full-time job aged 18! I had to be more choosy with what I bought when I was still in education for that reason, but I definitely had Alice in Hell, 1990's Never, Neverland as well as 2007's Metal by the time I finished school in 2008. Of course, the more Annihilator albums you listen to, the more you realise that calling them a 'band' isn't necessarily true in all cases. Endless line-up changes have been a thing with Annihilator since forever, with only Jeff Waters being present from their inception and playing on every album, as well as writing near enough every single song (with a few exceptions where various singers have contributed lyrics and the fact he sometimes wrote songs with invisible member John Bates). In reality then, Annihilator has always been more of a 1-man project, with various collaborating musicians along the way. I don't know if that was how Jeff originally envisioned things; I was always under the impression it just turned out that way because keeping a band together can be very difficult. That or he was just unlucky.
As a fan, I never took much issue with the regular personnel changes. It just makes the discography that more interesting. The important thing is that Jeff still writes the songs regardless of who's singing, and for that reason every album sounds like Annihilator because they always have Waters' stamp on them. His guitar playing and technique is instantly recognisable to me. His riffs and solos don't sound like Dave Mustaine's or Jeff Hanneman's. They sound like Jeff Waters'!! Yet no album feels like a cut n' paste of the last. They all have that unmistakeable Annihilator feel of technical speed metal guitars infused with touches of melodic leads, but some have more groove than the last, others might be faster than average, and are just heavier. And of course, with guys like Randy Rampage, Joe Comeau, Dave Padden, Coburn Pharr, Aaron Randall as well as Jeff Waters himself all handling lead vocals across various different records in this catalogue, you can expect a lot of different vocal styles. Also, even though Jeff is known primarily as a guitarist, the man knows how to write a good bassline! Yep, he plays bass on many of the records too.
Ah yes, the albums. Here's a quick summary of each and all of the major releases. Obviously I already reviewed them in detail a while back, so for more info check my Annihilator post:
- ALICE IN HELL (1989): Absolute classic as already described above. My first and favourite Annihilator record. - 9.4/10
- NEVER, NEVERLAND (1990): Rock solid follow-up to the debut. Maybe a tad more melody in the songs, catchier too. But still 100% technical speed metal nirvana. Coburn Pharr's vocals are slightly more accomplished and less juvenile than Randy Rampage's. For many people (including Jeff Waters himself) this is Annihilator's best. I won't argue with that despite it not being my own number 1. - 9.2/10
- SET THE WORLD ON FIRE (1993): More radio-friendly than before, but still full of unmistakeable Annihilator chops all-round. Includes the woeful ballad 'Phoenix Rising', but fortunately most of the other experimental songs are still fairly decent. 'Knight Jumps Queen', 'Set the World On Fire', 'Bats in the Belfry' and 'No Zone' are stone-cold classics. Aaron Randall's voice worked well for this album, but I'm glad he didn't stick around afterwards. - 7.4/10
- KING OF THE KILL (1994): One of my favourite speed metal albums of the '90s. Apart from drummer Randy Black, Jeff runs the show now and even takes over vocal duties. He has more grit in his voice than either Pharr or Randall. Songs like 'Annihilator', 'Hell is a War', 'Fiasco' and the title track kick arse, while others like '21','Bad Child' and 'The Box' add a new level of groove to the usual ingredients. Great album. - 8.2/10
- REFRESH THE DEMON (1996): Follows a fairly similar formula to King of the Kill in that Jeff still handles guitars, bass and vocals, but still has enough going for it to stand on it's own. 'Refresh the Demon', 'Ultraparanoia', 'Syn. Kill 1', 'The Pastor of Disaster' and 'A Man Called Nothing' are absolute classic brands of Annihilator speed metal. 'City of Ice' and 'Hunger' are underrated deep cuts. 'Innocent Eyes' is an embarrassingly terrible acoustic ballad, but other than that this one also gets a big thumbs-up from me! - 8/10
- IN COMMAND - LIVE 1989-1990 (1996, live album): Strong collection of live material from the 1989-1990 period, so both Randy Rampage and Coburn Pharr feature here. The Never, Neverland era was a big time for the band live, because they supported Judas Priest on the Painkiller tour. Anyhow, not exactly the greatest live album of all time because the performances don't differ all that much from the studio counterparts (then again, maybe that's a good thing?), but still great for fans like myself. - 8/10
- REMAINS (1997): The last album with Jeff as lead vocalist for a while, and the only one not to feature a drummer! Yep, this is Jeff's attempt at industrial metal. Thankfully a lot of the songs do still sound like Annihilator (albeit in a weaker format), but some really aren't good - namely 'Bastiage', 'Wind', 'No Love' and 'I Want'. On the other hand, 'Tricks and Traps' and 'Reaction' are 2 of the greatest songs Jeff ever recorded! The rest of the album is mid for me, but not bad. - 5.9/10
- CRITERIA FOR A BLACK WIDOW (1999): Somewhat overlooked Randy Rampage reunion album, not quite a classic but still very solid. Potentially some of Annihilator's fastest/heaviest material can be found here, choice cuts for me are 'Bloodbath', 'Punctured', 'Back to the Palace', 'Nothing Left' and 'Sonic Homicide'. Not every song is on point, but overall an underrated effort. - 7.8/10
- CARNIVAL DIABLOS (2001): Liege Lord vocalist Joe Comeau takes over the mic and is in my opinion the best and most metal vocalist Annihilator ever had. And the songs are diverse and showcase all of Jeff's best songwriting techniques. Blazing thrashers ('Denied', 'Battered', 'Hunter Killer'), killer old-school speed metal ('Epic of War', 'The Rush'), strong mid-tempo grooves ('Time Bomb', 'The Perfect Virus')... even an AC/DC-esque hard rocker ('Shallow Grave') and a catchy joke number ('Chicken and Corn')! This album has it all. Still not perfect, but very strong indeed. - 8.7/10
- WAKING THE FURY (2002): Second and last studio album with Joe Comeau, and it's largely a speed metal tour de force! Tighter and more consistent in style than Carnival Diablos, this is one of my favourite metal albums from the nu metal-dominated early millennium. The fuzzy guitar tones and production take some getting used to, that much is true. But really this is what metal is all about for me. - 9/10
- DOUBLE LIVE ANNIHILATION (2003, live album): The definitive Annihilator live package, at least so far anyway. 2 CDs of pure energetic heavy metal goodness from the Joe Comeau era! Speaking of, Joe sings all these tracks brilliantly, regardless of who sang what originally. Songs from every album to date at the time (even Remains) makes for a jolly good time to be had indeed! - 9/10
- THE ONE (2004, EP): New vocalist Dave Padden doesn't give the best first impression here. His alternative metal and sometimes emo-ish vocal style doesn't mesh well with Annihilator; 'The One' is a pathetically slushy ballad, and 'All for You' is a horrible modern metal mess. On the plus side, 'Weapon X' is a blazing number. Overall though... this is meh. - 4/10
- ALL FOR YOU (2004): Sadly a lot of this album continues in similar fashion to The One EP. The fact it has 'All for You' and 'The One' on it doesn't help, but also 'Holding On' (sang by Waters) somehow manages to be even worse!! Dave Padden feels like a misfit here and some of the lyrics are absolutely terrible, particularly on 'Dr. Psycho'! A few strong tracks ('Demon Dance', 'Bled', 'Rage Absolute') thankfully hint at what was to come on the next album, but aren't enough to save All for You's poor status. - 4/10
- SCHIZO DELUXE (2005): A massive improvement over it's predecessor in every single way. Dave Padden amends his vocal style to actually suit Annihilator and the songwriting ditches any of the modern/alternative influences that All for You suffered from. A damn heavy record from start-to-finish with zero ballads, just superb technical thrash mixed with some groove. 8.5/10
- METAL (2007): A disappointment after Schizo Deluxe. Nothing to do with Dave Padden, just some odd ideas here and there and a showering of pointless guest guitarists all over the record. Regardless of how good players like Alexi Laiho, Jeff Loomis or Corey Beaulieu may be, I want to hear Jeff do the guitar solos on an Annihilator record! Also, 'Couple Suicide' (the only song here not sang by Padden, but rather Danko Jones and Angela Gossow) is one of the worst things committed to this catalogue!! That said, I very much enjoy 'Clown Parade', 'Army of One', 'Downright Dominate' and 'Chasing the High'. A mixed bag, but one I can enjoy more-so than not. - 6.4/10
- LIVE AT MASTERS OF ROCK (2008, live album): Decent live album with Dave Padden on vocals. The setlist is mostly oldies although a handful of others from Waking the Fury and Metal do make appearances too. Not as much content as Double Live Annihilation however, and not as good either... but still more than good enough to warrant a purchase for serious fans. - 7/10
- ANNIHILATOR (2010): Awesome return to form, and my favourite of the Padden-era. This album has the highest number of Jeff Waters guitar solos on it if I'm not mistaken? No proper ballads too, which is always a plus! 'The Trend' is a melodic thrash metal masterpiece if I say so myself, and others like 'Coward', 'Ambush', 'The Other Side' and 'Payback' kick major arse. Plus the Van Halen cover, 'Romeo Delight', is a stupidly fun and energetic way to end the album on! - 8.7/10
- FEAST (2013): A very worthy sequel to the 2010 self-titled. Maybe a little more diverse musically at times (check out the funk metal vibes of 'No Surrender'!), but this is a good thing. Lots of killer modern Annihilator numbers like 'Demon Code', 'No Way Out' and 'Deadlock' to digest. Maybe not as consistent as it's predecessor, but a great album none-the-less. - 8.2/10
- SUICIDE SOCIETY (2015): Although it was disappointing to see Dave Padden exit after Feast, Jeff Waters returns to handling all the vocals (as well as guitars as normal) here for the first time since Remains. He'd continue to handle vocals on all following releases up until 2022's Metal II. So at least you know what to expect vocally in this regard. Aside from the vocals, the songs are fairly similar to what Feast offered, only a bit less memorable this time around sadly. Still a good album however - 'Suicide Society', 'My Revenge' and 'Creepin' Again' are classic Annihilator to me, there's just a little more filler than the last record. - 7.3/10
- TRIPLE THREAT (2017, live album): Note - I don't own the box set version of this album, which contains a DVD - just the 2-CD version. The live performance at Bang Your Head festival in Germany is enjoyable enough, if a little short at 11 songs. Strong performances from the band however, with Jeff fronting the band once again. The other CD however, is an unplugged studio recording of old numbers, and frankly I don't think classics such as 'Stonewall' and 'Bad Child' work at all in an acoustic mode. Naturally, most of these unplugged tracks are ballads, but I was never a fan of 'Holding On', 'Phoenix Rising', 'Innocent Eyes' etc. in the first place!! - 5.5/10
- FOR THE DEMENTED (2017): The best Annihilator album since Waking the Fury! For the Demented takes all the best elements of the Padden-era whilst retaining an irresistibly old-school metal quality - maybe the most retro Jeff's sounded since the '90s. Even the ballad 'Pieces of You' is a good one! Call me a fanboy all you want ('cos I am one after all), but this is A+ Annihilator for me. - 8.9/10
- BALLISTIC, SADISTIC (2020): A scorcher of a record that rarely stops to catch it's breath. Some of the songs share deliberate similarities to oldies musically ('Dressed Up for Evil' is similar to 'World Salad' from Alice in Hell, 'Psycho Ward' is similar to 'Stonewall' from Never, Neverland, 'Lip Service' is similar 'Knight Jumps Queen' from Set the World On Fire), but darn it these songs rip! Some modern classics to be found with barnburners like 'Armed to the Teeth', 'The Attitude' and 'Out With the Garbage'. If this is the last Annihilator album of original songs we get, well, things could've been a lot worse. - 8.7/10
- METAL II (2022): Fairly pointless remake of 2007's Metal, unless you never heard the original. The guitar work remains the same, but the drums have been re-recorded by Dave Lombardo and new vocals from Stu Block. Dave is obviously Slayer's legendary drummer so I can't knock his performance (even if Mike Mangini was equally great on the original Metal) but Stu Block sometimes over-sings these tracks and sounds a little OTT compared to Dave Padden's original vocals, and not in a good way. And I liked Stu with Iced Earth! The real problem is, Metal was never the best Annihilator record to begin with. Redoing it with other musicians won't change that fact. - 5/10
