The Fun Palace (1990) • Never, Neverland (Promo) (1990) • Never, Neverland (1991) • Phoenix Rising (1993) • Set the World on Fire (1993)
King of the Kill (Promo) (1994)
Demo(s):
Welcome to Your death (1985) • Phantasmagoria (1986) • Alison Hell (1988) • Never, Neverland Pre-Production Demo (1989)
Set the World on Fire Pre-Production Demo (1991) • set the World on Fire Pre-Production Demo II (1991)
Annihilator's previous album Metal was met with plenty of mixed emotions from the not only their well established fan-based, but also the Metal community in general, with a number of people finding it to not be up to par with guitarist Jeff Waters' typical musical standards. For those who found dismay in the previous album, those individuals can sigh a breath of relief at the band's self-titled effort, Annihilator, which doesn't seem to tread very far from much of the band's previous harder works.
Almost as if the band is reinventing themselves a little bit with this release, Annihilator comes at you with the same intensity as the past few albums Annihilator has issued. However, there does seem to be a hint of experimentation with this effort, as there appears to be traces of various other musical environments in this recording. For instance, the track "25 Seconds" has a Jazz feel to it in the bridge leading up to, as well as during, the verses for the song with a heavier Groove-based chorus. It may sound ludicrous, but it all works together as the song continues to build up to the chorus, then seems to crash after it and start over, as if trying to display a building up of tension. Then there's also traces of Hard Rock in the recording at times, such as during the opening track "The Trend", which will have you hooked as a listener right away, but shows a heavier influence primarily during the chorus of the catchy "Nowhere To Go", and, obviously, during the closing Van Halen cover track "Romeo Delight".
There's nothing really negative to say about Annihilator. The only drawback one can find is that the band's current vocalist, at times, just doesn't seem to really fit the music, but really, it's hard to imagine any of the band's previous vocalists coming in and doing a better performance. This isn't to say it's a bad attempt, the vocals on here are much more suiting to Annihilator then some previous albums he was involved with, such as All for You. Honestly, they work out the best with the Van Halen cover "Romeo Delight", which is honestly one of the most enjoyable tracks off this release. Hopefully this track is an experimental addition to the album, as this more Heavy Metal interpretation of the song is well done and very suiting for the band. Bringing a Hard Rock element to their music is nothing new for Annihilator and always seems to prove to be a worthwhile venture for the band, so hopefully this is somethng that will lead to more tracks such as this one, preferably originals, on future releases.
The music found on Annihilator is nice and heavy, just like one would expect from the band. It does, on occasion, have throwbacks to the band's mid-career sound, such as the riffs on "The Trend" as well as pretty much the entire track of "Nowhere To Go", but primarily focuses on the positive more recent career sound, which is great. There honestly isn't a single bad song on this release, and each track seems to have it's own unique feel to it which can only be pointed towards the band's rather large and unique history and previous musical ventures throughout it's career. If you're looking for a solid Metal album that won't get old, then get ready to be annihilated with Annihilator's self-titled album.
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Donater/Ethic Info
Digital review copy of this release provided by: Earache Records.
