After two stunning, complex thrash releases, Annihilator brings us Set The World On Fire. With the first real dramatic line-up change, this release is one that a lot of the metal community either despises, or simply considers mediocre due to the dramatic music shift that followed the member change. While this release really isn't the best in their discography, it has it's moments that show a truly great metal release.
On Set The World On Fire, we see Annihilator ditching a lot of the technical aspects that really brought the band into the thrash spotlight. Instead, much of the album is littered with simplistic sounding music mixed with a mainstream hard rock approach. Sure, some of the songs on here have some shreds of the previous two albums meshed together, such as "Set The World On Fire", "Knight Jumps Queen" and "Brain Dance", but then you have songs like "Bats In The Belfry", "Snake In The Grass" and "Sounds Good To Me" which just seem very out of place for Annihilator, being more upbeat and simpler, especially lyrically. But the real kicker on this release is the power balled "Phoenix Rising", which isn't that bad a track really. The main issue with this, and many others, lies (hopefully) in the production quality on the CD, causing the vocalist to sound as though he is slurring everytime he hits an "s".
The album does have it's moments. If you can look past the loss of the technical work outside of the guitar solos, some of those lighter songs are actually catchy and enjoyable. While "Set The World On Fire" is the heaviest track on the album and, really, the only one that is what we come to expect from Annihilator, "Bats In The Belfry" and "The Edge" are rather entertaining tracks, and "Brain Dance" is the most entertaining. This silly song will have you singing, possibly even laughing, along with it, and head banging when it ends and the band throwsback to the original Alice In Hell release with. Another positive is the ability of the vocalist, during the heavier moments of the album, can sound somewhat reminiscent of Randy Rampage, which is a nice plus, and isn't that bad when the clean singing comes through.
Set The World On Fire isn't the best Annihilator album to be release, as it has more of a commercial feel to it then anything we have come to know and love about the band. The lack of technicality and tenacity really leaves this album on life support. But there are some rather good lighter tracks, a few fun tracks, and is rather enjoyable if you can get over the fact that this is simply a different incarnation of Annihilator and the slurring in the vocals.
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