Review Summary: Technical album which harks back to earlier albums in many places, and with Randy on vocals it's better than a couple of them too.
1 of 1 thought this review was well writtenBy the end of the nineties Annihilator was a forgotten name in America, as the albums they released were increasingly un-thrashy, and after the terrible (IMO) Remains Jeff was stuck and suffering from depression. However he went to a Slayer concert, hit himself over the head and re-united the old Annihilator lineup, save for the bassist who is replaced by Russel Bergquist. They set about making a thrash album again, and you'll hear similar elements to their early albums. In 1999, it was released on Roadrunner records, the first American label the had been signed to in years.
Lineup
Jeff Waters-Lead guitar, secondary vocals
Randy Rampage-Vocals
Russel Bergquist-Bass
David Scott Davis-Rythm Guitar
Ray Hartmann-Drums
This album is thrash. There's basically none of those stupid alternative metal tracks that you could find on other albums from this point, even if this has a couple of ballads. Also there is actual variation on this album, compared to the hopeless Dave albums with their predictable riffs and hopelessly bad lyrics. While Annihilator has never had amazing lyrics, this album doesn't disappoint that badly. The riffs are good too in many places, and overall this is random metal tomfoolery done right. However, a lot of the riffs are similar to each other, and that's the main reason this album is worth a 4. It has a notable 'Tallica influence in places.
The songs I liked
This is a hard thing to [s]deicide[/s] decide as this entire album oozes nice tracks. The first one to really stand out was
Back To The Palace. This song is a throwback to
The Fun Palace on
Never, Neverland with a similar first riff. It still varies from it though, and stands fairly well with a furious riff and some nice lead work from Jeff. Randy is pretty good here, and his vocals sound awesome as ever.
A little later we get the instrumental,
Schizos (Are Never Alone) Part III, another throwback, this time to a track of the same name on
Alice In Hell. It may not seem to similar but even then this is an awesome track with some neat solo work and some good riffing. This is probably my favorite on the album.
Lastly, we have
Double Dare, a nice thrasher with a good opening riff and some instant action. Main problem here is that Randy's vocals are rather average. The track has such awesome guitar work it's actually frightening. It eventually drops into a creepy acoustic which then builds back up. It's rather cheesy here, but it soon returns to some nice thrash.
Songs that sucked, or were just worse
The opener here is one of the slightly more dull tracks.
Bloodbath features a kinda dull riff at first, and drags early in the song. It then gets down to a better pace with some soloing, but the beginning is just boring. Once it gets going it's a decent track though.
The same thing applies to the title track. It has a really dull intro, and when it gets together it then becomes dull again. The lyrics are terrible here.
Criteria For A Black Widow Gets my vote for the worse track on the album.
Overall this album is strong, but there are clear problems in places, with some dull tracks. However on the good tracks it is a relentless, powerful thrash attack that earns itself a:
4/5
Recommended tracks:
Back To The Palace
Schizos (Are Never Alone) Part III
Nothing Left
Double Dare
Notes:
Jeff is on vocals on Sonic Homicide, but his vocals are distorted. Awww.
