Annihilator's self-titled (2010)

Thrash Metal! It's still alive, lads! And it's top notch energy is just like in them old times, Annihilator are blessing us with their newest album, "Annihilator"! This self-titled thrash metal album, is really something I didn't expected at all. Most thrash metal albums today are vague and boring, but damn, lads, let's see how this album is in comparation with both classic thrash metal albums and the newer ones. Let me give you a short introduction of Annihilator, it's a Canadian thrash metal band, their most notable album is Alison Hell or maybe King Of The Kill, another notable performance is that they only have one permanent member, their creator: Jeff Waters, who did guitars, bass and vocals for the band whenever needed.

After a relatively short intro we jump right into reviewing the first song, The Trend, weighting 7:04 minutes (pretty darn fat song). Well that's a damn way to start an album, the lyrics are based on the today's mainstream music, the stealing of music and it's elements and stuff like that, basically, disrespecting the classic artists that made music what it is today, just like Annihilator. This lyrics can really make you want to listen to the rest of the album as fast as you can, it worked for me at last. Well this song has a very long intro, but it's so full of energy, even has two, yes, not one, but two solos, as proof of the dormant energy of thrash metal just let loose by them metal gods. I'd count the verse the dullest part of the song, and with the least energy, but if that's the least energy you can get in a song, it's clear that they ate lots of sugar before recording. The chorus is short and to the subject, letting space to the instruments to handle the intresting part, not saying that the vocals in the chorus are boring, but their a bit short lived, that's all. It surprised me a bit but this song doesen't has any bridge, not terrible, but could have been one there. Oh, and by the way, this song has a total of four solos!

I really wonder... why the hell didn't they named this album "FAST!!!!!111!!!1!!!"... Anyways let's go on with the second song, Coward, 4 minutes and 22 seconds to enjoy in your life! This song is fast! It has a total of two guitar solos and they both kick it, as the title pretty much explains the content of the lyrics I won't say what's about, I will say, though, the word combinations they chose is pretty intresting, also, this time I felt like the vocals are more dominant than the instruments, which is great, becuase it means diversity, and diversity is good at contexts like this, not like the album we covered the last episode for example.

Number three, Ambush, it is only 3:22, but it's very fast and very harsh instrumental wise, the vocals themselves are pretty harsh, and unlike the last songs, neither the instruments nor the vocals are dominating, yay, more diversity, I like the fact that when listening to Annihilator, the guitar solos aren't that typical Kirk Hammet-ish nonsense-ish flurry of notes, they are melodical and yearpleasing, this album, is no exception of that.

Let's go on and see how Betrayed is, it weights four minutes and thirty four seconds. This song starts lowering the tempos but remains just as harsh as the other songs, after the guitar kicks in the intro, it even becomes a bit dark-ish. The vocal patterns are pure thrash metal, just as the main riff. I don't know how it feels to be betrayed, like a rat, but I know it's darn awsome to listen how others are betrayed... like a rat! The solo might be the best of the album, it really is in my opinion, pretty nice song overall.

25 Seconds, ironically, isn't 25 seconds, but 4:49. The intro is a really nice groove, but it quickly evolves intro a harsh guitar riff, they use this this groove before every verse. The vocals are pretty harsh, I can't say I'm a big fan of them, but the riffs really blow you away. The solo has no rythm guitar in it's back and therfore sounds pretty weak at the beggining, but after the rythm comes, it's OK, it's actually just as powerful as the riffs, wich makes me don't like the way it suddenly becomes that bass groove. I might say it's one of the weakest songs in the album, but it might be only my taste, also, the lyrics are inspired by a real case, where a Polish imigrant in Canada was killed by the police in about 25 seconds.

Another song that begins with a bass riff, a bit harsher than the one before, the sixth song, Nowhere to Go (5:08). The riffs are pretty nice, what I like about the song most is the chorus wich is really good, even though it seems a bit more rock-ish than thrash-ish. The lyrics are classic Annihilator "I'm gonna punch you in the face". Even the solo features a rock-ish feel. This is a rock influenced thrash song, something you don't hear very often, but it turned out really nice. I like the ending riff also, it's really well done.

Classic solo beggining song, reminds me of songs like "Neverending Hill", this one is called The Other Side and it's 4:20, and just like the one before it, I can feel rock influences that really make it sound unique and cool that surely won't bore you. I might even go as far as to say it's a rock song, with little solo fills and a more rock-ish riff, this one is the most unique and intresting song in the album in my opinion, the solo is also pretty nice written, but it also has a part without rythm guitar that kind of hurts my year a bit, because it sounds so weak. The lyrics, it seems to me like it's about that type of women that enters anyone's heart and then leaves them to dust, but I might be wrong.

With the eighth song, we return to brutal and fast thrash metal, called Death in Your Eyes, it's 5:58, it's the second longest song of the album, after The Trend, it has intresting guitar noises intro and around one minute and a half it has a cool solo followed by an brutal riff, that also becomes filled with a solo later on, really great part, an incredibly well written instrumental part and also it's very long, it last about three minutes. What is really intresting is the aparition of blastbeat drumming in the chorus, I really liked that. The end is similar to the beggining, a fast and short solo. Time to Die!

The last song, Payback, 4:48, it isn't as fast but is just as brutal as most other songs, and even seems to have a slight dark-ish atmosphere, the guitars are really harsh in this one. The riffs are really intresting and the solo is also nice, I heard better solos in this album though. I think it's the hardest song to play on the album, the riffs and everything, are pretty darn complex. Also the ending solo is way better than the main one, and adds to that dark feeling. The album also features a Van Halen cover, I won't comment anything about that, it's "Romeo Delight".

This is one of the best Neo Thrash album I ever heard, it isn't a must for any thrash metal fan, but it's worth the bucks, you won't be bored listening to it. Here's some samples:

Ambush: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1ib5XJA3BM

Nowhere to Go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBi_FnPY0Vo

Death in Your Eyes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnZGkUmtqJM