| Written by Alex Stojanovic TRACK LISTING Twisted Lobotomy One To Kill For The Demented Pieces Of You The Demon You Know Phantom Asylum Altering The Altar The Way Dark Not All There Release Date: November 3, 2017 Label: Silver Lining Music / Neverland Music Inc. Website: www.annihilatormetal.com www.facebook.com/annihilatorband www.twitter.com/annihilatorband |  |
ANNIHILATOR IS:
Jeff Waters - Lead vocals & lead guitars Aaron Homma - Rhythm guitars Rich Hinks - Bass Fabio Alessandrini - Drums
Jeff Waters - Lead vocals & lead guitars Aaron Homma - Rhythm guitars Rich Hinks - Bass Fabio Alessandrini - Drums
When it comes to releasing albums, Annihilator have not taken more than three years between releases. Arriving at album #16 in 2017 with For The Demented, Jeff Waters is showing no signs of slowing down. This is also first album to feature the present lineup with Aaron Homma on rhythm guitar, Rich Hinks on bass and Fabio Alessandrini on drums. After 30 years of handling songwriting duties by himself for the most part, Waters brought in bassist Rich Hinks, who has played with the band for a couple of years now and the two shared writing duties for the music. With his background in math metal, Hinks has helped bring a new element to Annihilator's unique sound. I would say it was a helpful move because over the last few records, certain riffs were recycled and it was starting getting a bit stale, so this one has a bit of a fresh element.
Opening with "Twisted Lobotomy", Annihilator never had a song this fast before. Riffs come in smashing like fists on a punching bag and Jeff also incorporates a bit more snarl in his vocals on this one. Vocally, I feel that Jeff is starting to come into his own style, while still incorporating a little bit of the James Hetfield and Dave Mustaine styles. For years, fans have been asking Jeff to go back to the sound of Alice In Hell, Never Neverland, Set The World On Fire and King Of The Kill, and that's pretty much what he has done on For The Demented, while still incorporating the modern influences from the last few records, and that's also thanks to the assistance of Rich.
A standout track and favourite of mine is "Phantom Asylum", where the eerie intro sort of pays tribute to "Alison Hell", then all of a sudden....IT'S THRASH TIME. It will work well in a live setting with mosh pits going and people pounding the air as they sing along to the chorus. A couple other standout tracks are "One To Kill" and "Altering The Alter". Both are jam-packed with chugging riffs that bring vibes of "King Of The Kill" and "Wicked Mystic". Variety always keeps an album exciting. The thrash, groove and melody are balanced out really well, as expected with Annihilator. Some of the more groove-oriented numbers include the title track and "The Demon You Know".
Now we have a flaw to address, and that is a majority of the lyrics. I guess that shouldn't be surprising at this point because over the last bunch of albums, the lyrics seemed to always be the weak spot, while the music is always solid. The ballad "Pieces Of You" is musically solid, but the lyrics come across as if they were written by an 8-year-old. The middle section contains the most cringe-worthy lyrics on the album: "Let's eat. Mayonnaise and some pepper, a bit of salt. Join me in this romantic dinner for two. So good, so good." Really Jeff, really? We get it, you have a sense of humour, but come on. The sound of a fork scraping food off a plate just adds another dose of cringe to this song. Like, are you kidding me?
Obviously, lyrics were never one of Jeff's strong points. The topic in "The Way" is something many metalheads will agree with and relate to, which is about always following your own path and doing things your way, but again, the lyrical presentation is really awkward. I also believe that "Dark" would've served better as the first track, leading into "Twisted Lobotomy", due to the fact that it's a short instrumental. Cringe-worthy lyrics aside, For The Demented is the album that fans of the first four records have been waiting for and it certainly delivers. A much better album than Suicide Society, and it features Jeff's best guitar performance in a long time. This album is proof that Annihilator still have plenty of gas left in the tank.
Highs: "Twisted Lobotomy", "One To Kill", "Phantom Asylum" and "Altering The Altar"
Lows: Some rather cheesy lyrics, especially in "Pieces Of You".
Final Rating: 7/10
Opening with "Twisted Lobotomy", Annihilator never had a song this fast before. Riffs come in smashing like fists on a punching bag and Jeff also incorporates a bit more snarl in his vocals on this one. Vocally, I feel that Jeff is starting to come into his own style, while still incorporating a little bit of the James Hetfield and Dave Mustaine styles. For years, fans have been asking Jeff to go back to the sound of Alice In Hell, Never Neverland, Set The World On Fire and King Of The Kill, and that's pretty much what he has done on For The Demented, while still incorporating the modern influences from the last few records, and that's also thanks to the assistance of Rich.
A standout track and favourite of mine is "Phantom Asylum", where the eerie intro sort of pays tribute to "Alison Hell", then all of a sudden....IT'S THRASH TIME. It will work well in a live setting with mosh pits going and people pounding the air as they sing along to the chorus. A couple other standout tracks are "One To Kill" and "Altering The Alter". Both are jam-packed with chugging riffs that bring vibes of "King Of The Kill" and "Wicked Mystic". Variety always keeps an album exciting. The thrash, groove and melody are balanced out really well, as expected with Annihilator. Some of the more groove-oriented numbers include the title track and "The Demon You Know".
Now we have a flaw to address, and that is a majority of the lyrics. I guess that shouldn't be surprising at this point because over the last bunch of albums, the lyrics seemed to always be the weak spot, while the music is always solid. The ballad "Pieces Of You" is musically solid, but the lyrics come across as if they were written by an 8-year-old. The middle section contains the most cringe-worthy lyrics on the album: "Let's eat. Mayonnaise and some pepper, a bit of salt. Join me in this romantic dinner for two. So good, so good." Really Jeff, really? We get it, you have a sense of humour, but come on. The sound of a fork scraping food off a plate just adds another dose of cringe to this song. Like, are you kidding me?
Obviously, lyrics were never one of Jeff's strong points. The topic in "The Way" is something many metalheads will agree with and relate to, which is about always following your own path and doing things your way, but again, the lyrical presentation is really awkward. I also believe that "Dark" would've served better as the first track, leading into "Twisted Lobotomy", due to the fact that it's a short instrumental. Cringe-worthy lyrics aside, For The Demented is the album that fans of the first four records have been waiting for and it certainly delivers. A much better album than Suicide Society, and it features Jeff's best guitar performance in a long time. This album is proof that Annihilator still have plenty of gas left in the tank.
Highs: "Twisted Lobotomy", "One To Kill", "Phantom Asylum" and "Altering The Altar"
Lows: Some rather cheesy lyrics, especially in "Pieces Of You".
Final Rating: 7/10
RSS Feed
