Annihilator
King of the Kill

THE REVIEW

It was 1994, and Annihilator had reached the release of their fourth album, after an excellent debut ("Alice in Hell") and two other notable episodes ("Never Neverland" and "Set the world on fire").

In this album, we find Jeff Waters arranging the guitars, bass, and vocal lines, and the good Randy Black on percussion. Over the years, Annihilator has been subject to constant line-up changes, but Annihilator has always been a band made up of excellent musicians. The album presents itself as a very complex work, technical at times, with a very clean sound, truly convincing and driving riffs, well-marked rhythms, and excellent bass work. The album opens with "The Box", a mid-tempo track that, in my opinion, is not a great opener; it is followed by the title track, which after a roar (of lions!) immediately begins with the sharp guitar riff, and here the percussion does a good job; the song continues fast but quite short (just over 3 minutes!). A sweet arpeggio of clean guitars opens the beautiful "Hell is a War": heavy riffs, blues rhythms, and a great solo make this song one of the most interesting chapters of the record. Just a minute of instrumental (bliss) and then the fast "Second To None," which recalls the style of Annihilator from "Alice in Hell". Annihilator is a sick, very catchy song. It is followed by the vulgar "21", which contains, in my opinion, one of the best riffs of the album. "In the Blood" is the ballad of the album, very emotional and with beautiful lyrics. "Fiasco (The Slate)" immediately gives us a sense of the atmosphere in the tenth track, "Fiasco": this last one seems to have been written as a joke, but being an excellent song, it fits well among the others. The strong instrumental of the album is "Catch the Wind", really beautiful, technical at the right point, with notable bass work. To end beautifully, the last two songs "Speed" and "Bad Child", are very delightful.

All in all, it is truly a great work from this genuine band that goes by the name "Annihilator". Meanwhile, this summer, I will finally see them for the first time at the "Evolution Festival".