Annihilator
Metal

In the world of thrash, Annihilator represents one of the most curious and contested bands in the entire scene. The overall condition of the group is fundamentally due to the figure of the leader, that six-string wizard known as Jeff Waters, a mind capable of creating seminal albums so important that they deserve a place of honor in the metal pantheon, yet at the same time capable of producing true musical abominations like "King Of The Kill" or "All For You," just to name the most glaring cases.

In 2007 the good Waters, who, for heaven's sake, has all my support, returns to the market with an album, "Metal," which has a rather explanatory title, or at least it should be, of what will be encountered when listening to the album: now, not to criticize, but there is very little metal here, in the true sense of the word, and what little is present is not even the best, as can be seen in the opener "Clown Parade" which falls into self-plagiarism, bringing to mind "W.T.Y.D.", one of the most representative tracks of that masterpiece which was "Alice In Hell". The rest of the album does not qualitatively differ from the first track, starting with the second "Couple Suicide" where Danko Jones and the very flat (we're talking about voice, of course) but attractive Angela Gossow dominate, presenting it as a rather bland and uninspiring track. Among the few moments that can be listened to with a bit more attention are "Army Of One," which, despite reminiscent of the chorus "Wild Boys" by Duran Duran, has good moments thanks to Waters' riffs.

For the rest, the platter really offers little, with its predictable melodies, repeated to the point of nausea, without a hint of originality or compositional freshness. Not even the famous names of the various guests called to collaborate and the good technical performance of the group can raise the truly modest quality of this latest work from Annihilator. The last thing to add is the terrible vocal performance of rhythm guitarist Dave Padden, who is really out of place and awkward in a role that doesn't suit him even remotely.

Hoping for a revival, though now there's little left to hope for, I return to listening to the true masterpieces of the past, distant, but which in my dreams return now and then.