Label: Silver Lining Music
Release date: 24.01.2020
Production: Jeff Waters
Album length: 45.28 min
Genre: Thrash Metal
Rating: 8.0 / 10
Jeff Waters is still counted among the most interesting, sharpest and most influential guitarists to emerge on the swelling hurricane of thrash metal in the second half of the eighties. Age just doesn’t stick to him, and the guy keeps up his staggering technical wizardry, outrageous speed (the palm-muting of his right hand is probably still the fastest in the galaxy), incredible precision and, on top of all that dizzying sonic business, the huge command of the instrument he holds at the same time. Above all that, though, you have to put his originality and distinctiveness, which is why the first two Annihilator albums in particular stand as achievements that added the missing, influential pebbles to the mosaic of shaping thrash metal as a genre.
“Ballistic, Sadistic” is, in all of Jeff’s creative madness, already the band’s seventeenth album. Annihilator today of course play their very own brand of thrash metal variety, a sort of mix of thrashing doctrine, noticeable infusions of classic metal (little hits of Priest and Maiden spice) and also a pouty, modern, groove-leaning production that suits the razor-sharpened teeth of this untamed musical beast.
You’ve probably felt it yourselves, the initial excitement slowly fading at this point. “Ballistic, Sadistic” is, after all, the third album in a row on which Waters himself, head and beard, once again takes over lead vocals. So Jeff has once again taken on the role of one-man band in the studio, except for the drums, played by his live-show legionnaire Fabio Alessandrini. Nothing new (anymore). With the tried-and-tested formula, Jeff this time strolls through the band’s recent history even more obviously than you’d expect. So I Am Warfare, an otherwise hugely fun feat, full of rhythmic breaks and sudden switches between phrases where Jeff’s genius and talent really shine, is something that slipped out of the “Schizo Deluxe” album, and if we stop at the song Lipservice, it clearly pulls toward Night Jumps Queen from the album “Set The Wolrd On Fire”. Then there’s Psycho Ward, which owes some inspiration to the lead phrase of the classic Stonewall from the album “Never, Neverland”. All of that certainly “holds water”, since the same man created it all, but this template of copying from himself gets a little tiring. Annihilator deliver a very good album, a very solid one, but one that no longer surprises (except those who don’t know the band yet). The predecessor “For The Demented” (2017) was also a very decent album that didn’t raise any eyebrows among the band’s connoisseurs, and the new “Ballistic, Sadistic”, otherwise excellently played (again with a sparkling glow and a giant heart), skillfully “packaged” in its compositions and produced, draws even more obviously from Waters’ treasure chest of Annihilator phrases from the days when they still sounded fresh, unusual and unique.
Quite a few riffs on this album, then, we’ve already experienced in the past, and if I may caricature a bit, the guy probably wrote them for the new album in his sleep (solos included).
With all the respect Waters has earned and racked up over the years, you really can’t pin anything on him. The man has a new studio and enjoys everything he does. And he still does it with the fire of youthful zeal and unbridled abandon. And “Ballistic, Sadistic” grabs you in a thoroughly “Annihilator” way, no doubt about it, it just doesn’t ignite quite the way a longtime fan of the band might have wished or expected. It’s unfair, of course, to tell a gentleman like Jeff Waters. what he should and shouldn’t do, but one thing is undeniable. True, “Ballistic, Sadistic” is better done vocally (or “barked”, as you prefer) than its predecessor “For The Demented” (not counting the ever-fresh silliness in the lyrics), but still, all of Annihilator’s best records are, sadly, as a rule tied to a singer who was always an extra member of the band, starting with the prematurely departed Rampage, then Pharr, Comeau or Paddn. Simply put, if not a whole band, which is obviously a utopian expectation, Waters badly needs a singer by his side in the studio (and on stage too)! A singer, as a band member. Vocally Jeff got the job done well enough, at a better level than expected, but given Jeff’s overeager habit of putting out new albums nonstop, there’s untapped room for added value here too.
But like I said. The album is good, perfectly decent, but because it reheats the old tricks more than you’d expect, it doesn’t “shake” you (at least not an old thrash metal geezer). It feels nostalgic, though the old fan of the band will probably once again prefer to spin the first two albums for the millionth time. The production kills, though. That’s for sure. So this album too gets cranked at the highest possible volume.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
- Armed to the Teeth
- The Attitude
- Psycho Ward
- I Am Warfare
- Out with the Garbage
- Dressed Up for Evil
- Riot
- One Wrong Move
- Lip Service
- The End of the Lie
Line-up:
Jeff Waters – vocals, guitar, bass
Fabio Alessandrini – drums
