Artist: Annihilator
Label: SPV Records
Release: 2002
Rating: 3/5
It’s been only a year and their new record is already out. So my worries were justified. How the hell are the songs even going to be finished properly? Am I about to witness yet another copy of “Carnival Diablos”? Those were the questions running through my head. So what did the guys serve up with their latest? The leap from the previous, somewhat dreamy “Carnival Diablos” to “Waking The Fury” is more than obvious. Every song is uncompromisingly sharp, with no acoustic interludes, no acoustic intros or outros, and not a single instrumental either. The whole record is pure full throttle to the end, and the sharpness the band spoiled us with on their first two creations is back, in perfect balance with the classic elements of heavy metal (Judas Priest and Iron Maiden influences).
To my taste, this is by far the best-produced Annihilator record under Jeff’s hand, especially when it comes to the album’s liveliness. The guitars are up front, wound tight under the baton of a wild compressor. We get great transitions with chord muting and short pauses that crank up the atmosphere on the record, while the rhythm line follows “blindly”. The sound of the cymbals fades off into infinity in the pauses, and the reverb effect on the guitars also gets its moment (“Striker”). Jeff has clearly managed to finally put together the right team, one that radiates fresh energy, bubbling over with new ideas and a hunger to create.
The whole album is marked by constantly shifting rhythms and tempos in the songs, a variety of drum transitions, and a colorful use of expressive cymbals from the returning Randall Black. Paired with bass master Russ Bergquist, he brings the band back to its reputation as one of the boldest and most polished rhythm sections on the metal scene of all time. The still “fresh” Joe Comeau on vocals shows off all his singing chops once more. Of course there’s also a distorted vocal effect, which you can feel in the song “Fire Power”, and that’s great, because the opening “heavenly” riff, beefed up with a classic Annihilator tercet melody, gets completely grounded once the vocals kick in. Once again, we’re witnessing a wonderful balance.
Jeff has once again masterfully decorated all the songs with assorted guitar witchcraft that could only grow in his own backyard cabbage patch. And the solos? Fantastic, no need to waste words on that. I especially like the solo in “My Precious Lunatic Asylum”, to mention just my favorite. Everything is played with balls, no compromises, and the band demonstrates total devotion to making music. Freedom of creation, that’s what it is!
The only slightly more commercial trick on the record (think a more aggressive AC/DC riff) is “Nothing To Me”, which is basically a sped-up “Shallow Grave” (from the previous record), minus the muting on the main riff. The opening mid-tempo rhythm makes you suspect it’ll be another song in the style of “Carnival Diablos” from the previous record. But the switch into the fast riff puts things right back in their place. Here Joe’s singing once again strongly recalls good old Bon Scott. The album closes with “Cold Blooded”. It’s like sticking your head in a beehive. This one will satisfy even all those hardcore thrashers who would like to rebrand Annihilator as a “pure-blooded” and “modern” thrash band at all costs.
This is a record you simply can’t get bored with. Annihilator won’t let you out of their embrace for even a moment. Enough preaching. Little devil Jeffrey, with his originality and genius for riff-writing, is back as alive as ever. Once again we get to witness a wonderful collision of thrash and classic heavy metal. That’s it, guys, full throttle to the end!
Lineup
Joe Comeau – vocals
Jeff Waters – guitar
Curran Murphy – guitar
Russ Bergquist – bass
Randy Black – drums
Production
Jeff Waters
Track list
1. Ultra Motion
2. Torn
3. My Precious Lunatic Asylum
4. Striker
5. Ritual
6. Prime Time Killing
7. Blackest Day
8. Nothing To Me
9. Fire Power
10. Cold Blooded
11. Shallow Grave
12. Nothing To Me
Trajanje albuma: 58.07
