ANNIHILATOR – Suicide Society

Jeff Waters’ 15th album with his outfit Annihilator is now released. Wow, have they really been at it that long? Yes, they have, but Waters releases new albums with a refreshing frequency, making Annihilator a great band to be a fan of.

So what can one expect of Suicide Society? Will Annihilator explore new paths, change direction, try new styles? Well, no. If an album sports that name, you know roughly what you get, and that will probably never change. Suicide Society presents the listener new Thrash Metal as was to be expected, garnished with Waters’ unmistakable guitar sound, although his signature licks and riffs are a little less obvious in a few songs.

The album sounds even more like old Annihilator because after eighteen years Jeff is also back behind he microphone since Dave Padden left the band end of last year. And, he does a fine job making the new album an undeniably typical Annihilator album, but even exceeds that accomplishment. Next to heavy songs like the title song and ‘Death Scent’ and fast attacks like ‘My Revenge’, he also rediscovers melody like he did in the early nineties. ‘Creepin Again’ has a certain Set The World On Fire-Feeling, which long time fans will appreciate, and that spirit shows again in the final ‘Every Minute’. Several parts also remind the listener of the even earlier days, but mixed with a modern sound and a higher aggression level that seems to be stemming from the times when Joe Comeau fronted the band.

The first Annihilator albums still create the foundation on which the band’s fame is based, but Suicide Society is the best Annihilator album since 1994 and makes a few mediocre efforts of late forgotten.