1246. Annihilator / Alice in Hell. 1989. 4/5

Annihilator was formed in Ottawa in Canada back in 1984 by guitarists and vocalists Jeff Waters and John Bates. The meeting of Waters and Bates was through mutual neighbourhood friends with the intention to cover AC/DC songs. After their initial meeting, they decided to instead write original songs together, and the two of them formed what they called Annihilator. Bates then recruited bassist Dave Scott while Waters brought in drummer Paul Malek. The band rehearsed and played in the basement of a women's fashion shop for a two-year period before settling in Val-d'Or, a city in Quebec, after a residency there. During this time, Waters and Bates co-wrote most of the tracks that would eventually make up the majority of Annihilator’s first two albums, though as it turned out, it was not to be with the lineup that was together when they were written. In 1985, the band produced a demo titled "Welcome to Your Death", but not long after this Bates and Scott left the band, citing "artistic differences" and "personality conflicts". Not the first time those phrases have been used in the break up of band lineups. These two went on to form the band Ligeia, notably recording a version of the song “Alison Hell” in 1987 that pre-dated the Annihilator release.
The band, as it was, then went on to record two more demo’s, titled "Phantasmagoria" and "Wicked Mystic", before Waters moved to Vancouver, where he assembled what he hoped would be a more permanent line-up, including drummer Ray Hartmann and former D.O.A. bassist Randy Rampage on vocals. Rampage came with impressive credentials, having been in the influential Canadian hard core band D.O.A, but as bass guitarist. Here he had been brought on board by Waters to take on the lead vocal duties. In 1988, Waters, Rampage and Hartmann went into the studio, with Waters recording all of the guitar and bass tracks himself in lieu of other musicians, and produced what would become the band's debut album. Hartmann’s drums and Rampages vocals completed the task, and “Alice in Hell” was released upon the world as the debut album for the band Annihilator.

For what is, for all intents and purposes a thrash metal album, the opening to the band’s debut album is an interesting start. The instrumental “Crystal Ann” starts with classical acoustic guitar strains, completely out of character for what you would expect from this type of album. No “Hit the Lights” or “Over the Wall” or “Loved to Death” here. Simply almost two minutes of classically aligned guitar with no backing, starting off the album. I’m assuming most people were as bemused by this the first time they heard the album as I was. This then strums into “Alison Hell”, where there is more of the same to start the track, before the opening running riff kicks the album into gear at last. The move between clear guitar and distorted riff is an interesting play off against each other, as well as the change of pace literally within the song before it finally finds its groove. The move between a normal vocal throughout to the falsetto piece before the solo is another interesting touch. Given the lateness of the hour in regards to the thrash metal genre when this was released, this opening to the album at least showed the band had their own take and style with their music, rather than copying what had come before.
“Alison Hell” crashes straight into “W.T.Y.D” - Welcome to Your Death – and now the band has its mojo, with this song motoring along nicely and Rampage now find his range vocally. With John Bates credited with having co-written four of the tracks on this album, it’s interesting that both of the songs he contributed to at the top of the album have the insertion of the clear guitar into the tracks in the middle, a stylised impact that doesn’t occur elsewhere here.
“Wicked Mystic” suffers no fools, racing along and plunging headlong into the speed and riffage that you would expect. Both this song along with “Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade” have elements comparable to bands like Overkill and Testament, and while they are both enjoyable tracks they do tend to hold the same rhythm riff throughout the song, and the same vocal monotone, interjected only by Waters selected solo to provide the balance. “Word Salad” creeps back into the same pattern as the opening tracks, with the slower clear guitar middle breaking up the word cycle first par and the complete over the top shredding guitar part of the second half. I mean, the second half of the song is just that shredding guitar, which does sound amazing but perhaps outstays its welcome.
"Schizos (Are Never Alone) Parts I & II" continues along the journey of amazing guitar riffs and changing song structure which is for the most part another full on instrumental, while "Ligeia" sticks to the style that has been moulded by this album, a rampaging cacophony of noise thumping out of the speakers at you in a formless void. The album then concludes with arguably the best song of the album, “Human Insecticide”, which flays along at great speed and in the best traditions of the thrash genre, again arguably the best formed track of the album.

This album came out at an interesting time for metal music as a whole. The genre of thrash had been on the rise for the previous three years, with bands such as Metallica and Megadeth and Slayer being followed into the fray by Testament, Overkill, Death Angel and others. And for this to be the band’s debut album in 1989, riding on that wave, I guess they had no idea the storm that was coming.
I came across this album through the Australian heavy metal magazine publication Hot Metal, a great source of interviews and reviews that began at about the time this album was released. On the back of its recommendation, I found the cash to buy the album. And it was certainly in my wheelhouse as to what I was listening to at the time, and it fit in well. That cacophony of guitar coming at you like a brick wall found its place for me right between the previous year’s “... And Justice for All” and the following year’s “Rust in Peace”. If it had come out a year later or a year earlier, I feel it may have missed its window to grab my attention. And as a result, it did find its place. And it had its moment in the sun with me in regards to listening pleasure.
Flash forward to today, and I still enjoy listening to it. Granted, I hadn’t put it on in quite a long time before two weeks ago, but since then, I have had a good 20-25 rotations of this album, and I still enjoy it. OK, so it isn’t as structured or overly imaginative as some of the great thrash albums you could mention – the aforementioned Justice and Rust, “Among the Living”, “The Legacy”, “Act III” - but that doesn’t mean that you can’t and won’t enjoy it. And say what you will about the actual song composition on this album, there is little more you can say about the guitaring of Jeff Waters here on his debut. At times sounding like Mustaine, at others sounding like Hammett, he really does try to throw the kitchen sink at this album. It’s just that, sometimes, you are looking for more in the actual songwriting than just fast guitars and smashing drums. Not all the time, mind you, but just some of the time. It does depend on your mood.
Beyond this album, Jeff had a revolving door policy with bandmates, from album to album, and the sound he maintained on those future albums seemed to change with the times. But this album remains as solid a debut album as you could wish for. It isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and if I was to get below the surface I can see why this is the case. But for pure thrash entertainment without trying to break down and critique every part of the album, this is still a fun ride.