Annihilator - Feast (2013)

Annihilator is one of those bands that I have a love/hate relationship with. They are a cool band and has the talent to make some great crunchy thrash metal, but sometimes they just get too corny from time to time. Their latest self titled album was a great example of that. Some songs kicked ass while other just left me sitting there thinking "what the fuck did I just listen to?". That has always been a problem for Annihilator, they have a thing of making uneven albums that makes it really hard too fully appreciate them.

This leads us to "Feast", Annihilator's 14th studio album. And just like previous releases, "Feast" is mixing between high and low quality songs. The opening trio "Deadlock", "No Way Out" and "Smear Campaign" starts the album off with some great groovy thrash that is just typical Annihilator. But it is "No Way Out" that stands out the most with its fast tempo and power filled chorus

One song that caught me off guard was the surprisingly good ballad "Perfect Angel Eyes". It is a very beautiful song and the band performs the song with such delicacy, which I did not expect from a band like Annihilator. The songs after this ballad are not half bad either. There is some good demonic sounds in "Demon Code", the attitude in "Fight The World" is tough and the big finisher "One Falls, Two Rise" gives "Feast" an extra sharp edge when it is crunching and punching through your mind. It is impressive to see that Annihilator can write these types of songs.

Then we also have those songs that are screwing up the album. "No Surrender" has a cool chorus, but the rest of the song fits better with some jazz lounge band. "Wrapped" has a guest appearance by Danko Jones (singer and guitarist of Danko Jones), which is cool, but the song still feels misplaced in this album and the chorus is way too corny for my taste.

The good news however, is that the amount of bad songs are less than what I expected. It is actually some decent quality going through the entire album this time and there is no song that I completely hate. Still, I would like one or two songs that really went full throttle, but that is weighed up with the excellent variety that "Feast" is bringing.

"Feast" is a surprisingly even album by the Canadians and it certainly restored some of my faith that the band some time will make a album without any shit songs. "Feast" is still however not a world class album that will sore up in the top of my end of the year list, but it brings some good old thrash that is both fun and heavy. It is a great album, just like its cover.

Songs worthy of recognition: No Way Out, Perfect Angel Eyes, "One Falls, Two Rise"

Rating: 8/10 Deadlocks