Annihilator – For The Demented
Album Review by Adam McCann
Band : Annihilator
Album : For The Demented
Silver Lining Music 2017
Annihilator have come a long way since ‘Alice in Hell’ back in 1989 with Mr. Annihilator himself, Jeff Waters going through somewhere in the ballpark of 1000 members over the course of their career with Waters choosing once more to forego an actual vocalist and do the job himself.
Since taking over the vocals again, Annihilator have hit their stride with a run of more than decent albums. ‘For the Demented’ picks up pretty much exactly where 2015’s ‘Suicide Society’ left off and that is certainly a good thing. ‘For the Demented’ is angry, aggressive and shows Waters as a man on top of his game, tracks such as ‘Twisted Lobotomy’, ‘One to Kill’ and the title track all have that hint of Megadeth as Waters spits venom in the style of Mustaine and even gives him a run for his money.
Don’t be fooled, this album is nowhere near Waters ripping off Megadeth and sure it has that vibe; ‘The Way’ may even have a similar melody to ‘Wrecker’, but who cares? ‘For the Demented’ rocks and is thoroughly enjoyable. As an album, it serves to remind us that Jeff Waters is one motherfucker of a guitarist, an underrated giant in the heavy metal world and on this album, Waters’ playing is blisteringly good. Furthermore, it just isn’t the fret melting which holds your attention, but that actual song craftsmanship is excellent. Waters manages to excel himself with the semi-autobiographical addiction battling ‘The Demon You Know’ and ‘Pieces of You’; a song about killing your girlfriend and well, eating them. The latter of which features one of the only uses of the word mayonnaise in a heavy metal song that is instantly recallable.
However, ‘For the Demented’ with all its merits suffers from just feeling that little bit too long with the latter end of the album weaving in and out of consciousness, ‘Dark’ anyone? and it is coupled with a relatively shit album cover. But, when you’ve got an album of excellent songs, it doesn’t even matter, ‘For the Demented’ is Annihilator at their near best and yes, that’s the way, we like it!
Rating : 78/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
