Annihilator ‘Ballistic, Sadistic’
Album Review By Adam McCann
Silver Lining Music/Thrash Metal
In a game of longevity and permanence, it is difficult to keep a consistent output and few bands fail to live up to this expectation; but for all their instability and issues, Annihilator have been relatively lucky when it comes to this aspect with guitarist and founding member Jeff Waters guiding the Canadian band through some exceptionally stormy waters. More recently, thrash bands such as Overkill and Death Angel have delivered some of the best work of their career and Annihilator are no exception to this rule with the band delivering their 17th studio album ‘Ballistic, Sadistic’.
Once again, ‘Ballistic…’ is the perfect example of Annihilator delivering a top notch thrash metal album and this is partly down to two points; the first is the reinvigoration of Waters, since 2013’s ‘Feast’, the Canadian ringleader has been firing on all cylinders and this is boosted secondly by Annihilator having a stable line-up. With this, Annihilator are having fun, there is a chemistry here and this shows with ‘Ballistic…’. Tracks such as ‘Psycho Ward’, ‘The Attitude’ and ‘Lip Service’ blast forward with all the gusto and driving power that has come to be expected of Annihilator and in many ways is the perfect follow up to ‘For The Demented’. However, unlike the previous album which explored some of the melodic aspects of the band, ‘Ballistic…’ puts the foot on the gas and steams off at full throttle.
‘Ballistic… is an exceptionally fun, it is memorable and easy to enjoy, in fact, it is difficult to not sing along to the songs even on first listen. What this means is that Annihilator have done it again, they have delivered a superb album that leaves little doubt that ‘Ballistic…’ will be riding high at the end of the year.
Rating : 90/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
