ANNIHILATOR - "FOR THE DEMENTED" (2017)

ANNIHILATOR - "FOR THE DEMENTED"
(Running time: 48:16 minutes; 10 songs)
("Silver Lining Music" & "Neverland Music"; 2017; CD):

Hey my dear readers, yes, it's me and I'm back @ work again, yes, and I hope you all had a great christmas time and also that you started good into the last few days of 2017, okay, and so now here I am again delivering you my newest post and this means (again) my newest record-review for you and this time we're right back in the Metal department with this record-review being on the new ANNIHILATOR full-length-album "FOR THE DEMENTED" released pretty recently this very year of 2017 via "NEVERLAND MUSIC" and "SILVER LINING MUSIC" (that guys that also released pretty recently the stunning new MORBID ANGEL full-length-album titled "KINGDOMS DISDAINED"), yes, and so now straight and direct and right into the action: ANNIHILATOR were one of the first 'more extreme' Metal bands that I had/have ever discovered back then and this was via their absolutely groundbreaking masterpiece "NEVER, NEVERLAND" a long time ago back in 1991 when I first listened to it when being ten years young and since then ANNIHILATOR always were and still are one of the most important bands to/for me and also one of the best out there, no matter what music-genre, period. And ANNIHILATOR also always were one of the Metal bands that I have ever and always listened to even in times when I haven't listened to Metal that much at all, to say it that way. Hm, and so I think it's really about time that finally a post features them up here, yes, really about time, definitely, and so here it finally is. "FOR THE DEMENTED" is the second brandnew ANNIHILATOR album since Jeff Waters himself overtook the vocal duties again, yes, the second after ANNIHILATOR's 2015 output "SUICIDE SOCIETY" (maybe I will do a record-review on it as well some day in the future); and the compilation-album "TRIPLE THREAT" from some time of the late end of 2016 to the early beginning of 2017 we won't count here as a proper new album for/due to obvious 'compilation-reasons'. "SUICIDE SOCIETY" was and is an album that I very much liked and that I still like very much even it sort of missed some punch in the long(er) run of now already two years since it was released but it's still a damn good one and so I was pretty curious when I noticed that "FOR THE DEMENTED" was released not that long ago and it didn't take me long to grab a copy of it - and it pretty much instantly started to conquer me. First of all I have to say that I am a big fan of Jeff Waters as a singer/vocalist and the two 1990's album "KING OF THE KILL" and "REFRESH THE DEMON" on which he took over lead vocal duties for the first time are way up high in my all time favorite list and when we talk solely about ANNIHILATOR full-length-albums they hold the third ("KING OF THE KILL") and the fourth ("REFRESH THE DEMON") rank and stand their ground in my personal ANNIHILATOR top five list up to this day only beaten by "SET THE WORLD ON FIRE" (second rank) and "NEVER, NEVERLAND" (first rank) and even before "CARNIVAL DIABLOS" (fifth rank), yes, so you see, yes, I am a big fan of Jeff Waters singing - and so I am still or again today with "SUICIDE SOCIETY" (2015) and even more with "FOR THE DEMENTED" (2017). I simply like his style of singing and his pretty unique and very charismatic voice, rough and tough and still very melodical and offering a great hymnal and catchy potential pretty much all the time. Yes, it's pure gold in my book respectively my ears, yes, and so also one more time again here on and with ANNIHILATOR's "FOR THE DEMENTED". Beside this, yes, ANNIHILATOR's musick always was highly to highest skilled and very, very unique, pretty much in all ways, Thrash Metal somewhere between harsh shredding and highly energetic'n'dynamic full force all time yet all the time phenomenally melodic, catchy, filled with hymnal hooks, and incredible vayring and diverse and really multi-layered and also filled with big emotions, yes, and so really full of treasures and gems only waiting to be discovered by us - and so it's still today and with "FOR THE DEMENTED" even again quite a bit more than before. Hm, and if the world would be an anyhow 'just-place' then ANNIHILATOR would be at least so big like MEGADETH or SLAYER, period. Anyhow... so yes, one of the biggest and to be honest (and for all the right reasons) not only one but the biggest trademark of ANNIHILATOR had always been, still is and probably as well as hopefully will always be Jeff Waters' absolutely unique and outstanding larger-than-life guitar playing with its very own unique and characteristic tone and approach and so it is also today and no matter if we look at the mindblowing riffing and the highly dynamic and diverse rhythm work or (and maybe even especially) the everything outshining leads and solos, yes, it's just absolutely amazing and sort of 'being on a level of its very own' and this all the time; and it's marking the songs massively - and this for all the damn right reasons. Then there's still the amazing tight and precise and well-versed and also nicely diverse rhythm section that's backing it all up with stunning and massive amounts of energy, yes, and this 'for all good'. The songwirting, that's highly diverse and very dynamic and full of energy and strongly varying while all flowing and melting nearly perfectly together as one in the end, is then cultivating and enriching it all and is full of/with exciting and grapping moments and elements and also still today again and again offering great fresh ideas like the through and through modern Hard Rock tune "THE WAY" or the soul- and playful 'funky' parts of "NOT ALL THERE" to name just a few examples here and now for you. ANNIHILATOR is still today with "FOR THE DEMENTED" all about highly skilled and unique multi-layered Thrash Metal with huge doses of Speed Metal in it and that's embracing a lot of traditional to modern Power Metal impressions with open arms while still standing proud to its hymnal and anthemic Heavy Metal roots and this on a very high level of quality; and this will hopefully never change as long as ANNIHILATOR will be around. My personal highlights are "ONE TO KILL", "FOR THE DEMENTED", "PIECES OF YOU", "THE DEMON YOU KNOW", "THE WAY", and "NOT ALL THERE", yes, so if you need maybe some starting points for your discovery of ANNIHILATOR's "FOR THE DEMENTED" then why not start with this monsters... and great 'psycho' lyrics, interesting liner notes to each song, a beautiful artwork, and a heavy slashing production sound we finally get on top of it all. My final words for you: Get it, now!!!

(9 of 10 points)

https://www.annihilatormetal.com/ (- the link to the homepage of the band)

ANNIHILATOR - "ONE TO KILL" (2017, "FOR THE DEMENTED")