Annihilator

Onward – Of Epoch and Inferno Review

Onward – Of Epoch and Inferno Review

By Steel Druhm on October 28, 2022 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 27 comments

“Way back in 2001 a very interesting but under-noticed album was released by the Montana-based act Onward. Evermoving was their debut and it was a highly polished platter of classic American power and traditional metal borrowing heavily from the likes of Mercyful Fate, Iron Maiden and Sanctuary/ Nevermore. It was a rousing, blood-pumping ride filled to the brim with stunning, neo-classical guitar work by Toby Knapp. The songs were hyper-hooky with playing that was off-the-hook impressive. Evermoving became a much-beloved album and their 2002 followup Reawaken was nearly as good. Then they took a lengthy layoff.” Onward and…upward?

Archangel A.D. – Casus Belli Review

Archangel A.D. – Casus Belli Review

By GardensTale on July 26, 2021 in Reviews, Thrash Metal, 14 comments

“Archangel A.D. play thrash about as retro as it gets. But even retro thrash has its particular flavors, in this case an even split mixture between Metallica and Annihilator. Aside from the opener, which might as well have been called “King of Spades” for as close as it hews to Motörhead’s classic. Nevertheless, there’s a more than satisfying amount of hooky riffs on Casus Belli, as well as a surprising amount of variety.” Belli of the beast.

Them – Return to Hemmersmoor [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]

Them – Return to Hemmersmoor [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]

By Dr. A.N. Grier on December 18, 2020 in Things You Might Have Missed 2020, Heavy Metal, 24 comments

“I can’t believe we never received the promo for Them’s Return to Hemmersmoor. I mean, seriously, I’m their biggest fan! Even when their first album fell into the hands of an anti-Diamonder, I still hailed the shit out of it. This October, I even asked my kids if they wanted to watch Tim Burton’s Sweet Hollow. That’s how much the band is on my mind.” Themsmoor.

Wreck-Defy – Powers That Be Review

Wreck-Defy – Powers That Be Review

By Steel Druhm on October 13, 2020 in Reviews, Thrash Metal, 41 comments

“Sometimes quality material can slip through the cracks in a busy month and fall into oblivion. Wreck-Defy’s third album Powers That Be almost suffered that ignoble fate. This Canadian super group has flown under my radar up to now despite featuring Greg Christian (ex-Testament), Aaron Randall (ex-Annihilator) and Alex Marquez (ex-Malevolent Creation) in its ranks. Having overlooked the promo entirely, I only circled back to it because I had some extra time on my hands and decided to cram in another review. Lucky I was too, as Powers is one of the most entertaining thrash albums I’ve heard this year.” Wrecking crew.

Killitorous – The Afterparty Review

Killitorous – The Afterparty Review

By Kenstrosity on May 20, 2020 in Reviews, Technical Death Metal, 33 comments

“Yep. That’s a band name. Killitorous. Say it a couple times and soon you’ll see what they did there. Tasteful, right? I’ll be honest, it took me way too long to find it (ayyyy), but by that point I was already four listens into the Canadian supergroup’s sophomore record The Afterparty and was having too much fun to care about the silly double-entendre anymore. After all, we did give high marks to bands with such respectable names as Fvneral Fvkk and Shitfucker, right? So who am I to judge?” Tech-deathicus for the rest of us.

Malokarpatan – Krupinské ohne Review

Malokarpatan – Krupinské ohne Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on March 25, 2020 in 2020, Black Metal, Folk Metal, Heavy Metal, Invictus Productions, Reviews, Slovak Metal, Black Metal, Folk Metal, Heavy Metal, 40 comments

“No matter who you are or where you live, everyone is being asked to stay home from a job that they may not get to come back to. Or… living it up with their family in a mansion whose walls sport the fashionable 2020 Vintage Toilet Tissue Wallpaper. Then there’re others of us that push on like nothing is happening. Regardless of your dilemma, this shit has come out of nowhere and I-just-went-in-for-eggs-and-left-after-four-hours-because-only-ten-people-were-allowed-into-the-store-at-one-time is a thing. Everyone’s upset and no one knows what’s gonna happen next. Funny enough, that’s the perfect attitude to have for Malokarpatan’s newest masterpiece, Krupinské ohne.”

Serious Black – Suite 226 Review

Serious Black – Suite 226 Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on February 8, 2020 in 2020, AFM Records, International Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Power Metal, 25 comments

“It’s no secret that Serious Black has fallen out of favor with me since 2016’s Mirrorworld. I mean, how do you fuck up a recipe as simple as As Daylight Breaks? Furthermore, how do you go from a Grier top-ten pick to a disappointment of the year? Well, it happened. Which found me almost missing out on 2017’s Magic and completely missing out on that same year’s acoustic release, First Light. And, when this year’s anticipated new record landed, I almost missed out again. For better or worse, Suite 226 is here with another concept story. This time a deranged lunatic rather than a top-hot magician. All I can say is buckle-up, kiddos. If I have to be here, then so do you.” Why so Serious?

Annihilator – Ballistic, Sadistic Review

Annihilator – Ballistic, Sadistic Review

By Steel Druhm on January 21, 2020 in 2020, Canadian Metal, Reviews, Silver Lining Music, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 51 comments

“Annihilator is one of those eternal, inevitable metal acts, and just like country-mates Anvil, they’ll likely be releasing albums 20 years after the end of all life on Earth. I’ve reviewed a ton of their albums for AMG and I’m well past the point where I feel the need to sing the usual song about them never having lived up to the enormous promise shown on their first 2 releases. At this stage of their career they’re playing something like a hybrid of thrash and traditional metal and they’ve been doing it more or less the same way for decades. You know what you’re going to get and you either like it or you don’t.” Sadism in effect.