{"id":14466,"date":"2013-08-27T00:00:12","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T00:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=14466"},"modified":"2014-03-14T00:04:43","modified_gmt":"2014-03-14T00:04:43","slug":"feature-annihilator-08-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-annihilator-08-13\/","title":{"rendered":"ANNIHILATOR – No Surrender (August 2013) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANNIHILATOR – No Surrender<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nAugust 2013<\/span><\/p>\n

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August 2013 studio full-length Feast<\/em><\/a> \u2013 the 14th overall from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada-based thrash metal outfit Annihilator \u2013 was preceded by May 2010 outing Annihilator<\/em>, that album\u2019s respective predecessor (Metal<\/em>) also having arrived three years prior in April 2007. Annihilator\u2019s 14 studio affairs were released during a 24-year span (1989-2013), which is arguably a prolific haul.<\/p>\n

\u201cWriting Feast<\/em> was pretty much the same as we\u2019ve always done,\u201d observes Jeff Waters, guitarist and founder of Annihilator. \u201cThe only difference is we had a lot more time. This was like three years between records for us. I did a lot of festivals and special touring, like the 70,000 Tons Of Metal Cruise and different fun things. We just took our time. We were going through a bit of label issues in Europe, and that took some time to resolve. We kind of took advantage of that extra time to take not only personal time off, but to slowly write the record instead of \u2018Hey, here\u2019s your schedule. You have to write the album in five months, and have it finished and delivered.\u2019 That\u2019s what I was used to for all of these years, but this time was alright. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo anyway, the actual putting together was the same as always. I just write guitar riffs in my studio to a cool drum beat \u2013 just riffs, and no songs or ideas for songs. I do it part time; I go down to the studio for two to three hours, once a week. I was going down just purely to have fun and jam riffs. At the end of a couple of years when it is time to write a record \u2013 a year and a half later or whatever \u2013 I come back to my studio. I have all of these riffs, a couple of hundred, and I invite a few friends over to tell me what they honestly think of each riff. They would simply go \u2018No, delete,\u2019 or \u2018That\u2019s okay,\u2019 or \u2018Yes, that\u2019s really good.\u2019 I put them in folders. I delete the shitty ones, and then I do it again a few months later and weed out the weaker ones. At the end I\u2019m then stuck with 50-60 guitar riffs, and that\u2019s it. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou just start working based on the fact that you know you\u2019ve got some really cool guitar riffs. It doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that your songs are gonna be good, but it means that you\u2019ve got a cool guitar riff in there. You then just build the song around that, and when that music part\u2019s done and demoed, you start thinking of lyrics and what the song feels like, and you write lyrics over it. It\u2019s not the way everybody does it, but it seems to work for me and hopefully gives me a little bit of energy in the guitar playing, and the end result for the listener.\u201d<\/p>\n

Authored riffs which have yet to surface as fully realised Annihilator compositions aren\u2019t scrapped wholesale. \u201cSome of the riffs I think are good,\u201d the axeman submits. \u201cI also have a folder on my studio computer of the riffs that didn\u2019t make it on the record, but I still think are good. Yeah, some of those end up not seeming to fit on any of the things that we\u2019re doing. Every time I do a record, I\u2019ve still got that folder. I\u2019ve got riffs in there from 15 years ago that haven\u2019t been used, but somehow I still keep calling them good riffs (laughs). Maybe eventually they\u2019ll make it somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

These aforementioned riffs will not form the basis of a solo project. \u201cI think if I was gonna do a solo thing, then I probably would\u2019ve done it a long time ago,\u201d Jeff ponders. \u201cAnnihilator really keeps me busy, simply because I do most of the things in the band. I basically manage, and book with an agency. When we\u2019re doing the records, I\u2019m writing all of the music, writing most of the lyrics and melodies, and producing, mixing, engineering, and mastering the album, so that\u2019s a lot. I spend a lot of time doing all of these crazy jobs, from booking flights to getting a hold of tax papers from different governments. When you play shows, sometimes the countries have laws where they keep taxes until you fill out proper documents and take them to your tax department, get them stamped, and send them back. There are all of these crazy, crazy jobs involved that have nothing to do with you playing your music, or writing your music. It keeps you as busy as hell.\u201d<\/p>\n

To maintain a proficient standard of ability, the mainman practices prior to scheduled live performances and guitar clinics. \u201cIt\u2019s all muscle,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt\u2019s all rebuilding muscle, so usually I figure it takes me two weeks to get playable and three to four weeks to start going \u2018Hey, I\u2019m really playing pretty good now.\u2019 I usually give myself two weeks before guitar clinics or rehearsing, to start thinking about touching the guitar. By the time we finish rehearsals, I\u2019m usually ready to go. There\u2019s the point too that if you do too much practising and you do it for so many years \u2013 all the shows, and all that kind of stuff \u2013 you may be practising and building muscle, but you\u2019re also wearing your bone down in your finger in your hand where you pick the guitar. You\u2019re wearing your system down, your bones down. It\u2019s actually better to not play as much, and just to warm up properly before you play.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Annihilator (l-r): Dave Padden, Jeff Waters, Alberto Campuzano and Mike
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Jeff\u2019s warning is rooted in the benefit of experience. \u201cI already have that in my right thumb area and wrist,\u201d he informs. \u201cMy problem is if I was just playing guitar, then I wouldn\u2019t have this problem. I also work in the studio and record my records and other things, and I also take care of the business stuff. All that involves your right hand being on a computer mouse for incredible amounts of time, and that combined with the guitar playing is deadly for a guitar player. Unfortunately, when I chose to manage and take of a lot of the business myself, that\u2019s the price you pay. I enjoy not touching the guitar to save my arm (laughs). I\u2019m not at all anywhere near a point where it affects my playing, but it could. If I wanted to, I could probably ruin in my hand in probably two weeks \u2013 if I really wanted to (laughs). I\u2019ve got it under control though, so it\u2019s not a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

The composer\u2019s ailments have proven to be an issue during certain past live situations. \u201cOn some tours, yes there have been issues,\u201d he concedes. \u201cThat\u2019s usually been directly related to how much computer time I\u2019ve spent in the studio or in the office. I really try my best to use the breaks when I can. Actually in the last couple of years, when I\u2019m in the studio recording I take a lot more breaks away from right-hand mouse computing. Not lately, but in the last few years I\u2019ve put a basketball net outside my driveway. I haven\u2019t done that in 2013, but I\u2019ve gone outside and taken breaks every 45 minutes. I\u2019ve gone outside and played basketball, because it loosens your wrists and your hands up, and your neck.\u201d<\/p>\n

May 2010 platter Annihilator<\/em> was the ensemble\u2019s lone Earache Records effort, Earache being the European label Jeff cited issues with. \u201cThere were basically just disagreements on a few things \u2013 just basically contractual, legal things,\u201d he divulges. \u201cThings that were in the contract that were… Yeah, that\u2019s about all I can say about that one. More legal things, just disagreements on what it says in there. We basically all decided that we were not gonna work together any more, and that took a while to resolve. It took a couple of years to sort that out, but we\u2019ve moved on. That\u2019s about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The axe-slinger\u2019s comments suggest he feels that Earache didn\u2019t honour contractual obligations. \u201cHmm, good question,\u201d he commends. \u201cNo comment (laughs). That\u2019s it for that one.\u201d<\/p>\n

To oversee the release of August 2013\u2019s Feast<\/em>, Annihilator inked a record contract with UDR Music. \u201cWe\u2019ve just been talking to a bunch of labels since I guess December 2012 or whatever, and had some well-known companies talking with us,\u201d Jeff discloses. \u201cWe talked with Napalm, and we talked about a deal with Nuclear Blast as well. Century Media we spoke to at some point. It wasn\u2019t totally serious. With a couple of the companies that I mentioned, we actually went through the first contract phase where they actually send you a contract. Then we made notes, spoke to them about it, and politely argued a little bit about the terms, and tried to negotiate and all that. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt just seemed like the people at UDR, a lot of them come from the old SPV label background. I already knew them, and they seem like really nice and honest people. They know what they\u2019re doing. They\u2019re just nice people, so I figured I could put a bit more trust in this. Plus, they know what they\u2019re doing, so that really helps out. I decided to go with them. UDR are a new label, but also know what they\u2019re doing. UDR seemed to get it, and didn\u2019t really want to play any games. They just wanted to be honest, and tell us what they thought. I figured I would give them a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Annihilator\u2019s pact with UDR is a global agreement. \u201cI think this was finally the first deal that I\u2019ve done worldwide in a long, long time,\u201d the guitarist notes. \u201cSince 1994 I\u2019ve been just separating them, and doing a deal for Europe, doing a deal for Japan, doing one for Australia, doing one for… Just separating the business, and doing one thing in each territory. We\u2019ll see what happens with UDR.\u201d<\/p>\n

13th studio full-length Annihilator<\/em> underwent solely digital issue in North America, a situation UDR might rectify. \u201cI think the UDR label might pick that up there eventually in the next little while,\u201d Jeff acknowledges. \u201cAt least this one gets in there \u2013 that\u2019ll be a good start. I think they have at least a few albums from our catalogue that will be re-released, like All For You<\/em> (October 2004), Schizo Deluxe<\/em> (November 2005), Double Live Annihilation<\/em> (March 2003). There are some other titles as well. We\u2019ll see if we can get the self-titled record out sometime.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Compared to its predecessor, the Annihilator founder reckons Feast<\/em> has \u201ca bit more diversity. I\u2019ve even stepped up the guitar playing as far as ability. I\u2019ve stepped it up even further, because I keep pushing myself to do it for some strange reason. I don\u2019t know why, but I just really pushed myself on the guitar this time. What else? Again, it\u2019s got a bit of diversity. It\u2019s got a little funky stuff in some of the stuff, it\u2019s got a ballad, it\u2019s got some anger, and it\u2019s got some thrash metal or whatever. It seems to have a lot of little, neat, catchy hooks, even though the music is kind of heavy. I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s hard to really describe it. An Annihilator record is either gonna be a better one than last time, similar, or not as good. It\u2019s almost like you\u2019ve just gotta form your own opinion. You just let the album go, and let the label, the press, and the fans do what they like or don\u2019t like. We\u2019re kind of excited about this one, though. We\u2019ve got a good feeling here, but we\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

That description \u2013 \u201ca bit more diversity\u201d \u2013 perhaps fails to extend towards Jeff\u2019s guitar work, however. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t so much the guitar work,\u201d he corrects. \u201cThe guitar work is fast and a little bit difficult in the picking hand for sure, but really, there\u2019s more of a drum groove. Even though there are thrash parts and fast stuff, there\u2019s more of a bass and drum vibe to this record than simply playing fast with double bass, and stopping and starting. This one has a little more drumming in it, if that makes any sense. Not from a guitar player\u2019s perspective, but from a drummer\u2019s perspective. I think the songs are a little more diverse than the last one, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feast<\/em> was cut at the axeman\u2019s home studio, where all Annihilator studio full-lengths have been recorded since October 1994\u2019s King Of The Kill<\/em>. Relatively little new studio equipment was purchased between records 13 and 14. \u201cNone at all, except the EVH 5153 amplifiers,\u201d he shares. \u201cThat\u2019s the only difference. Oh yeah, and drum software too. We used fix-ups and replaced some sounds to make things sound better. With the drums we used a program by Toontrack called The Metal Foundry, and I also use that for writing. It\u2019s like a drum software program too where you can create your own beats, so I use that to jam on my riffs. Other than that though and the Eddie Van Halens amps, I used the same things. I have a new signature overdrive guitar pedal that I used as well, but other than that, there were no equipment changes. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll change anything up for a while, unless I\u2019m being brave of course.\u201d <\/p>\n

Several guitars were used during recording. \u201cOn one or two songs, there\u2019s a little bit of classical guitar,\u201d Jeff specifies. \u201cIn the background on a few songs, there\u2019s the guitar I used to record the very first Annihilator song on the Alice In Hell<\/em> record (September 1989), called \u2018Crystal Ann\u2019. I used a really cool Epiphone, country kind of acoustic guitar. I used my Epiphone Annihilation V, and for some solos I used a couple of Van Halen replica guitars, and a Fender Stratocaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feast<\/em>\u2019s solitary ballad surfaces in the shape of \u2018Perfect Angel Eyes\u2019. \u201cA lot of fans have been screaming \u2018Why have you left the ballads and the melodic instrumental things off your records for the last half a decade?,\u2019 or whatever it is,\u201d the mainman reasons. \u201cI was like \u2018Okay, I\u2019ll put some of those on,\u2019 because I like writing those kinds of songs. \u2018Perfect Angel Eyes\u2019 is a lovely song, and is the sixth track on the record. It\u2019s a real love song kind of ballad, a lovey-dovey song for my fianc\u00e9e \u2013 we\u2019ve been engaged for about six months. It\u2019s a little melodic kind of song \u2013 it\u2019s very melodic. I think it\u2019s kind of different than our other ballads.\u201d <\/p>\n

Aggression lyrically unites many of Feast<\/em>\u2019s compositions. \u201cNot necessarily in the singing, but definitely in the lyrics,\u201d Jeff critiques. \u201cThere are a few angry songs on this one I think, a lot of \u2018F.U.\u2019 songs on there. Sometimes I\u2019m pissed off at something, like a label, a friend, or if something goes wrong. I could be angry at something \u2013 anything. It\u2019s great. You can write a song about it, but you don\u2019t have to specifically talk about the person. You can turn it into something a little different, or more general. I did that on a few songs. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe second song on there is called \u2018No Way Out\u2019. I think that\u2019s my favourite song on the record, and the idea for that one was spawned from a trial that\u2019s going on in the United States right now \u2013 about a girl that murdered her ex-boyfriend. It\u2019s been one of those sensationalised, on TV all of the time trials. We got totally hooked on that trial. We were watching it on TV, and I was always telling her \u2018I would like to write a song about this. It\u2019s pissing me off. I\u2019m angry at this girl, and the whole thing. I want to write a song.\u2019 It was like \u2018No. You don\u2019t wanna go there,\u2019 but then I finally said \u2018Screw it.\u2019 I wrote a song about it. I don\u2019t care (laughs). <\/p>\n

\u201cWe played that live on our South American tour, just to try it out live. I think it\u2019s definitely my favourite song on the album so far. It\u2019s got a funky little… Okay, this is not comparable in any way and it does not sound like it, but you know \u2018Toxic Waltz\u2019 by Exodus (from January 1989\u2019s Fabulous Disaster<\/em>)? It\u2019s got some real kind of groove to it, and Testament sometimes come up with that kind of rhythm and bass kind of groove. This song is nothing like those, but it reminds me of that kind of groove where you\u2019re really not headbanging, but sort of bobbing your head up and down the whole way through the song. I don\u2019t know. There\u2019s just something about that song that makes it one of my favourites.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Weighed against its earlier counterparts, Annihilator\u2019s latter day material treads differing ground, the lyricist argues. \u201cI think we\u2019ve gone a little bit in our own direction after the last couple of records,\u201d he judges. \u201cWe started veering off, and not repeating a lot of the things that we had been repeating. I think subconsciously, I had been repeating some of the older riffs. Now, I think we\u2019ve moved away from being too influenced by the past stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Annihilator\u2019s musical influences remain the same, however. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s really…,\u201d Jeff muses. \u201cThere have been little things that I\u2019ve heard through people around me playing things or playing me something, or hearing something on YouTube or whatever. A few little things might creep in here and there, but generally, no. I reached a peak level of practising the guitar around 1990, and that\u2019s when I stopped practising and trying to learn new things, and improve things and all that. I had so much practising and so much knowledge that I learned so quickly that I just said \u2018Okay, that\u2019s enough. Now I can write songs, and now I can play good enough to do what I need to do.\u2019 I\u2019d rather do something else with my band like playing, or do something in my personal life, than just sit in my room eight hours a day getting better, better, and better technically on the guitar. I listened to so many bands in the past that they\u2019re still stuck in my brain. That influence will come out until the day I die.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I told you, I do all of this work with Annihilator outside of just playing and writing the music. It takes up a lot of my time. I go to quite a few concerts. We do a lot of shows, and I spend time in the studio with other bands, mixing and mastering and things like that. I just don\u2019t want music playing when I\u2019ve got a break. I actually have complete quiet or watch TV or a movie, so it isn\u2019t like the old days where I just blasted metal 24 hours a day. It\u2019s more like that my life is metal, so when I get a break from it I usually want silence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music outside of the heavy metal frame framework audibly surface in Annihilator\u2019s compositions. \u201cYou can always hear those clips,\u201d the axe-slinger accepts. \u201cYou know when you hear an Annihilator riff that there\u2019s some in the thrashy, Slayer<\/a>\u2019y wannabe kind of vein, and then you know when there\u2019s a funky, little jazzy part or a blues part that came from something else outside of metal. The ballad stuff, even that. There might be traces of classical or something in there, but if you look back at the history of metal… Even around the 80s or whatever, Iron Maiden did ballads, Judas Priest did ballads, Ozzy Osbourne with Randy Rhoads did ballads, and with Zakk Wylde Ozzy did ballads. Even \u2018Cemetery Gates\u2019 or whatever by Pantera (from July 1990\u2019s Cowboys From Hell<\/em>). That\u2019s the beauty of heavy metal, that heavy metal is influenced by everything from classical to pop to punk to jazz to speed. It\u2019s all in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

A musical influence on Annihilator, Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman succumbed to alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver on May 2nd, 2013 at the age of 49. \u201cI met him, but I never knew him,\u201d the other Jeff remembers. \u201cI met him a few times at concerts and stuff, but I never had any discussions with him. I\u2019ve had more discussions with Kerry King. When Jeff passed it\u2019s hard to explain, because I didn\u2019t know him personally. I was just grieving from the perspective of his family, his band members, and his management, that people close to him must\u2019ve been really hurting. I was sad for them, but for me it was sad in the sense that I realised really quickly how big of an influence he specifically had \u2013 and Kerry King of course. He had an influence on me as a teenager listening to the Haunting The Chapel<\/em> EP (June 1984). \u2018Chemical Warfare\u2019, \u2018Chapter Of Sin\u2019, and all of these great, great early Slayer songs, and then onto of course all of the other great albums like Reign In Blood<\/em> (October 1986) and everything. Yeah though, he was a huge part of the whole metal and thrash \/ punk movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

One arguably becomes more acutely aware of one\u2019s own mortality when such fatalities occur. \u201cEvery time you read something on news sites about somebody passing away or somebody getting cancer of course you think about it, but you can\u2019t dwell on that,\u201d the guitarist cautions. \u201cAny of us can go at any time for any reason. Be careful with what you\u2019re doing. If you can avoid physical, dangerous situations then great, but other than that, you just can\u2019t think about things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Harshaw stepped behind the drumkit during Feast<\/em>\u2019s recording sessions. \u201cWhat he did is he came to my studio and played on electronic drumpads, those kind of fake drumkits that are more electronic pads so you don\u2019t make too much noise,\u201d Jeff chuckles. \u201cA lot of bands do that, and then you play along to the finished guitar and bass tracks. We then used that Toontracks \/ Metal Foundry program to put the really good sounds in, and fix a few things up. He just basically tried to tighten up what the drum was playing, and make it sound tighter. The thing about that is it\u2019s very tempting to make it perfect, but that\u2019s when it sounds like a robot machine.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mike wasn\u2019t wholly responsible for the record\u2019s drum groove, though. \u201cI\u2019d say I came up with about 80% of that, and then Mike sort of really added in some really cool stuff that a guitar player like me couldn\u2019t add, stuff that only a drum player could add,\u201d the founder relates. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of what I was missing for a little while, since I had Mike Mangini in the band.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feast<\/em> marks the fourth studio full-length opus to be recorded with vocalist Dave Padden. \u201cIt\u2019s been ten years now, so that\u2019s really cool,\u201d Jeff enthuses. \u201cHe\u2019s more of a partner. He\u2019s involved in a lot of the decisions about the records, about where we\u2019re going with certain songs. Not musically, but with lyrics, melodies, and things like that. He\u2019s actually somebody who\u2019s really good now for me to bounce ideas off of and get opinions from, and he\u2019s a good lyric writer. Especially on the road, too. It\u2019s kind of neat, because for a few years now he actually takes over a lot of the little things on his own. He\u2019ll take over, and explain to the musicians about certain things \u2013 new countries and rules, respect and etiquette, and the soundcheck, and how things work. All these little things that you do when you\u2019re touring. He sort of takes over and teaches those guys now, so that\u2019s kind of a load off of my back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although his Annihilator tenure spans across a decade at the time of writing, Dave Padden\u2019s Annihilator status isn\u2019t equal to the axeman\u2019s. \u201cWell, no never, but very close,\u201d he muses. \u201cYou\u2019ve always gotta give him his opinion and really consider it, because often he\u2019s right. He\u2019s also someone who listens to a lot of music all of the time. He\u2019s always got his headphones on; he\u2019s always listening to all of the old and new metal stuff. He\u2019s got some good opinions, that\u2019s for sure. Of course when you get people who know what they\u2019re doing, you need to get their opinions, otherwise you would definitely not go anywhere eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Annihilator lends itself to the impression that it is actually a solo entity, as opposed to a group endeavour. \u201cI think up to around 2005, it was,\u201d Jeff confesses. \u201cI think that\u2019s when Dave sort of stepped in, and for some reason I naturally started calling him or emailing him, asking questions about what he thinks. That was the first step, and it just evolved into where it feels like it\u2019s his band too in a way. I mean, come on. I write all of the music, and I don\u2019t need him to write lyrics. I could just write them all by myself, and produce, mix, master, and engineer the record, and do the stuff. Clearly it\u2019s still my baby and I could just do the whole bloody thing myself, but he\u2019s such an important part of the band right now to me, and now finally to a lot of fans. It\u2019s just more of a partnership in the way we tour, and in the way we rock.\u201d<\/p>\n

The names Jeff Waters and Annihilator are synonymous, much in the same way the pairing of Dave Mustaine and Megadeth<\/a> are. \u201cYeah, pretty much,\u201d the mainman admits. \u201cI guess that I let him in a lot more than maybe Dave Mustaine lets other guys in, though. But remember, I was the same… Hey, there is a similarity though with Dave and I. Dave and I think the same way; it\u2019s our baby, it\u2019s our band, and we hire the other people. The only small difference is that Dave Padden has just sort of crept into this position of being more of a partner now, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dave Padden\u2019s studio output count as Annihilator\u2019s frontman surpasses the respective output count from past vocalists where microphone duties are concerned. Prior to Dave\u2019s addition to the ranks, the identity of Annihilator\u2019s vocalist changed on a seemingly frequent basis. \u201cSince it was never really a full band \u2013 an equal band kind of thing \u2013 I ended up looking for…,\u201d Jeff elaborates. \u201cThe first singer, for example. Randy Rampage, to be specific. He was perfect for the band and just perfect for Alice In Hell<\/em>, but he actually quit the band because he had a job back in Vancouver. We were on a tour with Testament in 1989, but near the end of the tour, Randy Rampage said that he was leaving the tour because he was gonna lose his job back in Vancouver. We tried, and Roadrunner tried, and managers tried to keep him. We tried to basically pay him more money to do whatever we had to do to keep him, but he left. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was stuck after a big album called Alice In Hell<\/em> trying to find a singer, so I got the second singer called Coburn Pharr. We did a bigger album called Never, Neverland<\/em> (September 1990), but then basically there was just too much partying going on. It was just craziness, and when you\u2019re doing a bunch of stuff that you shouldn\u2019t be doing, you kind of don\u2019t act reasonable. When you don\u2019t act reasonable you cause problems, and so he had to leave the band. We then got a third guy for the third record Set The World On Fire<\/em> (August 1993), but he went after that album. He went back home and started a family, because that\u2019s what he wanted to do. On the fourth one I sang, and I sang for two records after that. I couldn\u2019t fire myself for a while. It was just more bad luck, but at the same time it was good luck because those singers all were very, very important reasons why those first four Annihilator albums were very special.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2018Deadlock\u2019 inaugurates Feast<\/em>, meanwhile. \u201cIt\u2019s not like that\u2019s the best one \u2013 it just seems like that was the way to start it out,\u201d the songwriter contends. \u201cIt actually starts off not the way I would want it to, but it just fit. It was sort of like old Metallica, off of the Kill \u2019Em All<\/em><\/a> record (July 1983) or something. It\u2019s just the way it ended up on there, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feast<\/em>\u2019s album title was inspired by its eventual cover artwork. The artwork was designed by Hungarian artist Gyula Havancs\u00e1k, who has overseen artwork duties since October 2004\u2019s All For You<\/em>. \u201cThe cover was done, and it had the amazingly brand new, ground-breaking concept of zombies,\u201d Jeff jokes. \u201cWell, not really ground-breaking. I didn\u2019t initially want zombies on the cover of an Annihilator record, but at the same time, when I saw the artwork it was… And the model on the cover was made up with make-up, plus the artist did some things. When I first saw it, I was like \u2018Holy shit, that\u2019s a cool cover.\u2019 Zombies is not what I would have wanted, but at the same time this was too cool of a cover not to use, and we didn\u2019t have a title. I think the main shot is one of the main zombie girls biting into some flesh, or a heart, or doing something like that. I can\u2019t remember \u2013 a piece of meat, or whatever it was. I was just scrolling through a thesaurus or a dictionary though, looking for one word that could relate to that cover. I got to the word \u2018feast\u2019, and stopped. I looked at the cover, and looked back at the word. I went \u2018Okay, that\u2019s it right there\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Certain Annihilator fanatics might perceive the artwork\u2019s central subject to be a zombified version of Alison Hell. \u201cNot really, but there\u2019s a smaller, little zombie on the front right of the cover which is kind of a throwback to the last album \u2013 some crazy, psycho freaky ghost zombie on the front of the last album cover,\u201d the axe-slinger describes. \u201cThe main girl on the front of the Feast<\/em> cover is actually a model, again in make-up, and painted by the artist. I guess it can all kind of tie in in some way, though. When you look at it, you can go \u2018Oh, Okay. That must be Annihilator.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe artist originally came up with this kind of idea, and then we got the model to do the photoshoot. He then sent those photos to the artist, and he put his background in behind her picture. Then he messed around with his tools, and did some work on what she looked like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Entitled Re-Kill<\/em>, Feast<\/em>\u2019s bonus disc consists of 15 Annihilator re-recordings, the compositions selected from across the outfit\u2019s back catalogue. \u201cI had never liked the idea,\u201d Jeff tells. \u201cI was kind of shying away from the idea of ever re-recording one song, because those songs were in the past, done, and were good for what they were then. I just didn\u2019t want to touch those things, incase we screwed them up. You couldn\u2019t make them better than the originals, basically. Dave came up with the idea of maybe using that as a bonus disc, rather than a release on its own. Maybe just taking the songs that we were eventually probably gonna play live from the old stuff, and do them with him singing so people can hear that. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey can go to the show, and hear the same guy singing the same version. Also, a lot of the fans that we have now seem to be younger. A lot of people have been saying \u2018Hey, we can\u2019t find the six or seven albums in the middle of your career.\u2019 They\u2019re really hard to get, so we figured we would put a lot of songs from those albums on this bonus thing. You can pick up the disc, and also get 15 songs from the middle and early years of Annihilator. Older fans can get a kick out of hearing the new guy singing them in a different way. They\u2019ll like it or they won\u2019t like it, but still they\u2019ll be able to hear those songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feast<\/em> was released in Europe on August 23rd, 2013 and subsequently on the 27th in North America, all via UDR Music. <\/p>\n

Interview published in August 2013.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ANNIHILATOR – No Surrender Anthony Morgan August 2013 Jeff Waters August 2013 studio full-length Feast \u2013 the 14th overall from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada-based thrash metal outfit Annihilator \u2013 was preceded by May 2010 outing Annihilator, that album\u2019s respective predecessor (Metal) also having arrived three years prior in April 2007. Annihilator\u2019s 14 studio affairs were released […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[752],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annihilator"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14466"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14496,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14466\/revisions\/14496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}