Annihilator

Oh, Jeff Waters, how we always have high hopes for you. You are one of the masters of Canuck thrash, and a guitar wiz to boot. But, man, you’ve made some mistakes. We’ll always stand by you though, don’t sweat it. I like that you named this album Metal (why not?) but was a bit weary of the concept: a different guest on each song? Well, you’ve been at this long enough, you can do what you want. You have some impressive names on here, too: Michael Amott, Jesper Stromblad, Willie Adler, heck, even fellow Canuck thrasher Lips shows up. This disc proves you’ve still got the chops — "Clown Parade” was a great way to start things off. But every song could be two minutes shorter, the production sounds flat and at times, it’s just a bit too cheesy. "Couple Suicide” is actually a really cool song, but does it belong on an Annihilator record? Anyway, Jeff, no worries. You’ve more than earned your keep in these parts. Not everything works all the time. Just make sure the next one really kicks ass.