Annihilator--All For You
AFM/The End 2004
With scene-centric posuerdom in music at an all-time high, inventiveness can prove a double edged sword for bands of today. Step outside the lines of what the crowd deems as acceptable and you risk losing any kind of widespread support. Still, there are a few outfits left with the balls to follow their own unique vision, the potential payoff being a work which stands the test of time, even if it doesn't exactly light up the charts. Such courage is displayed brilliantly by Annihilator on their latest release All For You. This music may prove confusing to those with sonic tunnel vision, but this isn't the first time these guys have had their stuff in that position.
Annihilator have always been a sort of anomaly in the world of thrash metal. Featuring a quirky edge and sense of literacy most of their peers could never approach, these guys have never been chunk and speed by numbers. Jeff Waters and crew also have a sense of melodicism to their music rooted deeply in the prog form. That aspect of the band's sound is more pronounced than ever on All For You, mutating here in ways you couldn't imagine. Add the group's penchant for all things experimental and you never know what you'll get from one moment to the next on this disc--except that it's going to be compelling and fantastically original.
Don't take any of this the wrong way--you will get pile upon pile of old school thrash metal riffage during All For You. That said, the less lypical a given section is for that particular base sound, the more it stands out. Harmony background vocals on the chorus of "Bled" recall King's X, their entrancing beauty followed up with an injection of death grunts. "Both Of Me" ups the ante, starting out a rage, morphing into lushly chorused clean guitars and a shockingly mainstream vocal line, before arriving at some truly bizarre avant heaviness that comes off as the metal equivalent to beat poetry. "The Nightmare Factory" continues along those same lines, a new wave feel coming through on the verses like a metal version of Real Life's new romantic classic "Send Me An Angel," giving way to pure metalcore on the choruses, and ending with a creepy lullabye outtro. For something a little more straightforward, look towards the shredding "Rage Absolute" as well as the closing "The Sound Of Horror," an instro seeming to take a measure of inspiration from "Coast To Coast" by the Scorpions. The most startling moments of All For You come on "The One" and "Holding On," though--both of these ballads are begging for slots on the mainstream pop charts/radio/MTV, reminiscent of Incubus and Hoobastank, respectively.
The fact Annihilator are able to push their sound into much cleaner and accessible territory without the whole of All For You losing sense of metal credibility is a major miracle. Yes, this is a challenging listen, but that's a good thing. The best case scenario for this one is Annihilator managing to bring in folks from many different genres to the fan fold, with everyone able to co-exist. It probably won't turn out that way but this album and these guys deserve it to.
Score this CD directly from THE END
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