Band:	Annihilator
Album:	Metal
Style:	Thrash metal
Release date:	April 16, 2007
A review by:	Jeff

01. Clown Parade [feat. Jeff Loomis]
02. Couple Suicide [feat. Danko Jones and Angela Gossow]
03. Army Of One [feat. Steve "Lips" Kudlow]
04. Downright Dominate [feat. Alexi Laiho]
05. Smothered [feat. Anders Björler]
06. Operation Annihilation [feat. Michael Amott]
07. Haunted [feat. Jesper Strömblad]
08. Kicked [feat. Corey Beaulieu]
09. Detonation [feat. Jacob Lynam]
10. Chasing The High [feat. William Adler]
11. Heavy Metal Maniac [Japanese bonus] [feat. Dan Beehler, Allan Johnson]

One day, Mr Jeff Waters, the amazing Canadian guitarist of Annihilator wanted to release an album which could become like a hymn to our favorite music, the Metal. He chose to call it "Metal" (easy isn't it) and invited a lot of guests, especially guitarists to play/sing something on the ten songs of the album. Jeff Loomis, Danko Jones and Angela Gossow (choruses), Steve "Lips" Kudlow, Alexi Laiho, Anders Björler, Michael Amott, Jesper Strömblad, Corey Beaulieu, Jacob Lynam and William Adler were the chosen ones and the album was created. "Metal" the new album of Annihilator will probably be a bit controversial and will never be a legend but all in all you can be sure that you'll pass a good moment while you'll be listening to it.

It's a really good idea to have a guest on each songs of the CD but the problem is that it can sound a bit "false" sometime too. I mean that it can be a bit like a copy paste when the musicians didn't really work together. If a song like "Army Of One" with its federator Metal chorus or "Downright Dominate" sounds like a real collaboration some other songs like "Clown Parade" (even with an incredible solo performed by Jeff Loomis) or Couple Suicide (especially with the choruses performed by Angela Gossow) are a bit more unnatural. It doesn't mean that there are bad songs, at the opposite, "Couple Suicide" which is more a Rock song than a Thrash Metal one is a however a real hit but yeah the vocals of Angela Gossow don't sound so natural. All in all, "Metal" is still a good album but like with the last two albums of Annihilator, Waters chose to do a "commercial" or "easy of access" Thrash that the old school Thrash fans will not find amazing. The riffs are great the solos are exceptional, the voice of Dave Padden is good but definitely not "thrashy" so even if it' s pleasant to listen to "Metal", that's a fact it's not a real album of Thrash Metal a la Kreator or Slayer.

Metal is well produced, Jeff Waters is near of the perfection here and his idea to add a guest on each track was a good idea but Metal is not perfect too and can sound a bit too easy if you see what I mean. The fans of the genius "Alice In Hell" will not have some good souvenirs with this new release but on the other hand and to be honest if it's not perfect it's still really nice to listen to this release. Personally I like a lot of the songs which are featured on the album and I don't see why I should be the only one who enjoys them.

Metal is not the album of the year. It's not a perfect and pure Thrash album too, but it's always cool to listen to it and definitely, Jeff Waters knows how to write some great killer riffs and I'm quite sure that the new songs will be great live. Don't expect real Thrash here but for sure you can expect some good nice music.