Top 10 Most Underrated Annihilator Songs
I rarely make lists about underrated / overrated things but when I do, I have serious reasons.Annihilator are a Canadian thrash metal band formed in the 80s.
They are lesser known in general - if metal fans know a song by them, it's only Alison Hell (a great song though). Some advanced metal fans may know several more songs, usually from Annihilator's first two albums.
In this context most of the Annihilator songs can be called "underrated" but nevertheless I tried to include in this list some more obscure songs that usually nobody mentions but these songs are pretty good. I included in the top 10 of this list only 2 songs from their first 2 albums because these 2 albums are relatively known. Relatively.
Usually guitar work and drumming stand out in their songs.
I like this song of 2002 for many reasons but I want you to pay attention to one thing - thrash metal is sometimes criticized for overusing the snare drum, especially the so called skank beat. But drummer Randy Black avoids this by creatively changing the beat - in the section from 2:15-3:15 he uses only double bass drums and it sounds so awesome that I played this section on a loop several years ago. Also, Randy Black made drums the lead instrument for a whole minute during the mentioned section.
This is one of their biggest accomplishments with incredible guitar work - a song composed of awesome thrash metal riffs. I think it's underrated for 2 reasons:
1) it's in the shadow of Alison Hell and Human Insecticide from the same album (by the way, even Human Insecticide tends to be underrated)
2) it's almost an instrumental track with only 2 lines and most of the fans don't pay attention to the instrumental tracks
A song of 2002 - the riffing in the middle of the song is amazing (and throughout, of course).
The song sample is from a live show because iTunes don't have the studio version. It's a great live version but it's good to hear the original, too.
By the way, Annihilator are one of the best metal bands live and I would recommend to watch the live version from Live at Masters of Rock DVD, 2009. Enjoy watching the guitar battle in the middle of the song - I can't get enough of those abrasive yet delicious thrash riffs. If you watch this live version you wouldn't need the studio version.
The most known song from this album (1990) is The Fun Palace - I don't mind, it's a great song. But Phantasmagoria is also a great song in its own right - riffs are awesome.
One of their less accessible songs which explains why this song isn't more popular but if you like heavier sounds, you are gonna like this song (2002)
A song of 2007 with drummer Mike Mangini
Weapon X is a fictional clandestine government genetic research facility project appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Such an eerie intro that builds into a complete thrash fest for the rest of the song. Such a gem of a song and album!