Annihilator - Alice in Hell

That midget is freaky alright.

 Sweet, sweet acoustic tones. Arpeggios supplemented by a beautiful complex melodic line. Modulations and returns. “Crystal Ann” is one of the best pieces of music written in the history of popular music. It's strong mood, and emotion gets the listener quite ready for the rest of one dam strong album. 1989's "Alice in hell" is one of the best efforts by Jeff Waters, and his crew with Annihilator.

The first song on here, what some would call the title track: “Allison Hell” starts of with a dramatic acoustic, following the intro, but then bursts into a strong melodic riff, with a interesting bassline, to then go completely nuts, and calming down. This is indicative of the entire album. There are lots of changes, and riffs and passages of highly varied nature. All the parts are also of a highly catchy nature, and most parts have a strong identity, and feeling of uniqueness.

W.T.Y.D is a mostly fast paced thrasher with a fairly technical riff. Around the halfway mark, it has a very nice calm interlude, and then a shredding bridge. One of my favorite breaks of the album.

“Wicked mystic” is a heavy song, that never really lets up, and continues to thrash about until the melodic solo starting at a bit past halfway. This is one of the more shredding solos of the album (as opposed to directional solos). Strong track, that will leave your neck tired, should you witness it live.

“Burns like a buzzard blade” tones down the speed and heavyness for a bit, but makes uf for it in a more catchy riff and chorus. The staccato riffing on the verse feels so tight that you'd wish you could stick your dick in it. The solo is not the best on this album, and this song does not count as one of my favorites on this album.

“Word salad” is an intense song, with frequent changes of of speed, and a melodic thrash riff sticking out as one hell of a technical achievement. The acoustic piece in there is also the most creepy of them all. This makes a great contrast to the inspirational and quite directional solo. A nice piece of songwriting right there.

Schizos are never alone. A Fun and highly varied song, the title hinting to schizophrenia is somewhat indicative of the songs structure. Forgetting where it is, and where it is going, but with awesome parts driving it, this song is like a highway to nowhere. You don't get anywhere, but it is a nice ride.

Staccato drumming starts off “Ligeia”. The most important part on this song is it's structure, with its mix of mid-paced heavy thrashing, and breakneck speed choruses. Also worth noting, is the phenomenal bass riff carrying the later part of the song, with nice fills and intense riffing.

Ending the album is the bass heavy “human insecticide”. The bass jumps all over the place, with harmonies and octaves everywhere, fills and unique lines flow out of the lower register at amazing speeds. In general this reminds more of the second albums basswork, and that is a good thing.
The guitars keep up the intense speed too, but allow the bass enough space to shine.
A decent way to end a fairly good album, without any weak points.

This consistent album of good individual parts, and simply headbainging tunes is deserving of a decent 8/10.

Annihilator - Alice in Hell (mediafire)

Annihilator - Alice in Hell (spotify)





I am seeing annihilator, sworn amongst and svölk live in a weeks time, does anybody want a writeup of the consert, or are you more interested in having a more obscure recommendation instead? Leave your comment.