Annihilator
Ballistic, Sadistic
(Silver Lining Music)
3/5
Diehard Annihilator fans will love the Vancouver-based thrash metal band’s 17th album, Ballistic, Sadistic. Written, recorded, and produced by band mainman Jeff Waters, the album features heavy, inferno thrash beats combined with shoelace-tying time changes and speed-metal movements.
2020 Annihilator sounds tighter and beefier than they have in years, and nods at early-career Annihilator. But there are problems with the album: Ballistic, Sadistic is reminiscent of middle-of-the-road ’90s Montreal metal in that it’s not bad, but it’s not great, either. Sadistic, Ballistic feels overproduced and overly methodical.
Strangely for a metal band, Waters’ lyrics verge on emo oversharing. The bullied-artist theme of the record weakens Annihilator’s forceful sound. Poor me, scream Waters’ lyrics, Imma fight. As good as some of the tunes are, here’s your record back, Waters, with a box of tissues. I’m cried out.