''Metal'' is the twelfth album by Canadian
heavy metal band
Annihilator, released on April 16, 2007 by
SPV/Steamhammer
SPV GmbH (short for ''Schallplatten Produktion und Vertrieb GmbH'', "Vinyl Production and Distribution Company") is a German independent record label. Founded on 1 January 1984, it has slowly grown to be one of the largest independent distributor ...
. However, it wasn't released in the United States until January 15, 2008. The album includes several special guests who each contribute to separate tracks. This includes
Danko Jones
Danko Jones is a Canadian hard rock trio from Toronto. The band consists of Danko Jones (vocals/guitar), John 'JC' Calabrese (bass), and Rich Knox (drums).[Angela Gossow
Angela Nathalie Gossow (born 5 November 1974) is a German vocalist, best known as the former lead singer for the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. Her other previous bands include Asmodina and Mistress.
Early life
Angela Gossow was b ...]
,
Steve "Lips" Kudlow
Steven Barry "Lips" Kudlow (born March 2, 1956) is a Canadian musician, who is the guitarist and lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Anvil. He co-founded the band with drummer Robb Reiner in 1978, having played together since 1973.
Early l ...
,
Alexi Laiho
Alexi Laiho ( IE-ho born Markku Uula Aleksi Laiho; 8 April 1979 – 29 December 2020) was a Finnish guitarist, composer, and vocalist. He was best known as the lead guitarist, lead vocalist and founding member of the melodic death metal band C ...
,
Anders Björler
Anders Björler (born 26 February 1973) is a Swedish musician, composer and film director. He is best known as the guitar player in the metal bands The Haunted and At the Gates, alongside his bass-playing twin brother Jonas Björler.
Björler ...
,
Michael Amott
Michael Amott (born 28 July 1969) is a Swedish guitarist, founding member of the metal bands Arch Enemy, Spiritual Beggars and Carnage, as well as a former member of Carcass. He is the older brother of Christopher Amott.
Amott was ranked No ...
,
Jesper Strömblad
Clas Håkan Jesper Strömblad (born 28 November 1972) is a Swedish musician who is the guitarist of the bands The Halo Effect, Dimension Zero and Cyhra, and formerly of In Flames and The Resistance. He is best known as the founder and former ...
,
Corey Beaulieu
Corey King Beaulieu (born November 22, 1983) is the guitarist of American heavy metal band Trivium. At live shows, he also performs backing and, sometimes, lead screaming vocals.
Biography
Personal life
Born in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, Beaulieu i ...
, Jacob Lynam and
William Adler
Reception
2007's ''Metal'' was received rather negatively by fans and received mixed to decent reviews from critics.
From
Metal Storm
Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technolog ...
a reviewer gave it a positive review, stating that while the idea to have a guest on each song of the CD is good, the problem is that "it can sound a bit "false" sometimes 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." Following this they spoke on the positives of the album, complimenting the fact that "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
Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédér ...
or
Slayer
Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...
." They ended their review with "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."
;Metal II (2022)
Reception of the 2022 re-recording has been positive from fans and rang from decent to negative from critics. A reviewer from The Moshville Times questioned its existence, unsure as to why it was made. "I just don’t see the point of it, the changes being so minor compared to the original. Both releases have excellent production, and the major differences are in the drum fills. I’d have to say that this is one for the completist, or for someone who doesn’t already have Metal already. A curiosity rather than a necessity." Of
Louder Sound
''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 60, ...
a reviewer of
Metal Hammer
''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...
spoke more harshly of the album, saying that "the songs are as bland now as ever. Army Of One idolizes metal with the creativity of a Wikipedia list (‘Anthrax! Motörhead! Exodus! Slayer! Bang your head!’), while the album’s melodies couldn’t be flatter if they were pummelled beneath an iron foundry press. This is especially true of Couple Suicide’s glam schmaltz, where Danko Jones and Angela Gossow’s vocals have been mechanized and muddied by time." they concluded their review by stating that "If terrible ideas weighed a gram, this would be heavier than the Eiffel Tower."
A more positive review came from BlabberMouth where the reviewer spoke positively of the album, saying that "
etal
Etal ( )not is a small village in the far north of the county of Northumberland, England, in the civil parish of Ford. It lies on a bridging point of the River Till ten miles south west of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and includes the substantial rui ...
feels like an excellent entry point for diehard fans and newcomers. The title tells you what to expect. The album delivers. Your neck is going to hurt."
Track listing
Metal II
''Metal II'', a near complete re-recording of ''Metal'', was released on February 18, 2022, which serves as a tribute to
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...
and
Alexi Laiho
Alexi Laiho ( IE-ho born Markku Uula Aleksi Laiho; 8 April 1979 – 29 December 2020) was a Finnish guitarist, composer, and vocalist. He was best known as the lead guitarist, lead vocalist and founding member of the melodic death metal band C ...
, the latter of whom appears posthumously on one of the album's re-recorded tracks "Downright Dominate", which also features
Dave Lombardo
David Lombardo (born February 16, 1965) is a Cuban-American drummer, best known as a co-founding member of American thrash metal band Slayer. He is currently playing drums with Testament, Fantômas, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Cross, Mr. Bungle ...
on drums and
Stu Block on vocals. In January 2022, Jeff Waters announced that he would be once again stepping down as lead vocalist and focusing solely on lead guitar while Stu Block would handle lead vocals on the band's future live shows.
Personnel
Metal
;Band
*
Dave Padden
David James Padden (born February 13, 1976) is a Canadian musician, best known as the former vocalist and rhythm guitarist for thrash metal band Annihilator from 2003 to 2014.
In 2006, Padden co-founded the industrial thrash metal band Sile ...
– vocals, rhythm guitars
*
Jeff Waters
Jeff Waters (born February 13, 1966) is a Canadian guitarist and the founder and bandleader of the metal band Annihilator. He was born and resides in Ottawa, Ontario. Waters has owned Watersound Studios Inc. since 1994 (where it was in Maple ...
– lead guitar, bass, and lead vocals on "Operation Annihilation"
*
Mike Mangini
Michael Anthony Mangini (born April 18, 1963) is an American musician and current drummer of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He has also played for bands and artists such as Annihilator, Extreme, James LaBrie, and Steve Vai. Befor ...
– drums
;Session Members
*Danko Jones - vocals (track 2)
*Angela Gossow - vocals (track 2)
*William Adler - guitars (lead) (track 10)
*Corey Beaulieu - guitars (lead) (track 8)
*Alexi Laiho - guitars (lead) (track 4)
*Michael Amott - guitars (lead) (track 6)
*Jeff Loomis - guitars (lead) (track 1)
*Anders Björler - guitars (lead) (track 5)
*Jesper Strömblad - guitars (lead) (track 7)
*Steve "Lips" Kudlow - guitars (lead) (track 3)
*Jacob Lynam - guitars (lead) (track 9)
*Allan Johnson - bass (track 11), backing vocals
*Dan Beehler - drums, vocals (track 11), backing vocals
*Jacques Bélanger - backing vocals
*John Perinbam - backing vocals
*Paul Malek - backing vocals
*Brian Stephenson - backing vocals
*Bob Walden - backing vocals
*Scott Walsh - backing vocals
;Miscellaneous staff
*Jeff Waters - engineering, mixing, producer
*Jeff Yurek - engineering
*Andy Sneap - engineering
*Vic Florencia - engineering
*Ben Schigel - engineering (additional)
*Adam Ayan - mastering
*Gyula Havancsák - cover art, design
Metal II
;Band
*
Stu Block – lead vocals
*
Jeff Waters
Jeff Waters (born February 13, 1966) is a Canadian guitarist and the founder and bandleader of the metal band Annihilator. He was born and resides in Ottawa, Ontario. Waters has owned Watersound Studios Inc. since 1994 (where it was in Maple ...
– guitars, bass, co-lead vocals
*
Dave Lombardo
David Lombardo (born February 16, 1965) is a Cuban-American drummer, best known as a co-founding member of American thrash metal band Slayer. He is currently playing drums with Testament, Fantômas, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Cross, Mr. Bungle ...
– drums
;Session Members
*Danko Jones - vocals (track 4)
*Angela Gossow - vocals (track 4)
*Dan Beehler - drums, vocals (track 5)
*Allan Johnson - bass (track 5)
*Willie Adler - guitars (lead) (track 1)
*Alexi Laiho - guitars (lead) (tracks 2, 7)
*Steve "Lips" Kudlow - guitars (lead) (track 3)
*Jesper Strömblad - guitars (lead) (track 6)
*Jacob Lynam - guitars (lead) (track 8)
*Jeff Loomis - guitars (lead) (track 9)
*Anders Björler - guitars (lead) (track 10)
*Corey Beaulieu - guitars (lead) (track 11)
;Miscellaneous staff
*Mike Fraser - mixing, engineering
*Maor Appelbaum - remastering
References
External links
kvltsite.com review
Annihilator (band) albums
2007 albums
SPV/Steamhammer albums
{{2000s-thrash-metal-album-stub