Published on Jan 21, 2001
Pity poor Jeff Waters. Every time he thinks he’s got a stable
lineup for his band Annihilator, something comes up to throw a
wrench in the works. Even enjoying success with
Criteria For A Black Widow, which featured the reunited
lineup – including original vocalist Randy Rampage, could not break
Waters’s bad luck streak. Rampage ended up being booted off the
tour and out of the band, allegedly for erratic behavior.
Sigh – once again, the revolving door of musicians in
Annihilator was spinning… and in came Joe Comeau, formerly of
Annihilator’s labelmates Overkill. The result,
Carnival Diablos, has some stellar moments, but does show
the band being thrust back into an aura of tentativeness at times.
I mean, is it a bad sign that the most notable song after my first
listen was the afterthought toss-off “Chicken & Corn,” tacked
onto the end of “Hunter Killer” as a bonus?
Comeau might have been best-known as one of Overkill’s
guitarists, but he proves he’s just as capable behind the
microphone. Sounding like a cross between
Cowboys From Hell-era Phil Anselmo and Udo Dirkschneider,
his is a different presence than some listeners might have been
used to, at least coming from Annihilator, but it is not unpleasant
in the least. After just the first song, “Denied,” I began to sit
back and think, “You know, Waters just might have pulled this
off.”
Uh, not quite. At times, it feels like Waters and his bandmates
don’t know just how to add the right missing ingredient to a few
songs. “The Perfect Virus” definitely needed some work on the
chorus, while “TIme Bomb” opened with a brief spoken-word that made
me think I was listening to the treatment for the next
Schwarzenegger movie. A few other tracks fall into this “close but
not quite” trap, like “The Rush” and “Insomniac”.
But not all is lost for Annihilator on
Carnival Diablos – something which is only borne out on
repeat listens. I don’t think the real positives hit me until the
third time through the stereo. Both the title track and “Shallow
Grave” sound like a return to form for Annihilator, while the
instrumental “Liquid Oval” challenges you to think outside the box
and change your definition of what heavy metal can be. (If only the
disc had ended so strongly; “Epic Of War” and “Hunter Killer” both
are not the strongest tracks on the disc, and sent me off with a
bit of emotional letdown.)
The challenge, of course, is not for Waters to hold this version
of the band together to do a second album; the challenge is for
Waters to consistently write material which is strong enough to
kick Jean-Claude Van Damme’s ass yet with a hook or two that could
even suck in the casual listener. He knows how to do this; there’s
never been any question of that. But
Carnival Diablos does hint that a little more polishing of
those skills might be needed.