Annihilator - Alice In Hell

Tell me why Mondays are so outrageously awesome?? It's because I can post a week of METAL and start with this absolute fucking classic...prepare yourselves for five of my top 20 METAL albums.

Annihilator's Alice in Hell is widely considered a thrash metal classic, praised for its technical guitar work from Jeff Waters, tight musicianship, and a blend of aggression with theatricality and even humor in the lyrics. While some critics note minor issues like occasional lyrical randomness or vocal one-dimensionality, the album's virtuosic performance, excellent production, and innovative sound make it a must-listen for thrash enthusiasts and a high point in the band's career.

Annihilator's brand of technical, thinking man's thrash metal garnered many fans with this fine debut, arguably the best release of the band's career. A brief acoustic guitar piece called "Crystal Ann" introduces the excellent title track: a psychological murder thriller supposedly based on a disturbed young girl's true story. Leader Jeff Waters takes himself a little too seriously at times (see the Edgar Allan Poe-influenced "Ligeia" and his ridiculously erudite commentary on each song's lyrics), but he is equally prone to refreshing flashes of humor on "Word Salad" and "Schizos Are Never Alone." The spectacularly named Randy Rampage proves himself to be a versatile vocalist on "Wicked Mystic" and "Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade" (seriously). The careening closer "Human Insecticide" is magnificent for its sheer speed.

Ripped to MP3

1. Crystal Ann
2. Alison Hell
3. W.T.Y.D. (Welcome to Your Death)
4. Wicked Mystic
5. Burns like a Buzzsaw Blade
6. Word Salad
7. Schizos (Are Never Alone) Parts I & II
8. Ligeia

9. Human Insecticide