Annihilator - Triple Threat album review

Canadian thrashers turn on the power – and then unplug it

Cover art for Annihilator - Triple Threat album

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This is effectively a live release, documenting the veteran Canadians both at their best and in a very uncomfortable situation. Starting with the latter, Annihilator – here augmented by extra musicians – deliver acoustic versions of tracks from their back catalogue. It’s an interesting idea but the performance is stilted, with all the members sounding like they’re in an alien environment. It might have been better if it was recorded in front of an audience. As it is, the whole thing is artificial and misguided, and the performance on the accompanying DVD emphasises the lack of conviction.

However, the other live set, recorded during last year’s Bang Your Head festival in Germany, is much more in keeping with what you’d expect from Annihilator. Here, they’re in fine form, blazing through a tight, vicious, thrashing 11-song set, and the DVD footage adds immeasurably to the enjoyment. This is how the band should be seen and heard.

Is this worth having? Only partially.

Malcolm Dome

Malcolm Dome had an illustrious and celebrated career which stretched back to working for Record Mirror magazine in the late 70s and Metal Fury in the early 80s before joining Kerrang! at its launch in 1981. His first book, Encyclopedia Metallica (opens in new tab), published in 1981, may have been the inspiration for the name of a certain band formed that same year. Dome is also credited with inventing the term "thrash metal" while writing about the Anthrax song Metal Thrashing Mad in 1984. With the launch of Classic Rock magazine in 1998 he became involved with that title, sister magazine Metal Hammer, and was a contributor to Prog magazine since its inception in 2009.