Albums

Album Review: Annihilation Time

[Album: Annihilation Time III: Tales Of The Ancient Age]
[Label: Tee Pee Records]

Annihilation Time stick shards of visceral punk into big old chunks of fiery rock, then heat the mix up with the fire of hardcore to form a big molten fist which they ram repeatedly down the lugholes of all who come within earshot. They are the theme-tune to a fist-fight between Gallows, Municipal Waste and Thin Lizzy.

With a history of line-up changes (one of them occurring quite recently) ‘Annihilation Time III’ follows straight on from where the band left off with ‘Annihilation Time II’ almost as if no time had passed between releases. Opening with 30 seconds of bizarre vocal warbling on ‘Splash Back’ we follow on to ‘About To Snap’, loaded with 70s thick dual riffs played at full pelt over which vocalist Jimmy Rose spits out his Frank Carter-esque stream of vitriol. It sets the theme for the rest of the album nicely. There’s little in the way of respite with expletives and windy sound effects aplenty. ‘Just Guzzlin’ is a soaring party track of tuneless group singing, interweaving dirty guitar leads and feisty speed-drumming. The desire to air guitar is everywhere - be it the maddeningly rocktastic opening riff of ’Bald Headed Woman’ or the whining Maiden-like strings on ‘Bad Luck’ you’ll find yourself clawing at the air and arching your back like a good ‘un.

This album is a musical Tasmanian Devil, a screaming ball of flailing legs and arms, all bite and might and fury. It draws from a rich mine of hardcore and rock history so won’t necessarily win any awards for originality but there is the fact that Annihilation Time’s break-neck ballsy sound will always be best experienced live anyway. They have had a good crack at reproducing that live sound in the studio, muzzling the guitars and sharpening the vocals nicely. So, yes, it’s not particularly big, it’s not necessarily clever, but it’s most definitely worthy. RAWK!

For fans of: Sex Pistols, Thin Lizzy, Gallows
Band link = Annihilation Time

Buy this CD!

John’s review was first published on TLOBF.

Bookmark to:

Previous & Next