Annihilator - Feast (2CD Limited Edition) (2013) CD-Rip

Feast, the 14th album from thrash veterans Annihilator, finds the stalwart band sticking to what they do best with an album of driving and slickly produced classic metal. Much like their contemporaries Overkill, Annihilator have found solace in staying the course, refining their sound, waiting out the storm, and honing their craft while giants like Metallica fall flat while taking risks. However, while Overkill have been in the midst of a career revival, putting out some of their best work yet, Feast feels more like a reminder, letting fans know that they're still alive and kicking. And while what they do is still solid, there's a sense of vitality missing. Sure, there's plenty of aggressive and intense thrash to be found on the album, but it doesn't feel as though Annihilator are really pushing themselves very hard, giving the impression that they're reluctant to really put the pedal to the metal despite having plenty of fuel in the tank. In an era where bands are starting to revisit the raw power of thrash, Annihilator's brand of thrash, tempered with the melodic tendencies of progressive metal, provides the band with the opportunity to show another aspect of one of metal's more influential movements. While this makes for an album that might be pretty hit or miss among newer listeners, old-school fans of the band will have an easy time picking up where they left off with Annihilator, if they even left at all.