They came, they saw, they kicked our asses. I’m sure that I’ve written this before, but who cares? Another Annihilator show had a huge success and I’m already waiting for the next one. It seems that it won’t take much long.

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Annihilator 7

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Due to some technical problem, there was a big delay until the opening of the doors. Forty-five minutes ahead of schedule, the big line that was outside of the Academy started moving so the fans could enter. As a result, I saw only the last two minutes of Dreamlord because probably they started playing as soon as the doors opened. A heavy/thrash metal band that was founded in 1994, with very little presence over the years, but their return now with a new full-length album tells us that we’ll see them again somewhere.

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Dreamlord 2

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Archer Nation came next on stage, the main support of Annihilator for this tour. With all due respect to the power trio from California, I was wondering why. Very simple heavy metal, with some hard rock influences, without the riffs or the melodies that will excite you, without a single song standing out from the rest. The band exists from 2004 and has two EPs and three full-lengths to present. Nevertheless, they managed to win the audience by the great energy they had on stage and the constant smile of guitarist/singer Dylan Rosenberg. They won a big applause in the end, although I don’t think they made so many new fans.

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ArcherNation 2

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The hour of the headliners finally came, Annihilator entered the stage and started with “Betrayed”, an excellent one. The hit of the buss drum that came next meant only one thing: “King Of The Kill” and almost the entire Academy started shouting the lyrics in front of an ecstatic Jeff. Amazing moment, followed up by “No Way Out” before Jeff’s first speech. He told us that they are Annihilator or…Anal Eater, that they are from Canada, they will conquer our country by throwing snow balls at us and that he loves Greece because of our food (firstly) and because we are very dedicated metalheads (secondly). He also mentioned that the best live in the history of the band is the one he played in Rodon club in Athens during the tour with Nevermore in 2001 and it’s tied up with a show in London’s Marquee club.

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Annihilator 16

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After this short break, the riff attack continued. Amazing songs from the past like “Ultraparanoia”, “Schizos (Are Never Alone) Part I & II” and “Knight Jumps Queen” were combined perfectly with newest ones, like the thrash dynamite “Twisted Lobotomy” and “Psycho Ward” from the forthcoming album. the sound was amazing, the performance of the musicians flawless and it’s very nice to see that Jeff found in these young guys partners that help so much to build highly energetic performances.

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Shortly before the end, he told us that next year, the historic “Never, Neverland” turns thirty and he believes that it is the best album they’ve ever recorded, so he plans on touring to play it in its entirety with Coburn Pharr, the original singer of the album, as a special guest. So, they just played “Phantasmagoria” from this one as an appetizer, unfortunately without the goofy masks. He planned on doing something similar with Randy Rampage, the singer of “Alice In Hell” and “Criteria For A Black Widow”, but the tour that was programmed for last year was postponed due to the passing of Randy from heart attack. Fun fact, he hated the most recognizable song of the band. The three legendary songs from the first album (with a very short snipper of “Chicken And Corn”) made the fans scream as loud as they could and closed a triumphant performance.

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Annihilator 19

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Setlist: Betrayed, King Of The Kill, No Way Out, One To Kill, Set The World On Fire, Ultraparanoia, The Trend (intro only), Schizos (Are Never Alone) Part I & II, Knight Jumps Queen, Twisted Lobotomy, Psycho Ward, Tricks And Traps, Phantasmagoria, Burns Like A Buzzsaw Blade, W.T.Y.D., Alison Hell

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In conclusion, I don’t think that this show made us wiser. It just reminded us of some things. Jeff Waters is an amazingly cool guy, an insanely talented guitar player, he can easily make a career as a comedian (he called himself the Jim Carrey of Canada), the bandmates that he found give their best on stage and you can’t have nothing but a memorable night watching Annihilator on stage. See you again next year for “Never, Neverland” tour.

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George Terzakis

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Photos: Chris Kissadjekian/www.livephotographs.com

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Annihilator 11

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