UMUR "Refresh the Demon" is the 5th full-length studio album by Canadian thrash/heavy metal act Annihilator. The album was released through FEMS/CMC/Music For Nations in March 1996. It´s the successor to "King of the Kill" from 1994 and compared to the two-piece lineup who recorded the predecessor (Jeff Waters on guitars, bass, vocals and Randy Black on drums), guitarist Dave Davis has been added as a second guitarist. So "Refresh the Demon" was recorded as a three-piece.

Stylistically the material on "Refresh the Demon" continue the melodic thrash/heavy metal style of "King of the Kill (1994)". Annihilator can play both harder edged thrash metal riffs but also more melodic oriented riffs when that is needed. "Refresh the Demon" features everything from thrash metal tracks, to melodic heavy metal tracks, to punk influenced heavy metal tracks, to a power ballad type track like the closing "Innocent Eyes". So it´s a pretty varied album when it comes to musical styles. There are very few surprises here if you´re familiar with the band´s preceding releases though, and there are some sections and riffs here which feel a little like rehashing of ideas from past releases.

As mentioned above Waters has once again opted to perform lead vocals (like he did on "King of the Kill (1994)"), and once again it´s obvious he isn´t a natural vocalist. He can sing, and it doesn´t sound downright awful or anything like that, but he has a fairly limited range and compared to the three previous vocalists in the band, he sounds a bit like an amateur. It actually sounds like he recorded the vocals for a demo to give to a potential new vocalist for guidance, but since a suitable vocalist never showed up, Waters decided to keep his own recorded vocals, and use them on "Refresh the Demon".

"Refresh the Demon" features a sharp, powerful, and detailed production, which suits the music well, and upon conclusion "Refresh the Demon" is a good quality release by Annihilator. It doesn´t move the band forward and Waters vocals don´t do the album any favors either, but overall the album is still a quality release and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.

Kingcrimsonprog If Canada’s Annihilator are an underrated band, and their albums after the classic first debut and sophomore releases, (such as albums three & four; Set The World On Fire and King Of The Kill) are underrated by the media, then the albums after that are a triple-threat of underrated, being underrated by even their fanbase.

The best among those for me, is the Refresh The Demon album. The 1996 follow up to King Of The Kill, was the second album in a row where after a period of line-up instability, guitarist Jeff Waters took on vocal duties as well. This makes it the first studio album in their career to have the same singer as the previous album.

Stylistically; the album is very much a sequel to King Of The Kill. There are even some direct analogues, such as both having brief guitar based instrumentals, both having ballads, both having a few groove metal tracks that raise eye brows among the older fans, both having a ‘Knight Jumps Queen’/’Brain Dead’ style song with an in/out guitar line and rhythmic vocals, and a couple of true blue classic thrashers that raise horns with older fans.

This is a brilliant album, better than a Thrash album from 1996 is likely to be for most bands. Its arguably an even tighter, well rounded version of King Of The Kill and if you that album, this one is a must own. You can consider them a pair. They’re the two albums with Jeff singing but a live drummer and no drum machine (unlike the next album, 1997’s Remains).

Highlights include the speedy title track, its pure Waters-Thrash, the kind of thing that could have fit on the first two albums, ‘Pastor Of Disaster’ which is the aforementioned ‘Brain Dead’-style fun one, and ‘City Of Ice’ which is like a blend of ‘80s Judas Priest and ‘70s Van Halen.

If you are a big Thrash fan, there’s a lot of albums released in the ‘90s that are disappointing. Refresh The Demon ‘aint one of ‘em. Not by a long shot.