UMUR "Set the World on Fire" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Canadian thrash/heavy metal act Annihilator. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in August 1993. The band were on a high roll after releasing two consecutively successful studio albums in "Alice in Hell (1989)" and "Never, Neverland (1990)". Both sold really well and placed Annihilator among the elite of late eighties/early nineties thrash metal acts. However except for bassist Wayne Darley (who would leave shortly after recording the album) and band founder/guitarist Jeff Waters, the whole lineup had been changed before recording "Set the World on Fire" and paired with a more melodic/mainstream songswriting approach, that had some impact on how "Set the World on Fire" ended up sounding.

...while the basis in the music is still thrash metal, Annihilator were always on the more melodic side of the fence and their music also always featured a lot of more traditional heavy metal elements. The music on "Set the World on Fire" generally lean more towards a melodic heavy metal sound than a thrash metal ditto even though tracks like "Set the World on Fire", "No Zone" and "Brain Dance" certainly still feature high speed thrash metal riffing (on a related note, the guitar solo in "No Zone" is nothing short of breathtaking). As a result the album is actually quite a varied listening experience but as a consequence of the variation not necessarily the most consistent one. While his two predecessors were more raw type thrash metal vocalists, new vocalist Aaron Randall is more of a "real" singer who employ a thrash metal singing style.

Other new faces in the lineup are the extremely skilled drummer Mike Mangini (Dream Theater, Extreme, James LaBrie, Steve Vai...etc.) and second guitarist Neil Goldberg. A class ensemble through and through and that´s audible. Paired with the very well sounding production, everything seems to be working in favor of the album. But...because there is a "but" here. Some of the tracks on the album are either not that memorable, formulaic or a little too mainstream pop/rock oriented (some of the lyrics are also downright cringe worthy) and while the best tracks on the album easily warrants at least a 4 star (80%) rating, the tracks that aren´t that interesting bring my rating down to 3.5 stars (70%). We´re still talking a quality release but it could have been better.

Warthur An admirable followup to Alice In Hell, Never, Neverland eases up a bit more on the aggression and relies somewhat more on Annihilator's more complex and progressive side, with the band's technical mastery showing even on brief goof-off tracks like Kraf Dinner. Of the first two Annihilator albums, there really isn't much between them, so if you've not picked up either you may want to consider the archival Two From the Vault release. Those who already own and love Alice In Hell but haven't had the pleasure of visiting Neverland will want to do so at the earliest opportunity, because the two albums go together like macaroni and cheese.

Warthur Annihilator play a style of thrash metal leaning more to the fast-but-not-Slayer-fast pace of Anthrax and Megadeth, with sufficient experimentalism and progressive leanings to take the music into Annihilator's own unique territory. Perfectly balancing thrashy aggression with a prog metal affinity for complex time signatures and intricate song structures, Alice In Hell is a sonic avalanche which begins with the mid-tempo title track and doesn't let up until the fast-paced Human Insecticide rounds things off. I wouldn't go so far as to call it an outright masterpiece, but anyone interested in thrash will find it a very rewarding listen indeed.

Kingcrimsonprog There is a lot to enjoy about Annihilator’s self titled effort, their thirteenth studio album and fourth full length with vocalist/guitarist Dave Padden, who is now the band’s longest serving member besides founder and primary songwriter Jeff Waters.

‘Annihilator,’ as an album is probably as close to perfect as you can get; with superb production, musicianship and Dave Padden’s vocals which suit the band so well. The album’s only drawback is that it may not have that special something which elevates it from technical perfection to classic record status, but don’t let that put you off, this is one fantastic record and if you haven’t been keeping up with the band’s more recent work then this is the perfect album to return to the band with.

The album is littered with sixty six guitar solos (or so the sticker on the case claims) and this may leave some listeners worried about variety; but the rest of the songs, with their mixture of classic thrash riffs and mid paced groove metal influenced sections, the mixture of harsh, clean and gang vocals and the fact that Dave Padden had some songwriting credits on the album as well as Jeff Waters results in an album where variety is not an issue, yet still has a concise and unified feel.

The album opens up with the fast and aggressive ‘The Trend,’ a song which seemingly decries new bands adopting the classic thrash metal sound, while I’m not sure I agree completely with the sentiment on offer, the song is an absolute stormer and one of the most dynamic openers of an Annihilator album in recent memory.

Other highlights include ‘Payback,’ with its catchy Pantera-esque chorus and the varied and surprisingly modern ‘Death In Your Eyes,’ which features a chorus of clean vocals over blast-beats which you wouldn’t initially expect from Annihilator but which is unquestionably excellent none the less.

I’ve listened to this album quite a lot before deciding how to review it, and with each new listen the album only seems better, the production clearer, the musicianship more impressive and the choruses catchier. If you are worried that all the good reviews for this album were just hype and that you won’t be listening to it a month after you’ve bought it, don’t worry. This album really is as good as it is reputed to be.

In an age where all the Thrash bands are releasing their best albums since the Eighties, this album still manages to be one of the finest out there. If you are a fan of Thrash Metal at all, ‘Annihilator,’ should definitely be something you consider listening to, as I have already stated it really is one of the finest releases out there right now.

bassgeezer Thank you MMA. Until I found MMA I had not heard Never, Neverland, or heard of Annihilator for that matter. I am still part way through my first listen to it but am loving it. I understand why it is highly rated on this site. I can’t believe that I’ve never heard Jeff Waters before, and that I’ve been deprived of his guitar playing and composition skills all these years. I have just been reading about him being popular and influential with other metal artists and I can see why. This album is an utterly sublime riff-fest from start to finish.

Kingcrimsonprog Annihilator’s Live at Masters of Rock is an absolutely fantastic concert DVD, which I wholeheartedly recommend to you straight off the bat.

The almost eighty minute concert from 2008, filmed in the Czech Republic features a brilliant track listing, great production values and one of the finest live performances I’ve seen in a while.

Annihilator’s Jeff Waters is an excellent front man and a great showman, getting the crowd excited and talking in between songs in a way that gives the impression of a man who really enjoys what he does.

Singer Dave Padden, Annihilator’s longest standing member bar Waters is absolutely fantastic on this record for both his often overlooked contribution on guitar and of course his vocal performance. The extent to which he can replicate the band’s first three singer’s voices is truly phenomenal, if you didn’t know better it’d be very difficult to tell that Padden wasn’t the original singer.

The band throw out classics like ‘King of The Kill,’ ‘Set The World On Fire,’ and ‘I Am In Command,’ alongside a few newer tracks, all of the songs gel really well together and the band know what the audience want to hear.

The majority of the set is composed of the fan favorite albums ‘Alice In Hell,’ and ‘Never Neverland,’ two absolute classic Thrash albums, this informs the sound quality quite a bit with the tones and mix seemingly engineered to replicate the production of those albums and sounding fantastic as a result.

The lighting, Camera work and editing are all pretty top notch as well, especially considering that this was recorded at a festival. As a viewing experience the concert works really well and there are not bad cuts, out of sync audio and now cheesy transitions to spoil things for the viewer. What you get is a very pure, natural recording that lets the music do the talking.

If I was forced to say something negative about the DVD, it would be that drummer Ryan Ahoff doesn’t get very much screen time but that is about the only thing that comes close to a fault on this excellent product.

To summarize, even as an absolutely avid fan of Live concert DVDs; this is one of the most impressive note perfect performances I’ve seen and even the most casual Annihilator fan should give this DVD serious consideration.