Let's stop and give some love to Canadia and technical thrash. . .
Annihilator is a Canadian heavy metal band hailing from Ottawa, Ontario, also from Vancouver, British Columbia between 1987-2002 by founding member, vocalist, guitarist and bassist Jeff Waters. The band has been around since 1984 and is the biggest selling heavy metal artist from Canada in history, yet most of the sales have not been in the band’s home country. Dave Padden joined Annihilator in 2003 as lead vocalist and has continued his career with the band since, as rhythm guitarist/vocalist.[1]
Annihilator was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada by Jeff Waters in 1984. He wrote and recorded the song “Annihilator” (different to the track of the same name released on the 1994 album, King of the Kill) with singer John Bates. This original version of “Annihilator” was released on the special edition of the 2005 album Schizo Deluxe.
Waters and Bates then recruited drummer Paul Malek and bassist Dave Scott. This lineup lasted a year and a demo titled “Welcome To Your Death” was produced during this time. Attention worldwide was given to this demo and it was a sought after/highly acclaimed cassette demo tape. After John Bates and Dave Scott left the band (before the WTYD demo was released and citing “artistic differences” and “personality conflicts”), Jeff Waters and drummer Paul Malek recorded the well-known demo titled “Phantasmagoria, in 1986. This was said to be the 3rd most-traded cassette tape in metal in the 80′s, along with Metallica and Megadeth’s demos. Some tracks written at this time, by Jeff Waters and John Bates, ended up on Annihilator’s first 2 official studio cds (Alice In Hell and Never, Neverland).
A 3rd demo was recorded by Waters/Malek in 1987 and was sent only to labels. It included songs that would end up on the first 2 Annihilator studio cds. Waters relocated to Vancouver in 1987, where he assembled a whole new line-up, including former D.O.A. bassist Randy Rampage, on vocals.
The band took the metal scene by storm with their debut 1989 release “Alice in Hell”, with reported sales in the hundreds of thousands upon release. Annihilator embarked on their first world tours and, after a successful tour with Testament in the USA and Canada, singer Randy Rampage quit the band to retain his seniority at a job in North Vancouver, working on the shipping docks. Without a singer, Jeff Waters found ex-Omen singer Coburn Pharr and the band surprised even their label by releasing Never, Neverland, a cd with sales that quickly surpassed the debut. After tours with Judas Priest, Pantera and headline tours around the world, the band was dealt by Roadrunner Records to Sony USA. The 3rd release from the band in 1993 “Set The World On Fire” did well in Europe and Asia but was not as well received in the USA. Roadrunner Records (and most other labels) dropped many metal acts that year and Annihilator was dropped. While most late-80’s era metal bands disappeared, Annihilator went on to forge 10 more studio CDs, DVDs and live releases, all consistently selling well in Europe/Asia and some (like “King Of The Kill 1995 and 2010′s self-titled release) had very impressive sales figures.
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