Annihilator

Genres:	Heavy Metal
Descriptive "tags":	thrash metal • speed metal • heavy metal • metal
Decades Active:	1980s • 1990s • 2000s

Biography

This thrash metal band is a vehicle for the talents of classically trained Canadian guitarist Jeff Waters (13 February 1966, Ottawa, Canada). The initial line-up of Annihilator was formed in 1984 by Waters, John Bates (vocals), Paul Malek (drums) and Dave Scott (bass). After the break-up of this line-up, Waters set the underground scene alight with a demo entitled ‘Phantasmagoria’. He then relocated to Vancouver to work on Annihilator’s 1989 debut, Alice In Hell. This was a tour de force of intricate thrash, with all the guitars and bass parts played by Waters, who also produced and wrote the material, with Randy Rampage (vocals, ex-D.O.A. ) and Ray Hartmann (drums); the line-up was augmented by Anthony Greenham (guitar) and Wayne Darley (bass) after the recording. The sizzling guitar work helped the record to become, at the time, the bestselling debut in the history of Roadrunner Records.

The band subsequently suffered from an...

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