Jeff Waters: guitars, bass, vocals on 'Operation Annihilation' on "Metal"/guitar and vocals on tour Dave Padden: vocals on "Metal"/vocals and guitar on tour Mike Mangini: drums on "Metal" Ryan Ahoff: drums on tour Dave Sheldon: bass on tour
Discography:
Metal - 2007
Schizo Deluxe - 2005
All For You - 2004
The Best Of Annihilator - 2004
Double Live Annihilation - 2003
Two From The Vault - 2002
Waking The Fury - 2002
Carnival Diablos - 2001
Criteria For A Black Widow - 1999
Remains - 1997
In Command (live) - 1996
Refresh The Demon - 1996
King Of The Kill - 1994
Bag Of Tricks - 1994
Set The World On Fire - 1993
Never, Neverland - 1990
Alice In Hell - 1989
Influences
Priest, Maiden, Slayer, Metallica, Exodus, AC/DC
Sounds Like
Melodic Thrash Metal at it's finest!
Enjoy some video clips from the European tour:
"Operation Annihilation," intro'd by Corey Beaulieu (Trivium)
Jamming with Alexi Laiho (CoB) and Corey Beaulieu (Trivium), 05/08/07
" M E T A L ":
NEW Album to be released on Jan 15, 2008 in USA and Canada.
METAL out now in Europe, Japan, South Korea and Australia.
The Special Guest Musicians on "METAL":
1. Clown Parade – feat. Jeff Loomis (Nevermore)
2. Couple Suicide – feat. Danko Jones (Danko Jones)
& Angela Gossow (Arch Enemy)
3. Army Of One – feat. Steve ..Lips.. Kudlow (Anvil)
4. Downright Dominate – feat. Alexi Laiho (Children Of Bodom)
5. Smothered – feat. Anders Bjørler (The Haunted)
6. Operation Annihilation – feat. Michael Amott (Arch Enemy)
7. Haunted – feat. Jesper Strømblad (In Flames)
8. Kicked – feat. Corey Beaulieu (Trivium)
9 . Detonation – feat. Jacob Lynam (Lynam)
10. Chasing The High – feat. Willie Adler (Lamb Of God)
Out of the USA/Canadian metal mainstream for more than a decade, Annihilator/band leader Jeff Waters have been hammering away at the European/Asian metal markets on a yearly basis. After years of success overseas, Waters finally brings the mighty Annihilator back to his home continent with a vengeance. There can be no doubt that Jeff Waters is among the most important and influential metal guitarists of our time. His amazing sense of rhythm, unique mix of dynamism and intricate detail, wealth of ideas and reliable feel for hooks and riffs have had a lasting influence on countless young musicians. Waters’ band, Annihilator, is considered the perfect example of an intelligent, sweaty, ever surprising metal act, having released a number of classics from 1989’s debut Alice In Hell, to the mega-successful Never, Neverland, to the European/Asian hit King Of The Kill, Carnival Diablos, Schizo Deluxe and many others over the years; 12 studio cd’s to be exact. There have been many highlights in this group’s career, yet Waters, who has remained decidedly down-to-earth, despite his success, isn’t one for careless exaggeration, claims: “Metal is one of the coolest guitar albums of all time but is also one of the best-written records in my career; something that you can never achieve if you try… it just happens!”. Anyone who knows the Canadian musician realises that this announcement is neither half-baked lip service nor a rehearsed slogan to advertise his latest offering. Metal is already considered a classic of its genre, featuring, next to all those familiar Annihilator strengths, sensational guest performances by true metal giants like Alexi Laiho (Children Of Bodom), Danko Jones (Danko Jones), Michael Amott and Angela Gossow (Arch Enemy), Corey Beaulieu (Trivium), Willie Adler (Lamb Of God), Jeff Loomis (Nevermore), Jesper Strømblad (In Flames), Steve ..Lips.. Kudlow (Anvil), Anders Bjørler (The Haunted), Mike Mangini (Vai, Extreme, Annihilator) and Jacob Lynam (Lynam). In view of these impressive omens, Waters’ enthusiasm is bound to be more than mere boasting.
In the middle of the developing process of the new album, Waters was invited to an American record company’s party where Waters seemed surprised that so many “well-known” musicians knew his Annihilator work very well. Encouraged by such unexpected support and after talks with long-time Annihilator fans from members of bands like Trivium, Children Of Bodom, Lamb Of God, Arch Enemy and others, Waters asked if they might play on a track from the new Annihilator cd… the rest is history. “There were not enough songs on the cd to accommodate all the great players I..d asked!”
The result is an album that sounds spectacular as well as diverse. Says Waters: “When people ask me what kind of heavy metal we play, I can only say: all kinds, from thrash, speed and death through jazz and blues to ballads. There’s no limit for us.” Which explains the straightforward and unambiguous album title, Metal. This is one recording that doesn’t need any more words to describe its content.
The ten new tracks were recorded by Waters, playing guitar and bass and on lead vocals for one number (“Operation Annihilation”), drum legend Mike Mangini (Annihilator, Steve Vai) and long-time vocalist (also touring guitarist/vocalist) Dave Padden. To top it all, there is an additional metal “army” of guests (names listed in cd booklet) on background vocals. “It may sound a little strange when I say that the new album reminds me of the first four Annihilator recordings put together,” band leader Jeff Waters admits. “You could be tempted to think that I am looking back artistically, when the opposite happens to be the case. I always try to evolve musically. But it’s a fact that I composed the new material the same way I went about the early Annihilator tracks. Instead of writing them with the usual help of my state-of-the-art studio equipment and recording them immediately, almost all of the guitar riffs were developed on a simple ghetto blaster. I only went on to put it all together if it really floored me.”
April to September 2007 saw Annihilator “annihilate” on a European tour with Trivium, Japan and Scandinavian festivals and recently October to November 2007 a month-long trek through Europe with fellow metal comrades Iced Earth.
With close to one hundred shows under it’s belt in 2007 and with a reputation of having one of the strongest live performances in any musical genre, Annihilator are gearing up to return to North America in 2008 to give us an aural taste of Metal, as well as many of the classics that have made this band, not only hugely influential, but one of few that truly wave the flag for honesty, integrity and perseverance in this category of music.
Annihilator’s Metal will be released on January 15, 2008 in the USA through SPV USA and in Canada though Fusion3.
Here's your chance to get an Annihilator "METAL Europe Tour" shirt or an "Alice In Europe" shirt, from their recent April to June trek with Trivium. Shirts have all tour dates on the back and are great quality! Limited stock left so get them quick!!!
2007 EUROPEAN TOUR DATES:
10/08/07 GERMANY KOLN LIVE MUSIC HALL/EWERK
10/09/07 GERMANY MUNICH BACKSTAGE WERK
10/10/07 ITALY MILAN ALCATRAZ (SMALL HALL)
10/12/07 SPAIN BARCELONA RAZZAMATAZZ 1
10/13/07 SPAIN MADRID LA RIVIERA
10/15/07 SWITZERLAND PRATTELN Z7
10/16/07 AUSTRIA GRAZ ORPHEUM
10/17/07 AUSTRIA VIENNA PLANET MUSIC
10/18/07 CZ BRNO FLEDA
10/19/07 GERMANY BERLIN COLUMBIA CLUB
10/21/07 SWEDEN MALMO KULTURBOLAGET
10/22/07 NORWAY OSLO ROCKEFELLER
10/23/07 SWEDEN GOTHENBURG TRADGARN
10/25/07 SWEDEN STOKHOLM TIROL
10/26/07 DENMARK COPENHAGEN PUMPEHUSET
10/28/07 GERMANY HAMBURG MARKTHALLE
10/30/07 GERMANY STUTTGART LONGHORN LKA
10/31/07 FRANCE PARIS ELYSEE MON MATRE
11/01/07 HOLLAND TILBURG 13
11/02/07 BELGIUM ANTWERP HOF TER LO
More 2007 dates:
April:
08 Dublin Ireland Ambassador
09 Dublin Ireland Ambassador
11 Bradford UK St. Georges Hall
12 Manchester Uk Apollo
13 Glasgow UK Academy
14 Newcastle UK City Hall
15 Liverpool UK University
17 Nottingham UK Rock City
18 Cambridge UK Corn Exchange
19 Portsmouth UK Guild Hall
20 Plymouth UK Pavilions
22 Newport UK Newport Centre
23 Wolves UK Civic Hall
24 Ipswich UK Regent
25 London UK Hammersmith Apollo
28 Paris France Elysee Monmartre
29 Brussels Belgium AB
30 Herford Germany Club X
May:
01 Amsterdam Holland Melkweg
02 Tilburg Holland O 13
04 Copenhagen Denmark Pumpehuset/Vega
05 Oslo Norway Rockefella
06 Stockholm Sweden Arena
08 Helsinki Finland Nosturi
10 Gothenburg Sweden Karen
11 Hamburg Germany Grosse Freiheit
12 Berlin Germany Postbahnhof/Columbiahalle
13 Warsaw Poland Proxima
15 Stuttgart Germany Longhorn LKA/Messe C B
16 Wiesbaden Germany Schlachthof
17 Köln Germany E-Werk/Paladium
19 Dresden Germany Alter Schlachthof
20 Munich Germany Georg Elser Hallen/ Zenith
21 Vienna Austria Planet Music
22 Linz Austria Posthof
24 Treviso Italy New Age
25 Milan Italy Rainbow
26 Fribourg Switzerland Fri-Son
27 Zurich Switzerland Rohstofflager/Volkshaus
29 Barcelona Spain Sala Apolo
30 Madrid Spain Sala Heineken
June:
01 Bordeaux France Barbey/Medoquine
02 Lyon France Transbordeur
03 Strasbourg France La Laiterie
06 Swedenrock Festival
Sept. 22 and Sept. 23 Toko, Japan Club Citta
[Jeff and Dave live, 2007]
[Jeff and crowd - Europe 2007]
[Alexi Laiho and Jeff - Europe 2007]
[Jeff Waters 2007]
Jeff Waters and Annihilator use only the very best: ERNIE BALL Strings:
Hey guys, I have been a fan since Alice In Hell's release and still listen to it often. Love your new material too, thanks for all of the great metal over the years. Awesome looking signature series btw Jeff, congrats!! \m/ \m/
Enjoying the last album and we were delighted to see you in Glasgow a while ago. Would love to see you in a more intimate setting - maybe this time Trivium could warm up FOR YOU! Madness.
