Thrashcast Episode 34: Annihilator's "Alice In Hell" from 1989
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Thrashcast is the place to find riveting discussions on classic thrash albums, news and reviews. Your hosts are three thrash loving maniacs who grew up during the golden age of the genre. Kenneth, Billy and Jim will get together weekly to bring you a deep dive on some of your favourite thrash records.
Show Notes:
Episode Thirty-Four: This week on Thrashcast we head north of the border to discuss one of the big four of Canadian thrash, the mighty Annihilator. The band (hailing from BC) released their debut Alice In Hell on April 17th, 1989 on Roadrunner records. Guided by the great Jeff Waters, and joined by Ray Hartmann on drums and Randy Rampage on vocals. Annihilator, along with Sacrifice, Razor and Voivod form the big four of Canadian thrash.
Alice In Hell is considered a thrash masterpiece by many and opens with the superb instrumental "Crystal Ann". This is followed by the iconic opening heard in "Alison Hell" co-written by Jeff Waters and former vocalist John Bates. In fact, Bates is credited on four tracks and was the band's original vocalist during the years of 1984-85. He would also go on to contribute lyrical content on several albums going into the 90's. Eventually, Randy Rampage was given the top spot as vocalist and brought a unique style and intensity to the band. His manic screams on the title track are considered iconic these days, but his tenure was short lived; being replaced on the sophomore release with Coburn Pharr.
Fun Facts: The album artwork was done by Len Rooney who created the band's logo and cover artwork to Alice In Hell and Never, Neverland. Len also did the cover artwork to another local BC band Assault. He continues to work in the commercial art field as an illustrator and graphic designer.
Kenneth Gallant, HMS
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