Customer Reviews

Carnival Diablos

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm sorry, but I think that this really is the best album of 2001 (and I'm not saying that lightly).

Carnival is primarily a thrash album that is technically far superior to most of the "heavy metal" that is put out today. The best thing about this album is that each song sounds different from the last. Sometimes it's hard to tell it's the same band. They move from Exodus to Slayer to a song (Shallow Grave) that made me a do a double-take since it sounded like AC/DC. What the...!?! Wow, very cool.

The vocals are spot-on, the guitars tight and intimidating, the drumming powerful and un-repetitive. It sounds like the very best of 80's metal slightly tightened and redone for the 21st century.

I'll never forget how me and my 3-year-old daughter danced to "Shallow Grave" after she heard the song--my (non heavy-metal) wife thought we were nuts.

There also is a surprise song at the end that is sort of a (thrash-metal!?) children's song. Again my daughter loved it and made me replay it constantly for weeks.

This is the type of heavy-metal that compels you to sing along and participate.

I've listened to metal for 25 years and have a collection of over 1500 metal CD's--trust me, buy this. This is one of the top 10 in my collection.

With Randy Rampage gone again, Annihilator turns to the talents of Joe Comeau, whose harsh yet melodious voice makes for a new degree of heavy Annihilator metal. Carnival Diablos takes the sound of Criteria with a little bit of Remains. There are no weak songs on the album, but there are several outstanding ones. Denied features some ripping vocals, Hunter Killer is heavy as hell and just as fast, Time Bomb and Battered have some cool riffing, Shallow Grave gives off a wicked AC/DC vibe, and the Perfect Virus has some amazing guitarwork and a great sound. Not the best Annihilator by far, but definitely a solid release and will be liked by Jeff Waters fans and heavy metal fans in general.

"Oh God", another overrated thrash band such as Slayer and Metallica come out with a crappy watered down album (God Hates us All and St. Anger), and then Annihilator comes along. This album is insane. I'm surprised that not many people know of this band. They always hear Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Metallica. Well, if you are sick of those bands and want to listen to better thrash, get Annihilator, Testament, Dark Angel, Toxik, Exodus etc... Amazing album. 9/10

Another great Annihilator release. But sadly, with the exception of those who are reading this(as well as fans of the band), who's ever gonna know? In comes Joe Comeau on vocals. He had spent the last few years as one of Overkill's guitarists, and I was curious if he could make it as a singer. He sure does. I'm actually surprised at how well he does. He even manages a Bon Scott gone metal impersonation on Shallow Grave. With the exception of Shallow Grave, most of the numbers are very speedy, progressive thrash. Certainly lives up to the name of Annihilator. They even throw a silly song in at the end, which is fun. Shows they don't take themselves as seriously as some other thrash cornballs. So, what reason could you have not to get it now?

The first album I bought by Annihilator was Alice in Hell, the first album and by many considered the best. For me though Carnival Diablos is the album that I play more than the others coz it is so damn good! Tracks like Denied, Battered and Hunter Killer are thrash masterpieces while the title track and Liquid Oval are melodic and less heavy which makes the album more listenable ie. not just non stop chugging. Simply, if you love Thrash/Heavy Metal with occasional melodic moments, get this album!!!

I don't know why these other reviews don't mention Jeff Waters. In case you did not know, he is the mastermind behind the machine called "Annihilator". This man trancends the averageness of one man bands that we are used to. He, in short, is a musical genius. And he more than shows it on this offering. I know this may sound a bit boastfull, but it is no exageration. He is one of the best guitar shredders of our time, and a brilliant, stunning music/lyric songwriter. Annihilator has been around since the early 90s and have been chugging along ever since. He has had a flurry of lineup changes and has even done an album completely solo. The best efforts of this band, as many fans would agree, are the first two albums and the latest two. This is exactly what you need if you are looking for the lost thrash hey-day of the early 90s. The new vocalist can mimick just about any top notch metal singer you know and does a very impressive Halford. Waters guitar work is in full form and shines like it did in the "Alice..." days and the "Neverland" days as well. I don't know why he is'nt better known, this guy is a virtuoso and could easily stand beside the likes of Vai, Dimebag, and the twin shredders from Judas Priest and Exodus. He is simply one of the best players I've heard. This album offers everything from fast, hard, old fashion thrash to slower grindier tunes. The first track "Denied" is a standout Annihilator classic. "The Perfect Virus" is also noteworthy and harkens back to the days when Metallica and Megadeth ruled the scene. Simply stated, if you love good thrash and want to see what a talented Slayer might sound like, pick this up. You also can't go wrong picking up the one before this entitled "Criteria For A Black Widow". It is also a heavy skull crusher and will have you begging Waters not to let this thrash machine die anytime soon.

This is probably the best Annihilator album to come down the pike since "Alice In Hell". Joe Comeau(ex-Overkill) takes over vocal duties for Randy Rampage and is a vast improvement. Comeau is easily as agressive as Rampage but is much more versatile, from screaching stratosphere of Halford homage to gutteral death throes. This album is not an all riff-fest but more of a solid chugga chugga groove oriented album, but don't fear there are more than enough riffs for the Waters guitar fiend.

Ah, good old Annihilator, and good old Jeff Waters. Having doggedly stuck to his guns despite musical trends since releasing some classic progressive-thrash metal albums in the late '80s and early '90s, Mr. Waters has had mixed success and results, releasing a string of very uneven and sometimes awful albums over the last few years, partially due to personal problems and a constantly revolving band lineup. With "Carnival Diablos", he delivers a crushing, powerful metal disc with a great band backing him up, and the best vocalist he has ever had.

Water's inimitable thick, buzzsaw guitar tone and progressive-tinged musical sensibility is all over this disc, along with decent lyrics and excellent vocal styling (finally, the band seems to have taken more of an aggressive approach lyrically and vocally, instead of the corniness found on many Annihilator discs....I mean, come on, it's METAL, man). Water's guitar work really shines on this album, with too many great moments to mention, and a ton of crushing, off-kilter riffs and inhumanly fast solos. Any metal fan should pick this one up, and any Annihilator fan (like myself) who is tired of trying to predict the quality of every new Waters release shouldn't hesitate; this is the best album he's put together in years.

Joe Comeau. Finally, Annihilator gets a really GREAT metal singer, someone worthy of front manning Annihilator, and someone who can work at the same level as Jeff (Waters). The pairing of these two gave us two tremendous albums. This being the first one.
Denied, The Perfect Virus, Battered, Carnival Diablos, Time Bomb, Epic of War and Hunter Killer are all songs that would single handidly cause me to buy this album. All of them together on one album is absolute heaven.
There is no Bad song on thsi album, just some that rate a solid good.
Everything that makes Annihilator great is on this album. Awesome lyrics sung by an awesome vocalist, outstanding guitar riffs, that metal touch only Waters can bestow and a range of song types that only Annihilator can seem to pull off convincingly.
Epic of Wars' middle part is Iron Maiden done better than modern Maiden can do. It still blows my mind.
Battered is Metallica done better than modern Metallica can do.
And so on. Jeff shows us he still loves the true metal, but more importantly he shows us it can be done in a new, fresh and even heavier manner. Giving us an album all that all those great bands of yesterday should be giving us. But which of course they aren't (Although I do give Maiden points for 2 really solid albums lately).
There is nothing to dislike about this album. The only negative thing I can say about it is that Waking the Fury is even better. If you even remotely like metal, this album MUST be in your collection.

Annihilator always supplied incredible music across their discography because of Jeff Waters and his song and music writing abilities. However, the albums were always trying to achieve the intensity of `Alice In Hell' / `Never Neverland' which were the brute sound we all fell love with. `Carnival Diablos' is the first one to give you a 120 volt jolt after a bunch of pharmaceutically engineered studio albums. Some songs are better then others, but the news here is the speedy, evil sounding kick in the groin thrash metal atmosphere throughout the album. Some of the best songs in the album are Denied, The Perfect Virus, Battered and Hunter Killer. The rest are as powerful but more predictable in their writing. The line up is a powerful as the `Never Neverland' line up . Joe Comeau is probably the best vocalist after Coburn Pharr and delivers attitude that fits the bill not to mention the tight rhythm section driven by Ray Hartman. The humor of the bonus track at the end is just a great way to kick back and decide which is the next Annihilator album to buy.