Annihilator "Never, Neverland" CD

Never Neverland: the last great Annihilator album for quite a few years. Progressing even further from their debut, the band manages to craft a powerful, albeit inconsistent, followup that fails to disappoint.
The monster riffage that made the first album great returns here, evolved and refined. Jeff Waters is absolutely brilliant, even if most of the songs here tend to be mid-paced. "The Fun Palace" and "Imperiled Eyes" feature some incredibly technical riffing while "I am in Command" and "Phantasmagoria" just gloriously thrash it up. His lead work is even better as well, with every solo being quite memorable. Note the solo and outro lead of "Reduced to Ash" for a prime example of his chops. The rest of the instruments are proficient, if not necessarily outstanding.
Randy Rampage is gone as vocalist, replaced by Coburn Pharr. Though his replacement doesn't have his stage presence and energy, he damn sure has the better voice. Maybe the best in Annihilator history. He has a wide range, able to sing quite melodically (the power ballad "Never, Neverland") and quite sinisterly (pretty much everything else). Unfortunately, the lyrics on this album have gotten even worse, most notably on the macaroni and cheese-inspired "Kraf Dinner."
Compared to some of the band's later work, this is a freaking classic album, but it manages to represent itself relatively well among some of the other albums of its time. I have a bit of a bias towards Annihilator, but only because I appreciate their unique variety of technical thrash. I recommend it for fans of the genre, but it is a bit of an acquired taste.

Official promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...