ANNIHILATOR mainman Jeff Waters is featured in a career-spanning interview with Dead Rhetoric. An excerpt from the discussion is available below:

Dead Rhetoric: As the '90s wore on, the band started to do better in Europe, but remained idle in America. At that point, were you like, “Forget it!”?

Waters: "Yes, I stopped looking in 1995 when I was trying to get a deal for King Of The Kill. The Japanese and European labels were signing me to good deals, but I couldn’t get anyone in North America to respond to my faxes- that was the thing back then, and phone calls. Nobody wants us, reality check. I took it as a slam against me, the industry wouldn’t accept me. If I didn’t have Europe or Japan behind me I would probably be a bum on the street or dead right now (laughs). Music is my life, I didn’t want to change band names or music styles, I got lucky."

Dead Rhetoric: What was the tipping point in terms of you shifting your focus away from North America? Was it Never, Neverland?

Waters: "Roadrunner dropped everything that was metal. There were no bands left from that purge- Canadian or United States that had the word metal in it. You had Robb Flynn from VIO-LENCE turn into MACHINE HEAD, they didn’t start off with the thrash they have been playing recently – they had red jumpsuits on and changed their sound/image. Bands lost their record deals – nobody was in a position to carry on. Most bands just got jobs, some bands adapted and got rid of their name, changed out musicians and went on. For Machine Head that worked. We said, this is what we do. We had the luck of Europe and Japan staying with these styles and still buying our music.

My opinion would be much different if those two territories had not been there, I probably would have been quite bitter and depressed. We didn’t have an option in North America unless I wanted to change the name of the band and play a different form of music. Set the World On Fire didn’t do well in North America, but it was the second biggest album for us ever in Japan, and King Of The Kill was the biggest one there, Set The World On Fire had us headlining to 80,000 people at the Dynamo Festival in Europe, so we were going up but North America didn’t see that. I didn’t have time to tour the world and try to break back in Canada and the United States. Playing this was not the kind of music the labels wanted to sign anyway, a traditional form of heavy metal and thrash metal. Fans may have wanted it, but the industry didn’t, the clubs didn’t, the booking agents didn’t."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Annihilator recently issued the following announcement:

"Here we go Quebec! Annihilator are proud to announce a special show in Quebec City at the Imperial Theatre on Friday Oct 4th. Four bands, including Ottawa's SHOCK will be on the bill + two kick ass Quebec bands. Jeff Waters will also give away his signature Epiphone Annihilation guitar on-stage and the lucky winner will get to hang out with the band on the stage for the rest of the show! Get tix quick... it is gonna sell out again, like 2011! METAL!"

Annihilator's latest effort, Feast, is charting higher than any previous album since 2001. Early chart results show a #6 German club promo chart position with a #20 official German Media Control Charts debut. Feast also made a debut on the Finnish charts at #17. Feast was released in the US and Canada on September 3rd.

Feast contains nine songs:

'Deadlock'

'No Way Out'

'Smear Campaign'

'No Surrender'

'Wrapped'

'Perfect Angel Eyes'

'Demon Code'

'Fight The World'

'One Falls, Two Rise'

The deluxe Eco-book version will also feature a bonus CD, Re-Kill, a 15 song re-recorded Best Of Annihilator set, in a 3D cover with a signed postcard including a link to an Annihilator online podcast. This package is limited to 300 units and it is also available one week before official release. Pre-order here.

Bonus CD - Re-Kill (2012):

'Fun Palace'

'Alison Hell'

'King Of The Kill'

'Never, Neverland'

'Set The World On Fire'

'Welcome To Your Death W.T.Y.D.'

'Nozone'

'Bloodbath'

'21'

'Stonewall'

'Ultra Motion'

'Time Bomb'

'Refresh The Demon'

'Word Salad'

'Brain Dance'

Formats:

• Limited Edition Ecobook + Bonus disc Re-Kill (best of re-recorded 2012)

• CD Jewel Case

• LP Gatefold

• Digital audio download + Bonus Re-Kill

Feast EPK:

Annihilator live:

October

10 - Roermond ECI, Netherlands - Cultuurfabriek
11 - Enschede, Netherlands - Atak
12 - Vosselaar, Belgium - Biebob
13 - London, UK - 02 Academy Islington
14 - Manchester, UK - NQ Live
16 - Paris, France - La Machine
18 - Madrid, Spain - But
19 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz 2
20 - France - Lyon Ninkasi Kao
22 - Winterthur, Switzerland - Gaswerk
23 - Augsburg, Germany - Spectrum
24 - Wien, Austria - Szene
25 - Zlin, Czech Repibulic - Masters Of Rock Cafe
26 - Nürnberg, Germany - Rockfabrik
28 - Mannheim, Germany - Alte Seilerei
29 - Essen, Germany - Turock
30 - Osnabrück, Germany - Lagerhalle
31 - Hamburg, Germany - Knust

November

1 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Pumpehuset
2 - Oslo, Norway - John Dee
3 - Stockholm, Sweden - Klubben
5 - Tampere, Finland - Klubi
6 - Helsinki, Finland - Nosturi
8 - Sankt Petersburg, Russia - Zal Ozhidaniya
9 - Moscow, Russia - Volta