Annihilator founder/frontman Jeff Waters has checked in with the following update:

"J. Waters here in lovely Hannover, Germany once again and just finished up shooting 2 videos for a few songs from the new Suicide Society record (out September 18th). Lots going on but I will fill you in on all the awesome things going on very soon, but I have some sad news that I need to share. 

Our new bassist Cam Dixon informed us all (Tuesday night, in Germany, after shooting the second video) that his fiancée had just recently been diagnosed with terminal lung and breast cancer. Cam hid this the best he could during the video shoots and none of us know how he even got through them, but he did! All at UDR Records, all of us in and working with Annihilator and BuntMetal (the video company) give her, Cam and their families/friends our deepest best-wishes, thoughts and some prayers. Cam is back home from Germany and with her. 

After hearing this news, our bassist for the last few years, Oscar Rangel offered to come back for the summer festival run we have soon and possibly for the rest of the touring cycle, if needed. Very cool of him, too. Oscar had briefly left us in February to work on his metal project Operus. 

Talk to you all soon about what is coming quick in the Annihilator world but, for now, thoughts to them."

Annihilator will release their brand new (and 15th) studio album, Suicide Society, on September 18th via UDR Music worldwide.

As usual, guitar wizard Jeff Waters handles all songwriting duties, plays all guitar & bass, engineers, produces, mixes and masters Suicide Society… and Waters is also back commanding lead vocal duties, as he did on the critically acclaimed King Of The Kill (1994), Refresh The Demon (1996), Remains (1997) and other Annihilator albums over the years.

Waters on his return to vocal duties: “Dave (Padden/vocalist from 03-14) and I have, essentially, been Annihilator since 2003 but he resigned last December, citing having had enough of touring, being away from home and other commitments. I thank him for his 11 years with Annihilator. That said, Annihilator and I are known for never giving up and, occasionally, coming up with something even better than its former offering(s): this is undeniably the case with Suicide Society!”

Waters later elaborated on his initial statement: "Those who expect a King Of The Kill vocal are in for something interesting! I intentionally tried to avoid the cliché metal vocal/rock stuff I did then (but didn't realize I was doing it then!) and weed out the bad in my voice and style; try to find the good stuff and only do those things! I guess you will be the judge but I am stoked!"

With Suicide Society, Annihilator goes headfirst into some of the most technically perfect, crisp, and crushingly taut, riffage Waters has ever produced. Although Waters’ vocals keep traces of stylings from his King Of The Kill album, they now evoke a surprising blend of legends such as Staley, Osbourne, Hetfield and Mustaine. This, in a twisted way, mirrors Waters’ signature blend of riffing, drums grooves and bass; all drawing from multiple sources and genres.

Waters has built a worldwide reputation as being a premier guitarist and songwriter; the conciseness and arrangement of “Creepin’ Again” is both an air-guitarist’s dream and a sharp reminder of this. The gloriously-brutal thrash of “My Revenge” calls up a vintage of ’85 with the technical chops of 2015. The neo-classic title track defiantly expresses anger at the state of world affairs, while offering up hope in closing. With the multi-layered power of the anthem “Snap”, Waters illustrates the diversity of Annihilator’s sound, without sacrificing one decibel of attack.

“Metal fans will likely sport evil, satisfied grins on their faces, when they hear this record”, chuckles Waters, “but in the words of Joe Perry: “Let the Music Do the Talking”!”

Tracklisting:
“Suicide Society“
“My Revenge“
“Snap“
“Creepin’ Again“
“Narcotic Avenue“
“The One You Serve“
“Break, Enter“
“Death Scent“
“Every Minute“

Audio clips: