Annihilator frontman / founder Jeff Waters is featured on a new episode of the The Metal Command Podcast. During the interview he discssed how he went from hiring vocalists to front the band to doing the singing himself. Following is an excerpt.

Waters: "I ended up singing, not as a joke, just as the last resort, thinking, 'You know what? I saw all the demos for the singers, why don't I just go in and sing and put my heart into it?' But knowing that I'm not a great singer, 'Let's just do it.' And I did it and the album (King Of The Kill) took off. I ended up being a singer, and I found very quickly that playing guitar and singing at the same time live is an art form. And only guys like Hetfield (Metallica) and Mustaine (Megadeth) who have been doing that for years and decades and practicing getting good, that's an art form.

"You have to actually be a guitar player who's singing to understand how even more genius they are for playing and singing at the same time. That's like with a piano player; one hand is doing one thing at one time and the other hand can go off to a different time, that's what Mustaine and I are doing, and that's not an easy job. But to actually be able to play that and sing it live and have your voice last on tour, that was like, literally I was 3/10 in the beginning and 4/10 a year later to the point where finally on the new record, I was able to hit the record button and not worry about punching in or doing 30 takes until I get the words and the lines perfect.

I literally just sat there with the guys in the band sitting on a couch with their feet up on the table criticizing, and I would go and hit play and do the whole first half of the song in one shot. Finally, this was the tour that we just finished, a two-months tour, 43 shows, and that was finally the time when I said to myself, 'You're actually a singer now... you've actually worked up to a certain level that now you can do something.'"

Plans can change, but Annihilator frontman / founder Jeff Waters revealed during a recent show in Athens, Greece while introducing the band's classic "Phantasmagoria" that they willl celebrate the Never, Neveland album's 30th Anniversary next year by performing it in its entirety. Check out the video below.

Annihilator have released the official video for "Armed To The Teeth", the opening track of the band's explosive seventeenth studio album, Ballistic, Sadistic.

Jeff Waters on the track: "'Armed To The Teeth' is simply about how one should never judge a book by it's cover. If you poke a bear with a stick, abuse or bully someone, or treat a living creature with disrespect, be prepared that it might turn around and retaliate, far beyond what you ever thought possible. The retaliation could be ballistic and sadistic. Whether it's about a music industry jerk bullying an artist or about a kid being bullied on the way home from school, karma will catch up to you and bite you in the face. Someday. Although this is a very heavy and aggressive song, we chose to represent the subject by clips of a teen getting bullied; a serious, common, and relevant subject to touch on... and we thought it more appealing than showing this 53 year old musician taking shit from someone in the music biz! Enjoy the metal."

Produced, engineered, and mixed by Waters, Ballistic, Sadistic was recorded at the brand new, state of the art Watersound Studios UK, in Durham earlier this year with additional engineering and editing by bassist Rich Hinks and mastering by Maor Appelbaum at Maor Appelbaum Mastering in California.

Ballistic, Sadistic will be available in limited-edition digipak, vinyl, and digital formats on January 24 via Silver Lining Music. For pre-orders, head here.

A name that should need no introduction in the metal world, Annihilator was forged in Canada in late 1984. Since then, the band has been touring and releasing records, selling millions of albums to date, nonstop, for over thirty years. Cited by bands like Megadeth, Pantera, Dream Theater, Children Of Bodom, Lamb Of God, Opeth, Trivium, and so many more as having influence on their music, Jeff Waters and Annihilator have continued to tour the world, year after year, whilst consistently putting out high-quality true-metal music. It takes a long time to reach legendary status, and no one can dispute that Annihilator are inspirations, teachers, legends, and a force demonstrating what hard work and love of your craft can bring to the world.

Tracklisting:

"Armed To The Teeth"
"The Attitude"
"Psycho Ward"
"I Am Warfare"
"Out With The Garbage"
"Dressed Up For Evil"
"Riot"
"One Wrong Move"
"Lip Service"
"The End Of The Lie"

"Psycho Ward" video:

"I Am Warfare" lyric video:

Annihilator lineup:

Jeff Waters - vocals, guitar
Rich Hinks - bass
Aaron Homma - guitar
Fabio Alessandrini - drums