ANNIHILATOR leader Jeff Waters has posted the following message, responding to fans questions about the success of Annihilator overseas and the lack-of in North America:

"Sad cycle... but somewhat understandable in our unique situation. We started worldwide in 1989 with Alice In Hell... it was an instant hit everywhere. Next CD, Never, Neverland outdid Alice. Then metal essentially dropped out of the mainstream (big sales and big business!) in 1993, unless you were making changes like METALLICA or VIOLENCE (turned into MACHINE HEAD) or unless you were following in a BIOHAZARD, SEPULTURA, PANTERA vibe.

I was told, when I was dropped from the label then, that the only thing I could do is try to sound like those other bands. I figured my career in Annihilator was over, as I would never consider that kind of change... I loved and love what I do, the way I do it!

SO, I was shocked and grateful when the Euro/Asian labels were lining up to offer Annihilator deals in 1994!!!! Canada and the USA were done with traditional heavy and thrash metal, mostly. We went on to even more success with King Of The Kill and others after that... steady and awesome since 1989 every year since then overseas BUT when I tried to get new deals here and in the USA in the late 90's/early 2000's, there was no one interested in a reasonable deal (read: non-criminal offer!) and when I did get a release, it was with 0 support.

So we kept going and never stopped... only because of the great fans overseas. With the internet, we were lucky to have a hardcore underground following in North America who, to this day, can't "get" why no label signs us here and pushes us a bit... well if you think about it, there would be no great "comeback" here, as we were never at a huge level of sales here... there is no big reunion! And we are not a young band... 14 studio CDs to date... As much as that would seem a great reason to sign us here (and i think it is), the labels say "too old a band... we'd rather put our money into signing 5 new bands for no money and all their rights, than to give Annihilator a deal where you keep some rights and get paid for what you do"!... That''s the deal!

But I still think that a smart label person is still out there and can see potential, even at this stage of our career... if not, the fans here lose and so do we... we love Canada and we love the USA... I live here, dammit! Best country in the world and the USA ain't too bad either!

HOPE to see you on tour here someday!!!"

Waters previously posted the following: "A good friend of ours (Antoine from France) and his company shot a cool video for our song 'Deadlock'. Hope you like it!"

The song is taken from Annihilator's new album, Feast.