Annihilator - Metal

To be fair, this album doesn't get completely potty until track three. Essentially a list of Annihilator's favourite bands (guess what - they're all old-fashioned metal), Army of One features the singalong chorus 'we are the army of one'. Metal (the title ensures Annihilator aren't mistaken for soul revivalists) has more paranoia than an SWP meeting, guitar solos spanning every emotion from serious showing off through to illegal exhibitionism and riffs dusted off from when Metallica were proper hard. The appearance of so many guest musicians - no doubt intended to show metal solidarity - suggests that an entire scene exists of pre-pubescent tantrum mongers. The lyrics are beautifully defensive - moaning about how much integrity it takes to make this music whilst mining the rhyming dictionary - sung in that special voice that must damage the throat. Apart from a slow bit on Haunted and a comedy voice-over on Smothered (which accuses the band of wasting their lives), the band are completely dedicated to the dated template of shouting about despair and playing fast. It could, of course, be Goldie Looking Chain in disguise. [Gareth K Vile]