Annihilator "Alice in Hell"

Alice in Hell is the debut studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Annihilator, released on April 17, 1989 by Roadrunner Records. This album has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide.

Although the album's insert lists five members, Annihilator was a three-piece (Randy Rampage, Jeff Waters and Ray Hartmann) at the time of its recording in 1988. In addition to guitar, Waters provides bass and backing vocals on the album, produced it and wrote all the songs, with the exception of "Crystal Ann". Although Anthony Brian Greenham and Wayne Darley are noted on the album's insert as playing guitar and bass respectively, this was a mistake and they did not join Annihilator until after Alice in Hell was finished; Darley does, however, provide backing vocals on the album. Waters has explained in interviews the reason Greenham and Darley were listed in the credits was at the behest of Roadrunner.

Alice in Hell was the first of six Annihilator albums to feature songwriting contributions from former singer John Bates, who was credited as the (co-)writer of the songs "Alison Hell", "W.T.Y.D.", "Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade" and "Human Insecticide". Bates also co-wrote some songs on Never, Neverland (1990), King of the Kill (1994), Refresh the Demon (1996), Remains (1997) and Criteria for a Black Widow (1999).

To promote Alice in Hell, Annihilator supported Onslaught internationally on their In Search of Sanity tour, and Testament (along with Wrathchild America) in the United States on their Practice What You Preach tour. After the tour was over, the band began preparations for their next album Never, Neverland.

The album was re-released twice: 1998 with 3 demo tracks as bonus tracks and again on September 9, 2003 in a two-disc compilation set along with Never, Neverland, entitled Two From The Vault. One of the demo tracks, "Powerdrain", serves as the base of the song "Sonic Homicide" on Annihilator's 1999 album Criteria for a Black Widow.

Alice in Hell has received mostly positive reviews. Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia gave it three stars out of five, and states that "Annihilator's brand of technical, thinking man's thrash metal garnered many fans with this fine debut, arguably the best release of the band's career."

Alice in Hell was ranked number nine in Loudwire's top ten list of "Thrash Albums NOT Released by the Big 4".

Track listing

All music is composed by Jeff Waters.

1. "Crystal Ann" instrumental 1:40
2. "Alison Hell" John Bates, Waters 5:00
3. "W.T.Y.D." (Welcome to Your Death) Bates, Waters 3:56
4. "Wicked Mystic" Waters, Jody Weil 3:38
5. "Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade" Waters, Bates, Weil 3:33
6. "Word Salad" Waters 5:49
7. "Schizos (Are Never Alone) Parts I & II" Waters 4:32
8. "Ligeia" Waters 4:47
9. "Human Insecticide" Bates, Waters 4:50

Total length: 37:27

Bonus tracks - 1998 re-release

1. "Powerdrain" (Demo) Waters 2:49
2. "Schizos (Are Never Alone), Parts I & II" (Demo) Waters 4:18
3. "Ligeia" (Demo) Waters 4:56

Total length: 49:53

Trivia:

- Schizos (Are Never Alone) Parts I & II was originally titled "Fuck the Dead".

- W.T.Y.D. stands for Welcome to Your Death.

- Alice in Hell was Roadrunner Records largest selling debut at the time selling over 250,000 records.

- Although original singer John Bates left Annihilator in 1985, he is credited as the co-writer of Alison Hell, W.T.Y.D., Burns like a Buzzsaw Blade and Human Insecticide.

- The sleeve pictures a five member line up. However, in interviews, Jeff Waters revealed that this was at the behest of the record label while actually he played the guitars and bass himself.

- Wayne Darley who is credited as a bassist on the insert did not play on this album but appears as one of the guest vocalists.

Music video:

- Alison Hell

Reissued by Roadrunner Records on September 9th 2003 as a part of Roadrunner's Two from the Vault series remastered along with Never, Neverland on 2 CD's, CD 1 has the same bonus tracks as the 1998 reissue.

Recording information:

Recorded and mixed between Summer 1987 and Fall 1988 at Live West Productions, Fiasco Bros. Studios, New Westminster, B.C., Canada.

Mastered at Frankford/Wayne.