Riff Police! Pull Over! #90: Annihilator Vs Metallica!

Sponsored by James Villa Holidays and San Miguel Especial 5.4% lager, it’s time for another lethal dose of Riff Police. The only series that doesn’t take itself too seriously while pointing the fickle finger of fate and shouting “copy cat!” at the top of it’s lungs like a child in the playground while waiting for the response “liar, liar pants on fire!”…

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again happily until (a) Metallica create a better album or (b) someone is able to convince us otherwise, probably over shots of Jagermeister, that it isn’t the case, but for us “Master Of Puppets” is THE Metallica album. Not only the band at the peak of their powers with a 10/10 release, but also one that arguably laid down the guantlet for other acts do follow the consistent level of quality. The title track is a piece of brilliance and we defy you to claim otherwise. Now, during the build up to the release of “Ballistic Sadistic” by Annihilator, a might fine piece of work in its own right, in part #5 of their interview series they spoke about how Metallica schooled them in the art of the live show. It seemed odd at the time, given that we’re talking about a band on album number #17 but after hearing the album it makes more sense. Why? Well, check out “I Am Warfare” which is a riff-tastic affair that needs to be heard, though you might find that in the turn around of a couple of parts, Jeff Waters and Aaron Homma borrow from “Master Of Puppets“. Subliminal influence? Without a doubt, you might not even notice it the first time, but that doesn’t mean it’s not in there…