Kublai Khan - Annihilation (1987)

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Kublai Khan - Annihilation (1987)

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Sometimes when reflecting upon a past project, dwelling upon its name and whether or not it was aptly chosen can be unavoidable, and perhaps doubly so if the project was short-lived. In a name like Kublai Khan comes a renowned historical figure that factors in all too well with thrash metal, namely a great Mongolian ruler whose exploits are rivaled by few, though also a complex one that was not without his personal failures and vulnerabilities. But the verdict on whether the band that took this figure's name was befitting such a brand is a bit less certain, as while this short-lived project did derive itself from a grand master of the sub-genre in Megadeth (its leader Greg Handevidt was in the band for about a year and was kicked out just before the Last Rites demo was recorded) and did to seek further conquests while relying upon the same tactical approach, it didn't quite go so far in expanding beyond land already conquered.

Nevertheless, the lone conquest of this aspiring imperial body known as Annihilation is far from a vapid exercise in retreading established practices and turns out some decent material. As a whole, this is an album that functions in more of a 1983-85 world where speed metal and thrash metal were largely joined at the hip, thus a greater emphasis on speed and flash coupled with an overall feel that's closer to an older, NWOBHM sound. Essentially, this entire album listens wildly close to Metallica's Kill Em' All and Megadeth's Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good!, with Greg Handevidt taking on a gruff style lead vocal approach comparable to a 1983 James Hetfield with a slightly nimbler shriek range, and a riffing approach that heavily draws from Dave Mustaine's playbook. Even the guitar solo work that paints these songs follows a very orthodox sounding middle ground between Kirk Hammett's and Mustaine's frenetic noodling.

Right off the bat, the obviousness of this band's influences streams forth in a set of songs that are well-accomplished, albeit wanting for an identify of their own. The fast paced opener "Death Breath", one of the hold over's from this band's 1985 material, has all the makings of a nod to Metallica's Four Horsemen, complete with the epic length guitar solo in the middle, and differs in being slightly heavier and faster. Things get a bit more distinctive on "Mongrel Horde" and "Liar's Dice", which borrows a bit more from the early Megadeth approach and just cooks mercilessly with only a few fleeting slowdowns and features some biting gang-chorus parts. Things get bogged down a bit with "Down To The Inferno", which clicks back the tempo and also the progression of riff work, probably for sake of trying to channel the band's older NWOBHM tendencies into a mid-tempo respite, but while failing to accomplish the catchy-element that made this approach work on songs like "Jump In The Fire" and "Seek And Destroy".

The second half of this album generally mirrors the character of the first half, but in a duo of epic length songs that bring in plenty of speed and even a couple interesting twists here and there, but can't quite break itself out of the same songwriting box to accommodate the longer lengths. The stronger of the two is the closer "Battle Hymn (The Centurion)", which draws extremely heavily from the faster side of the Kill 'Em All coin and almost sounds like an even funner answer to "Hit The Lights". There is also a fairly impressive riffing display on the shorter instrumental "Clash Of The Swords" that goes a bit heavier on the speed metal side to the point of almost matching the wild speeds that were heard on the Megadeth debut LP, and similarly captures the raw and mildly sloppy character of said album to a tee. It has been stated that Handevidt was ejected from said band for incompetence, but unless some extremely massive improvements were made over a couple years prior to this album, it's hard to see that being the case.

The only thing that really works against this album is that it comes in pretty late to the game for this mode of thrash metal, and it likewise lacks that additional side of intrigue that made Testament's The Legacy and Overkill's Taking Over the noteworthy albums that they were in spite of sounding like they should have come out two or three years earlier. It's a good album overall, but much of what is heard on here differ's little from Metallica's and Megadeth's respective debut albums. Perhaps in one sense the lofty name of Kublai Khan is an apt one for this band when considering the abysmal failures that were the namesake's attempts at invading Japan and Vietnam, thus moderating the successes he achieved elsewhere compared to the massive accomplishments of his predecessors. This is an album that can very much be enjoyed while it is playing, but tends to struggle to keep one's attention at second or third glance.

by hells_unicorn, metal-archives.com

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Kublai Khan - Annihilation (1987)

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Kublai Khan - Annihilation (1987)

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