"Annihilation Absolute" Album Description:

I have a soft spot for records like this: the kind you spot in a Dutch import bin, squint at the band name (CITIES? really?), and buy mostly because the cover looks like it wants to start a fight. This is the 12" LP version of "Annihilation Absolute", manufactured in the Netherlands in 1986, and it’s still the only full-length Cities ever gave us. One album. One proper punch. Then silence.

New York grit, not hair-spray romance

Cities came out of New York City, and you can hear it in the attitude. This isn’t Sunset Strip posing. It’s heavy/power metal with a speed-metal twitch, like the band kept one eye on the clock and the other on the volume knob. Ron Angell sings like he means it. Steeve Mironovich plays guitar like he’s cutting cable, not weaving lace. Mayne holds the bottom end in place. And A.J. Pero? Those drums don’t politely “support” anything. They shove.

Two versions, same title, because why make life easy?

Collector trivia that actually matters: there’s a 1985 EP called "Annihilation Absolute" and a 1986 LP also called "Annihilation Absolute". Same name, overlapping material, and the EP is not just a simple preview copy of the album. Different recording. So yes, you can own both and still feel mildly annoyed while being very pleased with yourself. That’s the hobby.

Systems Two, Brooklyn: the business end of the record

The LP was recorded and mixed at Systems Two in Brooklyn, from 3 July to 4 September 1986, with Audie Adare engineering. That time window matters, because it sounds like a band under pressure: tight, urgent, no wasted motion. Put it on and you can almost smell the warm electronics and stale coffee. Not glamorous. Effective.

Cover, photos, and that very 80s sense of menace

Beirne Lowry handled the artwork, Ira Rosenson shot the band photos, and Ralph Bland, Jr. did the graphic design. It all fits: bold, harsh, and slightly over-serious in that perfect mid-80s way. The kind of sleeve that doesn’t ask for your attention. It assumes it already has it.

References

Play it loud, preferably when the neighbors are feeling optimistic. This record doesn’t do optimism. It does momentum. And if you catch yourself thinking “how did this stay this obscure?”, congratulations: you’re officially the target audience.