"Carnival Diablos" is a powerful heavy metal statement that confidently brings Annihilator's legacy into the present and reaffirms Jeff Water's place in the heavy metal / thrash metal Olympus. From the feverish call-and-response of the opener "Denied" to the progressive mid-tempo groove of the title track, an album unfolds that relies less on pure thrash speed and all the more on classic metal power. More heavy metal, less thrash, but one hundred percent Annihilator at one of their creative peaks.