Anthrax (band)

Anthrax
Anthrax (Frank Bello, Joey Belladonna, Scott Ian) at Rockavaria in Munich 2016
General information
Genre (s)	Thrash metal , heavy metal , speed metal , crossover , alternative metal
founding	1981
Website	www.anthrax.com
Founding members
singing	John Connelly (1981)
Rhythm guitar	Scott Ian
Lead guitar , bass	Dan Lilker (until 1984)
bass	Ken "Kenny" Kushner (1981)
Drums	Dave Weiss (1981)
Current occupation
singing	Joey Belladonna (1985–1992, 2005–2007, since 2010)
Rhythm guitar	Scott Ian
bass	Frank Bello (1984-2004, since 2005)
Drums	Charlie Benante (since 1983)
Lead guitar	Jonathan Donais (since 2013)
former members
singing	Neil Turbin (1981-1984)
singing	Matt Falon (1984)
singing	John Bush (1993-2005, 2009-2010)
singing	Dan Nelson (2007-2009)
Lead guitar	Greg Walls (1981-1983)
Lead guitar	Dan Spitz (1983–1995, 2005–2007)
Lead guitar	Rob Caggiano (2001-2005, 2007-2013)
bass	Paul Kahn (1981)
bass	Joey Vera (2004-2005)
Drums	Greg D'Angello (1981-1983)
Live support
Electric guitar	Andreas Kisser (2011)
Electric guitar	Jonathan Donais (2013)
Drums	Jon Dette (2012-2013, 2014)
Drums	Gene Hoglan (2018)

Anthrax is a metal band that was founded in 1981 in New York by Scott Ian Rosenfeld (the only founding member still playing in the band today) and Dan Lilker . Along with Metallica , Megadeth and Slayer, Anthrax is one of the so-called "Big Four" of Thrash Metal .

At first clearly influenced by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal or the varieties Power Metal and Speed ​​Metal influenced by them, Anthrax was significantly involved in the development of Thrash Metal . The first album Fistful of Metal and the following EP Armed and Dangerous is stylistically a bit inconsistent, but the second album Spreading the Disease is almost a pure Thrash album.

In the course of the band's history, the band also increasingly opened up to other styles of music. So Anthrax is especially by the 1987 released EP I'm the Man and the 1992's, along with Public Enemy recorded Bring the Noise as one of the bands that are essential to the consolidation of rock and rap to crossover were. Influences from classic rock and alternative metal were added later. Recently there was a return to Thrash Metal.

history

The beginnings (1981–1985)

Scott Ian founded Anthrax in 1981 with classmate Dan Lilker . The two formed the band's first guitar duo, and the rest of the band consisted of bassist Kenny Kushner, drummer Dave Weiss and singer John Connelly. Anthrax made their first appearance in a church basement in New York. At their first concert they had 50 paying visitors, at the second they had around 200. At that time, Anthrax was still playing a mixture of cover versions and their own pieces. After a few appearances, Paul Kahn replaced Kenny Kushner, who would later found World Bang . Kahn left the band after a short time. Now Danny Lilker switched to bass and Greg Walls became the new lead guitarist. The voice of Anthrax also changed, because John Connelly left Anthrax and founded Nuclear Assault , Neil Turbin came in for him . Dave Weiss also left the band and Gregg D'Angelo took his place on drums.

The line-up continued to change. Charlie Benante was now behind the drums . The lead guitar was played by ex- overkill guitarist Dan Spitz . The first demo recordings were made in 1983 and are now known as The Neil Turbin Demos . In addition, a demo , now called Unofficial Demos , was recorded in 1983 with Manowar member Ross Friedman (Ross the Boss). There is also a demo single from Soldiers Of Metal / Howling Furies . Anthrax then produced together with Carl Canedy the first album called Fistful of Metal and released it in January 1984 in the USA on the New York label Megaforce Records by Jon Zazula . It is a mixture of US-Metal and Speed ​​Metal. Later Fistful of Metal was also released outside the USA on Music for Nations . The cover landed in Germany, it shows a head from whose bleeding mouth a fist with a metallic slap rises, on the index of the Federal Testing Office for writings harmful to minors .

Danny Lilker left Anthrax, the new bassist was Frank Bello, nephew of Charlie Benante and until then the band's roadie. After touring with Metallica and Raven in 1983, Anthrax split from Neil Turbin. Joseph Bellardini, known as Joey Belladonna , became the new singer for Anthrax. In 1985 the EP Armed & Dangerous was released as a test for the new line-up with three new tracks, including a cover version of God Save the Queen of the Sex Pistols , and two new live recordings of Metal Thrashing Mad and Panic .

The Belladonna Era (1985-1992)

Joey Belladonna and Scott Ian, 2005

Due to the tour with Metallica and the boom in American Thrash Metal and the associated success of Armed & Dangerous , Anthrax was also commercially successful in 1985. They decided to sign with Island Records and recorded their second album Spreading the Disease . The typical choppy Thrash Metal style developed combined with high melodic vocals, which should become typical for Anthrax in the next few years and with which the band will continue to be most strongly associated in the future. The last three pieces were made with the participation of Neil Turbin and Dan Lilker and are much more traditional. In terms of text, Anthrax also moved away from the typical heavy metal clichés of the first half of the 1980s. Scott Ian and Charlie Benante used their free time to record an album with Dan Lilker and the anthrax roadie Billy Milano : SODs Speak English or Die . The record was released by Megaforce and only seven gigs followed. The term mosh was coined in connection with this album .

In 1986, Anthrax released their first video clip for the title Madhouse , in which the band played the song in a madhouse surrounded by inmates. Sales of Spreading the Disease exceeded the already positive expectations, and Anthrax went on a big tour again. Since they took off the black leather more and more often at their concerts and instead wore colorful shirts or even Bermuda shorts, they were also seen as fun metalheads; on their releases this can only be seen on the later EP I'm the Man .

In November 1986, Anthrax went back to the studio to record Among the Living . The cover and title track refer to the character Randall Flagg from Stephen King's novel The Stand (The Last Stand ) . Also, A Skeleton in the Closet was inspired by a short story by King. The entire album is dedicated to the late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton . Dan Lilker also makes a contribution to his former band by working on Imitation of Life . Anthrax made a long world tour that lasted until 1988, where they z. B. played at the legendary Hammersmith Odeon in London ; later released on VHS under the title Oidivnikufesin (Nice Fuckin 'Video) (1988).

Initially released only as a single, Anthrax recorded the EP I'm the Man in mid-1987 . The song polarized with enthusiasm and rejection due to the style crossover of metal and rap . Nevertheless, this EP was again a great success for Anthrax, among other things because Aerosmith and Run DMC brought out a number of similar style with Walk this Way in the same year . Due to the continued success, it resulted for Anthrax, together with Bon Jovi , Dio , Metallica , WASP and Cinderella at the legendary Monsters of Rock festivals in 1987 in Castle Donnington and in 1988 with Iron Maiden , David Lee Roth , Kiss and others in Germany ( Schweinfurt and Bochum ) and other continental European countries to play.

State of Euphoria (1988), produced by Mark Dodson and Anthrax, sold a million copies straight away and was gilded with it. Musically and in terms of content, thepath takenon Among the Living was continued, but the production was kept even more contemporary. Anthrax embarked on the very successful Road to Euphoria Tour and completed a Headbangers Ball Tourpresented by MTV. In 1989 the EP Penikufesin (Nice Fuckin 'EP) with six tracks wasreleased only in Europe.

During the recordings with Mark Dodsen for the fifth album, there was a setback in anthrax history on July 24, 1990. The band's rehearsal room with an attached studio burned down. Technical equipment, demo recordings and private material were lost. The album had to be completed in Los Angeles with the help of Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero . These events influence the album Persistence of Time , released in 1990 , which sounds darker and less positive and deals with the subject of transience. In 1990 the second VHS Through Time POV was also brought onto the market.

In 1992, Anthrax proved once again with the 44-minute EP Attack of the Killer B′s that they are pioneers in crossover. It was created with the team Dodsen, Thompson and Barbiero, who were tried and tested from the previous album. The focus was on the track Bring the Noise . It was created in cooperation with Public Enemy, who originally released the song on their album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988). The following Bring the Noise Tour , which included Public Enemy in the opening act and culminated in joint sessions of Bring the Noise at the end of the concerts, was particularly groundbreaking . This constellation practically resulted in an inter-subcultural meeting of metal and hip hop fans. But in the course of the EP, the dispute between the band and singer Belladonna became clear, which is rarely heard on the record, because most of the vocals are from Ian.

The Bush Era (1992-1999)

Charlie Benante and Scott Ian

After the Bring the Noise tour , the band moved from Iceland to Elektra Records and Belladonna was replaced by Armored Saint singer John Bush . With him, the album Sound of White Noise was recorded and released in 1993 with the single Only Only . After the album, Anthrax's third VHS video was also released. It shows a concert of the Bring the Noise Tour together with Public Enemy . Furthermore, the previous record company released the live album Live the Island Years , which was also recorded on this tour.

This was followed by the dismissal of Spitz, as a result of which a solution was sought for recording the next album. Anthrax then got support from Pantera's guitarists Dimebag Darrell and Paul Crook as permanent substitute guitarists . He has played on several Anthrax albums and gigs since Persistence of Time . Due to the sales figures of the previous album that did not meet expectations ( only 500,000 copies of Sound of White Noise were sold), the new album Stomp 442 received little promotional support from the record company in 1995 . Even so, it sold around 100,000 times. After the associated tour, Anthrax and Elektra separated. Ian now focused on the production of the band Killing Culture and on SOD

The following album Volume 8: The Threat Is Real was finally released in 1998 on Ignition Records . This time Dimebag Darrell from Pantera and their singer Phil Anselmo were there as guests. The album only sold around 100,000 times and the accompanying tour was not well attended either, and the record company went bankrupt. Because of this, the album never produced more than 120,000 copies. In Beyond Records was published in 1999, the best-of compilation Return of the Killer A's . Belladonna and Bush sang in a duet while interpreting the Temptations classic Ball of Confusion .

The recent past (since 1999)

Joey Belladonna and Frank Bello on the Reunion Tour 2005

In 1999, Charlie and Scott reformed SOD and had a mediocre success, measured against the over a million sold debut, Speak English or Die . Together with Billy Milano and Danny Lilker they released a new album called Bigger than the Devil . In 1999 John focuses on the reformed Armored Saint .

The album We've Come for You All was released in 2003. Paul Crook made way for Rob Caggiano of Boiler Room . Unlike Crook, Caggiano was an official member of Anthrax. Nevertheless, Pantera's Dimebag Darrell reappeared on the disc and gave u. a. the name of the song Cadillac Rock Box . Darrel wasn't the only prominent guest musician on the album. When Taking the Music Back acts Roger Daltrey of The Who with. Alex Ross (comic artist) did the design for the CD and the single Safe Home . This was followed by a combination of DVD and CD from a gig in Chicago in 2004 under the name Music of Mass Destruction . In the same year, The Greater of Two Evils appeared , which were new recordings of pieces from the Neil Turbin and Belladonna era, this time with singer John Bush. In the meantime, Frank Bello left the band and was replaced by Joey Vera . In 2005 the "classic 80s" line-up with Joey Belladonna, Frank Bello and Danny Spitz came together again for a few shows and a tour.

Frank Joseph Bello and Joey Belladonna at Nova Rock 2014

From February 2007 Joey Belladonna was again no longer in the band. Rock Hard magazine reported the following: “Singer Joey Belladonna was kicked out of Anthrax because he wasn't ready to go on a lucrative US support tour in the spring. Scott Ian & Co. are currently trying to get ex-fronter John Bush back on board. “However, John Bush announced in an interview that he will no longer perform with his old crew. Furthermore, Corey Taylor ( Slipknot ), Bo Bice , the runner-up in American Idol 2005 , and Whitfield Crane ( Ugly Kid Joe and Life of Agony ) should have been advertised. In an interview with the German scene magazine Metal Hammer , Corey Taylor confirmed the attempt to recruit Anthrax. The Slipknot front man describes: “It was something we hadn't really talked about for long. We'd talked about giving it a one-time try, but we just wanted to see what could happen. ” Anthrax's Scott Ian and Frank Bello were planning an acoustic show at a New York club and invited Taylor to join them. Taylor agreed and performed the unplugged gig with the rest of Anthrax's band. In a joke, according to Taylor's further descriptions, it was thrown in after the show that the Slipknot singer could join Anthrax, which Taylor didn't think was a bad idea. In the run-up to demo recordings and rehearsals for the upcoming Anthrax album, Slipknot's record company Roadrunner got involved , when Taylor was planning to continue with the upcoming Slipknot album " All Hope Is Gone ". With a heavy heart, Taylor called Anthrax off.

In December 2007 the singer Dan Nelson was introduced as the new front man. Before the album Worship Music was released , the band separated from the singer again in July 2009 and Anthrax then played the upcoming concerts with John Bush on the microphone. Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano founded the supergroup The Damned Things together with other musicians and released a debut album called Ironiclast in 2010 . On May 10, 2010, Anthrax published a press release , according to which singer Joey Belladonna was back in the line-up and performed together with Anthrax at the 2010 Sonisphere Festival . On October 29, 2010 the concert DVD The Big Four Live from Sofia, Bulgaria was released , where the band played for the first time with Metallica , Megadeth and Slayer .

In summer 2011, the band played at other Big 4 festivals. Andreas Kisser from Sepultura helped out on the guitar because Scott Ian's wife Pearl Aday was expecting a child and the latter stayed with her for a while. On June 24th of that year, Fight 'Em' Til You Can't was released, an advance track from the upcoming studio album Worship Music . The album was released on September 13, 2011. In January 2013, the band announced on their website that Rob Caggiano has left the band; he switched to Volbeat . A replacement should be found as soon as possible. In 2013 the band could be seen on their tour at the Wacken Open Air and the Summer Breeze Festival in Germany.

For health reasons, the regular drummer Charlie Benante has been replaced by ex- Slayer drummer Jon Dette since 2012 . In August 2013 it was confirmed that Jonathan Donais from Shadows Fall is now a permanent member of Anthrax.

In 2014 a Ronnie James Dio tribute album ( This Is Your Life ) was released, on which Anthrax covered the song Neon Knights . The proceeds go to the Dios Cancer Foundation.

Discography

→ Main article : Anthrax (band) / discography

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1984	Fistful of Metal Megaforce Records	-	-	-	-	-	First published: January 1984
1985	Spreading the Disease Megaforce Records	-	-	-	-	US113 (18 weeks) US	First published: October 30, 1985
1987	Among the Living Megaforce Records	DE46 (5 weeks) DE	-	-	UK18th silver (5 weeks)UK	US62 gold (36 weeks)US	First published: March 22, 1987
1988	State of Euphoria Megaforce Records	DE15 (8 weeks) DE	-	CH20 (1 week) CH	UK12 silver (4 weeks)UK	US30th gold (36 weeks)US	First published: September 19, 1988
1990	Persistence of Time Megaforce Records	DE35 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	UK13 (5 weeks) UK	US24 gold (31 weeks)US	First published: August 21, 1990
1993	Sound of White Noise Elektra Records	DE35 (8 weeks) DE	-	CH40 (1 week) CH	UK14 (3 weeks) UK	US7th gold (17 weeks)US	First published: May 25, 1993
1995	Stomp 442 Elektra Records	-	-	-	UK77 (1 week) UK	US47 (3 weeks) US	First published: October 24, 1995
1998	Volume 8: The Threat Is Real Ignition Records	DE43 (5 weeks) DE	-	-	UK73 (1 week) UK	US118 (2 weeks) US	First published: July 21, 1998
2003	We've Come for You All Nuclear Blast	DE22 (3 weeks) DE	-	-	-	US122 (1 week) US	First published: May 6, 2003
2011	Worship Music Nuclear Blast	DE13 (2 weeks) DE	AT30 (2 weeks) AT	CH28 (2 weeks) CH	UK49 (1 week) UK	US12 (6 weeks) US	First published: September 12, 2011
2016	For All Kings Nuclear Blast	DE5 (4 weeks) DE	AT14 (3 weeks) AT	CH8 (3 weeks) CH	UK21 (1 week) UK	US9 (3 weeks) US	First published: February 26, 2016

useful information

• Anthrax made a guest appearance with Edd Byrnes on the American series A Terribly Nice Family in the episode Bud Throws a Party .
• Anthrax gained notoriety as a result of the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States . In the USA, spores - the inactive and quite long-lived state - of the anthrax bacillus (anthrax) were sent by post. Rumors about a renaming of the band made the rounds, but did not come true. The band had to explain itself on their website in this regard as the number of hits and protests increased rapidly.
• Scott Ian is married to Meat Loaf's adopted daughter, Pearl Aday .
• John Bush is currently playing again with his old band Armored Saint .
• Although the album cover of the album Fistful of Metal was indexed in Germany, the record was and is still available in many shops, since the name Festival of Metal was incorrectly given on the index of the Federal Testing Office . Re-releases of the album contain a partially blackened cover so that the questionable parts of the picture cannot be seen.
• Three members of the band (Scott Ian, John Bush & Frank Bello) have a guest appearance in the movie Calendar Girls .
• Harman International Industries offered an effect pedal with the name Scott Ian Signature Pedal Black 13 in its DigiTech's Artist Pedal series .
• 1994 Anthrax controlled the cover version of the song She for Kiss - tribute album Kiss My Ass in.
• In 2011, Scott Ian made a guest appearance as a zombie on a webisode of the television series The Walking Dead .
• In 2016, a version of Carry On Wayward Son closely based on the original of the progressive rock band Kansas was released as a bonus track on the vinyl album For All Kings .

Remarks

1. ↑ Rock Hard, 2007, 3 (March) = 238.
2. ↑ Source on new singer. In: www.laut.de. Retrieved September 16, 2007 . 
3. ↑ Corey Taylor almost sang on Anthrax. August 21, 2020, accessed on August 24, 2020 (German). 
4. ↑ Corey Taylor almost sang on Anthrax. August 21, 2020, accessed on August 24, 2020 (German). 
5. ↑ Joey Belladonna Rejoins Anthrax ( Memento from July 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
6. ↑ www.metalsucks.net: Andreas Kisser Is Playing Eight Shows With Anthrax , accessed July 3, 2011
7. ↑ www.nuclearblast.de: Anthrax - Free Download , accessed July 3, 2011
8. ↑ Statement from Anthrax about Rob Caggiano's Departure From the Band ( Memento from January 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
9. ↑ [1]
10. ^ Eleven Ten Possible Guitarists Who Could Replace Rob Caggiano in Anthrax
11. ↑ http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=193412
12. ↑ metal-hammer.de: Anthrax: Shadows Fall guitarist becomes a permanent member (accessed on August 19, 2013)
13. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
14. ↑ Indexed sound carriers ( Memento from July 25, 2005 in the Internet Archive ).
15. ^ Dale Sherman: Black Diamond 2 - The Illustrated Collector's Guide to Kiss, Collector's Guide Publishing Inc., 1997, ISBN 1-896522-36-X , pages 78-80.
16. ^ The Walking Dead: Webisodes in the Internet Movie Database .
17. ↑ Anthrax: For All Kings at Discogs

Web links

Commons : Anthrax  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website (English)
• Anthrax at Nuclear Blast
• Anthrax at Allmusic (English)
• Anthrax on MusicBrainz (English)
• Anthrax at Musik-Sammler.de
• Anthrax at laut.de