Anthrax Confirms "Anthems" EP

Anthems, Anthrax's long-awaited, eight-track EP that pays tribute to the classic songs by some of Anthrax's favorite bands from the 1970s, will be released in North America on March 19 (MRI/Megaforce), and on March 22 in Europe (Nuclear Blast).  Anthems's track listing features Rush's "Anthem," Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak," "TNT" by AC/DC, Boston's "Smokin'," "Big Eyes" by Cheap Trick, Journey's "Keep on Runnin," as well as the album version and a special remix of Anthrax's "Crawl" from the band's critically-acclaimed 2011 album Worship Music.

Said the band's vocalist Joey Belladonna, "These are all bands I grew up with and have listened to forever.  It's just great music.  I had fun singing these songs and I was happy recording together with Anthrax, doing classic rock songs.  Fun stuff!"
 

On Boston's "Smokin'," Anthrax brought in a special guest to play keyboards - Fred Mandel, who has played with Alice Cooper, Queen, Elton John, Cheap Trick, Supertramp and on Pink Floyd's The Wall.  About the track, drummer Charlie Benante said, "If ever there were a perfect first album, it's Boston's first album.  The harmony leads they did would later be heard by Iron Maiden, which of course would lead to thrash metal."
 

The EP will be available on CD as well as digitally via iTunes and other online retailers.  In addition to Anthems' cover art, Benante and artist Stephen Thompson have subtly redesigned each track's original album cover art to "Anthrax" it.  The Anthems EP will first be housed in one of the "re-imagined" digipak covers, and then inserted inside the main CD cover sleeve.  The main cover sleeve has been designed in such a way so fans will be able to see which one of the six "re-imagined" covers is inside.
 

Anthems was produced by Anthrax, Jay Ruston and Rob Caggiano, and recorded for the most part throughout 2012 literally all over the world:  at Benante's home studio, in Ruston's New York studio, on the band's tour bus while on last summer's Mayhem Tour, in hotel rooms, and backstage at their Berlin show last December.

 
The Grammy-nominated Anthrax - Belladonna, Benate/drums, Scott Ian/guitar and Frank Bello/bass - will hit the road in support Anthems on February 16 with dates in India and Australia, and then return to North America to headline the Metal Alliance Tour that kicks off March 22.  For all of these dates, Anthrax will be joined by Shadows Fall guitarist Jon Donais.

Anthrax Statement About Rob Caggiano's Departure From The Band

"Rob has been an integral part of Anthrax for so many years, as our lead guitarist, in a production capacity, but most of all, as our close friend.  His contributions to the band have been enormous. While we are sad that he is leaving, we wish him nothing but great success going forward, and hope to share the stage with him again sometime down the road.

"With the Metal Alliance Tour on the horizon, we have been considering several lead guitarist options, and will be making an announcement on that shortly."

ANTHRAX - Charlie Benante, Scott Ian, Frank Bello, Joey Belladonna

The Road To Anthrax's 2013 Grammy Nomination

Anthrax's "rock'n'roll comeback story of 2011" began in 2009, reaching a pinnacle with last month's surprise Grammy nomination for the track "I'm Alive" in the category of Best Rock/Metal Performance.  The surprise was that the acknowledgement came more than a year after the track's September 13, 2011 release on the band's critical smash album, Worship Music, which was named one of the best metal albums of the year by numerous media outlets.  

L-R: Scott Ian, Charlie Benante, Frank Bello, Joey Belladonna, Rob Caggiano

There were great highs - Joey Belladonna's return, the Big Four concerts, playing Yankee Stadium, the overwhelming acclaim of Worship Music, the "bare bones, guerilla" set at last summer's Mayhem festival, the band's "Got The Time" being the first metal song played on Mars - and there were challenges as well, but, Anthrax - Charlie Benante/drums, Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano/guitars, Frank Bello/bass, and Joey Belladonna/vocals - redefined the joy of rooting for the underdog.   

Here's a look at some of what got them to this 2013 Grammy nomination: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL-7vG1jSn4

Anthrax on Google Play's "Audiobiography"

Thrash-metal masters Anthrax and what is arguably the band's signature album, Among the Living, will be featured on Google Play's "Audiobiography" series starting today.  Anthrax's Scott Ian and Joey Belladonna recently pulled back the curtain exclusively for Google Play, discussing at length stories behind the making of their Gold-certified 1987 album that includes some of the band's most popular tracks - "I Am The Law," "Indians," and Caught in a Mosh."  Log onto http://bit.ly/Opbo3T to check it out.

The "Audiobiography" feature launches in tandem with a special catalog sale of some of Anthrax's best-loved albums:  Spreading the Disease (1985), Among The Living (1987), I'm the Man EP (1987), State of Euphoria (1988), Persistence of Time (1990), Attack of the Killer Bs (1991), We've Come for You All (2003), Caught in a Mosh:  BBC Live in Concert (2007), and the band's most recent release, the critically-acclaimed Worship Music (2011). All albums are priced at $6.99; two tracks, "Indians" and "Madhouse," are available for only $.49, while "Caught In A Mosh" is being offered as a free download.

 

Among the Living was released at a time when the thrash-metal genre was exploding - Metallica's Master of Puppets, Slayer's Reign In Blood and Megadeth's Peace Sells had just hit the streets, birthing what came to be known as The Big Four.  The cover art for Among the Living is an original painting that some say features a rendition of the maleficent Rev. Henry Kane from the "Poltergeist" films.  As the band's Charlie Benante explained, "the album is basically about Good and Evil...how much evil there is among us."

 

Anthrax is about to hit the road, co-headlining Leg Three of the Anthrax/Testament/Death Angel "thrash-fest," marking the first time the band has toured Canada since the release of Worship Music. Dates are below.


SEPTEMBER

14   Ace of Spades, Sacramento, CA

15   Roseland Theatre, Portland, OR

16   Toyota Arena, Kennewick, WA

17   Knitting Factory, Spokane, WA

19   The Showbox @ The Market, Seattle, WA

20   Vogue Theatre, Vancouver, BC

21   MacEwan Hall Ballroom, Calgary, AL

22   Events Center, Edmonton, AL

24   The Odeon, Saskatoon, SK

25   Burton Cummings Theatre, Winnipeg, MB

27   Vic Theatre, Chicago, IL

28   Harpo's Concert Theatre, Detroit, MI

29   Danforth Hall, Toronto, ON

30   Capitole du Quebec, Quebec City, QC

 

OCTOBER

 2   Metropolis, Montreal, QC

 3   State Theatre, Portland, ME

 4   Webster Theatre, Hartford, CT

 5   Wellmont Theatre, Montclair, NJ

 6   House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ

Anthrax Plans Special Set for Mayhem 2012 Festival

When Anthrax was given the choice of playing this summer's Mayhem Main Stage or the festival's Jagermeister Stage, the band opted to headline the latter, and to do something special for the crowd.

ANTHRAX L-R: Scott Ian, Charlie Benante, Frank Bello, Joey Belladonna, Rob Caggiano

Explained Anthrax's Charlie Benante, "We decided to pattern the Mayhem set on the kind of shows The Ramones used to do:  a high-energy, non-stop barrage of hit, hit, hit, hit, hit.  No lulls, no filler, totally in your face.  We're going to be playing a supersonic-paced set loaded with the best of our best."

"We really like the idea of not 'playing to seats,'" added Scott Ian, "and we want our crowd to have the freedom to move around, to go crazy with us.  Plus, we've been on the road together now for about two years, so we're tighter as a band than we've ever been.  Our Mayhem set will be a fun, fast and furious 45-minutes, so they'd better have the EMTs on hand."

Since vocalist Joey Belladonna rejoined the Anthrax line up a little more than a year ago, Anthrax - Belladonna/vocals, Charlie Benante/drums, Scott Ian/guitar, Rob Caggiano/guitar, and Frank Bello/bass - has made one of the most impressive comebacks in rock'n'roll.  As one of The Big Four, the original architects of speed and thrash-metal, Anthrax joined Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth during the summer of 2010 on a series of Big Four shows in ten European cities, followed by a Big Four show outside of Los Angeles at the Coachella site (April 2011), and the big "homecoming" event for the New York-born-and-bred band members at Yankee Stadium last September.

The band released Worship Music on September 13, 2011, its first new album in eight years and the first with Belladonna on vocals in twenty years.  Worship Music debuted at #12 Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart, received stellar reviews that included being named one of the best albums of the year in media outlets such as Revolver, Guitar World, SPIN, Metal Assault, Metal Sucks, the UK's Classic Rock and Metal Hammer, Canada's Lithium, Lou Brutus' HardDrive, Eddie Trunk/VH1's "That Metal Show," and SiriusXM's Jose Mangin.  

Dates for this summer's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival are below; Main Stage artists include Slipknot, Slayer, Motorhead, and a rotation of The Devil Wears Prada, As I Lay Dying and Asking Alexandra.

JUNE

30   San Manuel Amphitheatre, San Bernardino, CA

JULY

 1   Shoreline Amphitheater, San Francisco, CA

 3   White River Amphitheater, Seattle, WA

 4   Idaho Center Amphitheater, Boise, ID

 6   Ashley Furniture Home Store Pavilion, Phoenix, AZ

 7   Hard Rock Casino Amphitheater, Albuquerque, NM

 8   Comfort Dental Amphitheater, Denver, CO

10  Gexa Energy Pavilion, Dallas, TX

11  Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Houston, TX

13  1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheater, Tampa, FL

14  Aaron's Amphitheater @ Lakewood, Atlanta, GA

15  Klipsch Music Center, Indianapolis, IN

18  Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City, OK

20  Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, St. Louis, MO

21  Firs Midwest Bank Amphitheater, Chicago, IL

22  DTE Energy Music Theatre, Detroit, MI

24  Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH

25  Blossom Music Center, Cleveland, OH

27  Susquehanna Bank Center, Philadelphia, PA

28  First Niagra Pavilion, Pittsburgh, PA

29  Jiffy Lube Live, Washington, DC

31  Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

AUGUST

 1   Darien Lake PAC, Buffalo, NY

 3   Comcast Center, Boston, MA

 4   Toyota Pavilion, Scranton, PA

 5   Comcast Theatre, Hartford, CT