Metal Reviews

"Among The Living" and amongst the "big four" Thrash Metal acts that redefined Heavy music for listeners in the early '80s, few can deny Anthrax their place among the elite of the genre.

One of the earliest bands to make "moshing" the fashionable crowd pleaser its grown into
today, and to say nothing of their innovations in the "Metal/Rap" crossover… because I really don't want to, but facts are facts, "I'm The Man," was there, and it was funny and in a clever sort of way, was cool.

What we've got here is the tale of two bands really, both equal in their distribution of ingenuity, the former, fronted first by the little known Neil Turbin and "Fistful" infamy, later Joey "Injun" Belladonna," and currently the explosive force that began with the
innovative "Sound of White Noise," a 1992 statically charged stormbringer of a record that introduced the formerly "Saintly" presence of one John Bush, third known and current vocalist.

Disturbed, like many, at the time, a decade ago, Anthrax made the bold decision built on more modern impulses, waved goodbye to yesterday, still true to their noble fan base, but almost completely redesigned with nary a trace of what was.

But few could argue that a change was sorely needed within this band.

Following the uninspired late '80s releases of "State of Euphoria" and "Got The Time," the band was fading, and such is the curse of prior success, they were never going to rival against the likes of "Spreading The Disease" or "Among The Living" again the way they were going.

The first of these current reissues, "The Sound Of White Noise" was bombastic in nature, spawning future fan friendly favorites as "Only," "Room For One More," and "Black Lodge," the latter an extra feature in remixed edition for current purposes.

Anthrax was back on the scene and still doing it their way, they catered not to the
burgeoning Grunge crowd, steered clear of the growing level of Aggro-cut and Rap Metal mainstream and put out what should go down in history as one of the best Metal records in history.

Getting used to Bush on vocals was the biggest transition for any listener to make-a complete 360 from the formerly high-strained Belladonna-led sound, sure it was like Armored Saint trading in their noble steed for an extra liter of jet fuel and blasting skyward, yet musically far beyond preconception.

A few years later saw the release of the Spitz-less "Stomp 442" and the band furthering the development of their core sound from an album ago and while commercially it didn't measure up to its predecessor, this owed more to lackluster label support than musically propulsive elements, "Stomp" was up to the task-"Fueled," "King Size," "Riding
Shotgun," "Drop The Ball," and several more reasons to relish in the almighty riff, maybe never as pronounced as right here.

Anthrax proudly control their own destiny these days and all the better for fans, legions of loyalists who've stuck by throughout a career of triumph and turbulence.

Deserving of mention also is the last Anthrax studio release "Volume 8," which was unfortunately dead on arrival and suffered a fate of obscurity, an increasingly disturbing trend that would continue to haunt those of the true Metal variety, but an album worthy
of equal praise as these two.

The Anthrax camp is alive and well and while their reemergence in 2002 is imminent, here are two prime examples why this band continues to produce where others fail; featuring quick textual walkthroughs and impressive bonus cuts, covers (featuring Lizzy's "Cowboy Song," and a must-hear version of Frost's "Dethroned Emperor") and cut to the bone classics, must have additions to concussive Metal collections everywhere!

Released by Beyond Music

Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu]
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