Anthrax
Worship Music
Nuclear Blast
4 out of 5
Over the last twenty years, Anthrax have seemingly been the laughing stock of the big four. Metallica had the record sales, Megadeth the pure technical excellence and Slayer had the heavy. Anthrax meanwhile would be off adding guitars to Public Enemy’s ‘Bring Tha Noize’ and changing their frontman every twelve seconds; within the past three years alone, they replaced short time vocalist Dan Nelson with previous vocalist John Bush before deciding to bring back another former vocalist Joey Belladonna. Needless to say, the long awaited Worship Music is make or break time for Anthrax, and they know it.
Long before the intro Worship is over, you realise that Worship Music is going to be the heaviest set of tunes Anthrax have put to record for a long, long time. Smashing you over the head with crisp riffs and, to Belladonna’s credit, still rather powerful vocals, this isn’t the celebration of Anthrax’s past that it could easily have been; more so, it is a statement of intent for the future. ‘Fight ‘Em Till You Can’t’, whilst on paper a ridiculous number about fighting off singing zombies, turns out in actuality to be one of the catchiest thrash metal songs for what seems like an age. But the big treat to find on Worship Music is ‘In The End.’ Both knowingly ambitious and surprisingly delicate at parts, this is where Belladonna really shines through and silences any critics who called for the brief John Bush reunion to be ongoing.
With Metallica noodling around with Lou Reed, now is a perfect time for Anthrax to pounce with the album of their career. With Worship Music, they may just have done this. Heavy, melodic, catchy and confident, it’s time to give Anthrax the respect they deserve.
