In a new interview with Metal Hammer, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian discusses how 2011 was a landmark year for the iconic thrash band due in part to The “Big 4” concerts and the release of their album “Worship Music” that year.
“We were incredibly excited. Strictly speaking about Anthrax, we were in the weirdest part of our career in that period. At the time we didn’t officially have a singer because Joey [Belladonna, vocalist] hadn’t signed back on but here we were writing the record that became Worship Music. A lot of things were in flux for Anthrax at that time, so when we got that phone call, it kicked things back into gear for us in so many ways.
We knew then we had to get Joey back in the band – he was the guy who was there when all these things were happening for us in the first place. We then pushed ourselves to finish writing and recording Worship Music, which became our comeback album. It put us in front of audiences that either hadn’t heard of us, or hadn’t seen us in a long time. Without those shows – and the record we put out – I honestly don’t think Anthrax would still be here ten years later.”
ANTHRAX initially split with Joey Belladonna back in 1992 and brought on ARMORED SAINT vocalist John Bush.
ANTHRAX played their 40th anniversary livestream show in mid-July 2021 and will release that performance on July 15 as “Anthrax XL“. Check out “The Devil you Know” below.