Anthrax
WORSHIP MUSIC
Its been a very long road for Anthrax with WORSHIP MUSIC. There was the Dan Nelson experiment that failed miserably. Allegedly, they reached back to their old standby John Bush to record this album, and he turned them down. There was talk about going out and finding yet another singer. Finally, they seemingly settled on recording the album with longtime vocalist Joey Belladonna; a decision that felt like a consolation prize to Belladonna for putting up with the rest of the bands shit for so many years. For a lesser band, they would have just called it a day. At a minimum, a lesser band would have just scrapped this material and wrote a new batch of songs as a unit. For whatever reason though, Charlie Benante and Scott Ian decided against this, choosing to somehow shoehorn Belladonnas sound into material written for a much more Bush/Phil Anselmo type singer. A formula for failure, right?
Wrong! WORSHIP MUSIC is, without question, the metal album of the year in my eyes. For Anthrax, Ill make a blasphemous statement and say its the best album theyve ever done as a band. The music is great, but more noticably is the absolutely brilliant vocal work of Belladonna here. Hes simply adapted his voice to what was written here, and the results are a much deeper, stronger and appealing sound for him. You have to really give the lions share of the credit to Belladonna here for completely moving away from his signature sound throughout WORSHIP MUSIC. Yes, its still Belladonna and no, hes not moved into death metal growls or anything like that. Instead though, hes come down in register vocally to add a does of grit that hes never shown on an Anthrax album or solo. Ive gone back and listened to previous albums, and its really kind of amazing how different this is vocally without trading out the Anthrax sound. To hear him on the albums two best songs, Im Alive and the stirring In The End, you get a brand new dimension from Belladonna thats never been there before. Joey kills it on this release.
Thats not to say that the rest of the band doesnt. In fact, WORSHIP MUSIC stands as the strongest writing Anthrax has ever done because, for the first time ever, theyve actually merged the styles of the two major eras of the band into one unified sound. In the past, a few notes of any song and you would know if it was Bush Era or Belladonna Era. For WORSHIP MUSIC, you really have hybrid material here. While WORSHIP MUSIC doesnt have much in the way of AMONG THE LIVING thrash, it does have some here and there. Earth On Hell fits that bill. In other places, you get a lot of that hard rockin Bush vibe. Songs like Judas Priest and The Devil You Know fit that bill really well. The sheen of WORSHIP MUSIC though comes from the stuff that intermingles both eras of the band, or breaks new ground for them depending on your stance on it. Im Alive is, to me, the strongest song these guys have ever put together. Its a mid-tempo tune with powerful, alluring vocals over top a hook filled chorus and music that doesnt try to be extreme to simply fit the Anthrax mold. In fact, that may be the feature that separates WORSHIP MUSIC from any other album. Theyve written an album that doesnt try to be Anthrax. They arent trying to wedge in super heavy breakdowns anywhere. No forced guitar lines. None of the patented silliness they always like to stick into their releases. WORSHIP MUSIC is simply a focused, powerful effort from these guys. Id content its the most focused and within themselves that theyve ever recorded.
CHRIS AKIN KNOWS THAT ANTHRAX WORSHIP MUSIC SCORES 98/100
I know that some of the diehards out there will not like this at all. WORSHIP MUSIC really doesnt have much in the way of 900 mile an hour thrash going on in it. Its not likely to sit well if listening to it back to back with Exodus EXHIBIT B. Ive been accused of being a shill for Anthrax and specifically the Bush-era of the band. Fair enough. This is better than that material, which I absolutely love. Maybe its because its just new, but if I could keep one Anthrax album and never hear another one again, this is the one Im holding onto. WORSHIP MUSIC is a true comeback album from a band that was pretty much dead and buried. Well done, gentlemen!
WORSHIP MUSIC
Its been a very long road for Anthrax with WORSHIP MUSIC. There was the Dan Nelson experiment that failed miserably. Allegedly, they reached back to their old standby John Bush to record this album, and he turned them down. There was talk about going out and finding yet another singer. Finally, they seemingly settled on recording the album with longtime vocalist Joey Belladonna; a decision that felt like a consolation prize to Belladonna for putting up with the rest of the bands shit for so many years. For a lesser band, they would have just called it a day. At a minimum, a lesser band would have just scrapped this material and wrote a new batch of songs as a unit. For whatever reason though, Charlie Benante and Scott Ian decided against this, choosing to somehow shoehorn Belladonnas sound into material written for a much more Bush/Phil Anselmo type singer. A formula for failure, right?
Wrong! WORSHIP MUSIC is, without question, the metal album of the year in my eyes. For Anthrax, Ill make a blasphemous statement and say its the best album theyve ever done as a band. The music is great, but more noticably is the absolutely brilliant vocal work of Belladonna here. Hes simply adapted his voice to what was written here, and the results are a much deeper, stronger and appealing sound for him. You have to really give the lions share of the credit to Belladonna here for completely moving away from his signature sound throughout WORSHIP MUSIC. Yes, its still Belladonna and no, hes not moved into death metal growls or anything like that. Instead though, hes come down in register vocally to add a does of grit that hes never shown on an Anthrax album or solo. Ive gone back and listened to previous albums, and its really kind of amazing how different this is vocally without trading out the Anthrax sound. To hear him on the albums two best songs, Im Alive and the stirring In The End, you get a brand new dimension from Belladonna thats never been there before. Joey kills it on this release.
Thats not to say that the rest of the band doesnt. In fact, WORSHIP MUSIC stands as the strongest writing Anthrax has ever done because, for the first time ever, theyve actually merged the styles of the two major eras of the band into one unified sound. In the past, a few notes of any song and you would know if it was Bush Era or Belladonna Era. For WORSHIP MUSIC, you really have hybrid material here. While WORSHIP MUSIC doesnt have much in the way of AMONG THE LIVING thrash, it does have some here and there. Earth On Hell fits that bill. In other places, you get a lot of that hard rockin Bush vibe. Songs like Judas Priest and The Devil You Know fit that bill really well. The sheen of WORSHIP MUSIC though comes from the stuff that intermingles both eras of the band, or breaks new ground for them depending on your stance on it. Im Alive is, to me, the strongest song these guys have ever put together. Its a mid-tempo tune with powerful, alluring vocals over top a hook filled chorus and music that doesnt try to be extreme to simply fit the Anthrax mold. In fact, that may be the feature that separates WORSHIP MUSIC from any other album. Theyve written an album that doesnt try to be Anthrax. They arent trying to wedge in super heavy breakdowns anywhere. No forced guitar lines. None of the patented silliness they always like to stick into their releases. WORSHIP MUSIC is simply a focused, powerful effort from these guys. Id content its the most focused and within themselves that theyve ever recorded.
CHRIS AKIN KNOWS THAT ANTHRAX WORSHIP MUSIC SCORES 98/100
I know that some of the diehards out there will not like this at all. WORSHIP MUSIC really doesnt have much in the way of 900 mile an hour thrash going on in it. Its not likely to sit well if listening to it back to back with Exodus EXHIBIT B. Ive been accused of being a shill for Anthrax and specifically the Bush-era of the band. Fair enough. This is better than that material, which I absolutely love. Maybe its because its just new, but if I could keep one Anthrax album and never hear another one again, this is the one Im holding onto. WORSHIP MUSIC is a true comeback album from a band that was pretty much dead and buried. Well done, gentlemen!
