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Anthrax > Worship Music > Reviews > Ibanezmancons
Anthrax - Worship Music

Worship metal... - 87%

Ibanezmancons, September 22nd, 2011

The day I saw Anthrax's logo had reverted to it's old style (where the 'r' covers the 'n', 't' and 'h'), I spent the week trying to convince my friends that this was the sign we'd been waiting for: Joey Belladonna had returned. Of course, they dismissed it as merely a resurrection of their classic logo for the upcoming Big Four shows, and with good reason too: John Bush had only just finished touring with the band less than a year before, which came just after Dan Nelson (who?) was kicked from the band for yet unexplained reasons (apparently Scott and Charlie made up a rumour that he was ill, but who knows?). Regardless, I bought my Sonisphere ticket, knowing I'd end up seeing Bush. They'd play a set of songs not designed for Bush's vocals, and I'd have to live with that. But then the announcement came. Belladonna was back. Belladonna would be singing for the band during the Big Four shows, at the UK Sonisphere festival. The irony of it all was that a month before the announcement, a friend and I had written a list of bands we'd want to see before we die, and a smaller list of bands we could only dream of seeing. The second list - amongst 'The Doors with Jim Morrison' and 'Jello Biafra fronting Dead Kennedys' - included 'Anthrax with Joey Belladonna'.

And so, 3 years after it was supposed to come out, 'Worship Music' is unleashed on the world. Ever since Joey was announced as the singer, most of us were expecting the band to return to thrash metal and all it's glory. But hearing the two singles, 'Fight Em Till You Can't and 'The Devil You Know', I realised the band is attempting something different. And are succeeding at it.

The first thing I noticed is how easily I got hooked on the songs. Much like when I listened to 'Rust In Peace' or 'South of Heaven' for the first time, everything just flows, just makes sense. Almost all the songs have terrific, memorable choruses, to a point where I can't really name any stand outs. Stylistically each track seems to pick up from where that brilliant second half of 'Think About An End' and 1991's 'Belly Of The Beast' left off. Chugging rhythms and hooky melodies are the name of the game, and god does it sound good.

'Worship Music' combines elements of thrash, groove, feel good heavy metal and modern metal in to a colourful pot of headbanging honey. 'Earth On Hell' is the only pure bred thrasher on here, with lyrics spat out with confidence by Belladonna, complex drumming by Charlie and a short but electric solo from Rob. 'I'm Alive' is a fun, headbanging comic book tale of vengence, with a Dropkick Murphys-esque intro and perfectly matched vocals, making it probably the crowning moment of side one. It combines the great digestibility of 'The Devil You Know' and the raw energy of 'Fight'em 'Til You Can't' to produce a vibrant classic, and definately something to look forward to live. 'Judas Priest' is perhaps the heaviest song on here, and definately Charlie Benante's best performance of the album. 'Judas...' is loaded with melody, driven by a typical Anthrax groove, and features this intense breakdown which a few of us first heard briefly on the band's Facebook page many months ago. It crushes rhythms that the band hasn't crushed before, and stands as a fitting tribute to the Metal Gods themselves better than any cover could do. 'The Constant' and 'The Giant' have been called filler, but blow me down if those songs are any less catchy, any less satisfying than the other songs. Both choruses got stuck in my head since I first gave the album a spin, and out of sheer melody too rather than because of a cheap vocal hook. Anthrax are unlikely to perform them live, but for the time being they sound perfect in my car.

Scott's riffs are these fairly simple but effective: grooving here, thrashing there, overdubbing some extra guitars to add extra flavour (the intro of Dimebag and Dio tribute 'In The End', the harpsichord sounding guitars of 'The Constant'). Rob's solos are the most 'Anthrax' sounding solos since 'Persistence of Time', combining fast tremelo picking, tapping and more as the best showcase of his talents to date. Frankie gives a modest performance, rarely given any limelight besides the breakdowns of 'Judas Priest' and 'Earth On Hell'. Charlie rips the drumming up, doing a better job than ever before, with 'Judas Priest' being one of my favourite performances by the guy, especially considering the previously mentioned breakdown.

And finally, the big one. Belladonna adds an extra energy to the songs, such extra bite, I couldn't ever imagine these songs being sung by anyone else. He might not sound like his 80's self, but he hasn't changed much since that awesome 'Ball of Confusion' cover in 1999. At this point, I'm not sure Bush (much love and respect to the man) could hold all the melodies Joey presents us with here, and I doubt Dan Nelson's pub thug vocals could do much better. He even makes the Refused hardcore classic 'New Noise' his own, the song's usual screaming replaced with the warmth of his melodic voice. And even if Scott and Charlie's lyrics don't always do Joey favours ('In The End' 's second half is weak in my opinion), I really can't wait see these songs live with Belladonna at the front of the band, where he belongs.

This is instantly listenable stuff, which doesn't slack on instrumentation or heaviness. It is pure party-appropriate heavy metal, with tongue in cheek lyrics just like the old days, and their best effort since 'Sound of White Noise' and 'Persistence of Time'. This is a great album to play in the car or at metal clubs, and in my opinion, even if it lacks on thrash, the best of the Big Four's newest offerings by far ('Death Magnetic', 'Endgame' and 'World Painted Blood'). Worship metal? Worship Anthrax? Worship Music.