A lot of kids are looking for something new.
By Mike Gitter
At a casual glance, New York's
Anthrax appear far from the trap-
pings usually associated with most
metal acts. Hawailan jams and Ag
nostic Front t-shirts replace the usual
Satan and Spandex limitations, and
while the vast bulk of cock rockers
pose and stuff their crotches, Anthrax
play balls-out and as sincerely as
possible.
Their live show is an awesome dis-
play of sheer speed, raging energy
and direct band/audience interrela-
tion. Whether headlining a large club
or opening for Black Sabbath in front
of thousands, the show is always the
same; five individuals backed by
stacks of amplification all delivering
110% in sweat, energy and volume.
Formed in late 1982 by Bronx-
ANTHRAX
based metal afficionado and rhythm
guitarist Scott lan, along with drum-
mer Charlie Benante, bassist Dan
Liker (later replaced by Frank Bello).
lead guitarist Dan Spitz and vocalist
Neil Turbin, the group offered up a
heavy dose of true metal, influenced
by the likes of Iron Maiden, Judas
Priest and Motorhead. Following a
number of well-received demo tapes,
the band signed with New York's
rapidly growing Megaforce Records,
home of such trail-blazing outfits as
Raven and Metallica. Releasing a
single entitled "Soldiers of Metal" as
well as a follow-up Lp. "Fist Full of
Metal," the band gained a legion of
fans worldwide. Anthrax were quick
to earn a name for themselves as
they toured the U.S. supporting U.K..
based label mates Raven, and
distinguished themselves with sheer
energetic delivery and 100% musical
honesty.
In late 1984, Turbin, dissatisfied
with Anthrax's unique approach part-
ed ways, while the rest of the band
went on to audition a host of poten-
tial lead vocalists. Enter upstate New
York native Joey Belladonna, whose
incredible vocal range fronted the
band's "Armed and Dangerous" EP.
Signing with a major label, Island,
Anthrax released a second LP entitl-
ed "Spreading the Disease" late last
year. Since then, they've toured the
US and Europe, opening for the likes
of Black Sabbath and WASP
When asked about the changing
face of the metal scene, Scott replied,
Anthrax L to R: Joey, Frankie and Danny
"A lot of kids are looking for some-
thing new, just like I was in 1981.
There are a lot of new kids coming
into the metal scene and a lot of them
are doing new and interesting things.
They seem to like the energy of
bands like Iron Maiden and AC/DC,
so they should be able to pick up on
what we're doing as well. With bands
like Metallica and Slayer doing well
on somewhat of a commercial level,
it seems only a matter of time before
the public receives Anthrax in a com-
mercial sense." "The kids are sick
of the same old pussy music," says
Dan. "They want something with a
lot more aggression. They want an
outlet."
"You may never get the moshing or
stage diving that we get at a club
show," says Scott, "but when we
start playing arena-sized shows, 1
think that you're going to be seeing
a much crazier crowd."
Whether calling off bouncers from
"removing" enthused fans from the
stage or hanging out with the "kids"
before and after the gig. Anthrax pos
sess an audience rapport seldom
seen in a musical niche usually asso-
ciated with needless professionalism
and rules. Those are rules Anthrax
seem intent on breaking. According
to Scott, "We're the audience.
There's really no difference between
the kids out there and us onstage.
We're all into going to shows and hav-
ing a good time. We try and put that
attitude across when we play. We
don't have a cliched thing. There's
no rap after every other song or any
of that crap. We wear street clothes
when we go onstage. We also don't
treat the kids in the audience like
assholes. We stand and talk to them
without any real rock star attitudes.
If we could talk to every single kid at
a show, we'd be totally happy."
They are one of the few moderately
commercial metal acts who are
definitely trying to relate to their au-
dience in a respectful, intelligent
manner. They treat them as equals.
"A lot of the time," says Scott, "the
kids are no longer compelled to come
up to us and ask for something like
an autograph. A lot of the time, they'll
just come up and hang out. Most kids
have no problem just coming up to
any of us and simply talking. Today,
for instance (Boston gig), I was talk-
ing about everything ranging from
how the Yankees were doing to
Judge Dredd comics to Anthrax
shows to what it was like touring with
Black Sabbath to whatever. They
want to know what's going on, which
is a good sign to us."
Much like fellow metal merchants
Metallica, Anthrax regularly attend.
hardcore gigs-Agnostic Front,
Suicidal Tendencies, DRI and Corro-
sion of Conformity are some fave
bands. Not only do they attend
shows, but they make themselves a
part of the New York scene, hanging
out with a wide spectrum of punks
and headbangers alike.
"I guess the overall heaviness and
speed of certain hardcore bands has
really influenced us," says Scott, "A
lot of the speed we now have in our
sound has come from the hardcore
scene. Still, it's speed and heavi-
ness, not just speed alone."
"Look at all the new thrash metal
or death metal bands that seem to be
cropping up." interjects Charlie.
"Nowadays you have a lot of kids
who can't even play their instruments
going up there and playing a million
miles an hour. I can't understand how
kids get into bands like Possessed or
Sodom or Bathory. Ninety-nine per-
cent of all your Satan and speed
bands just suck. I'd rather go out and
buy a Bruce Springsteen album.
Most of those kids can't even play,
so they have to rely on the Satanic
crap to get their thing to work."
"You've got us, Metallica and Slayer
and some other decent bands like
Megadeath and Celtic Frost," says
Scott, "but beyond that I haven't
heard too much that's very good. I do
think that we are reaching a lot of
people, though. I've seen kids come
to our shows with bands like Sodom
written on their jackets and just go
wild over us. I think Anthrax tends to
offer a lot more."
SOD, the Stormtroopers of Death,
was a project launched last year by
Scott, Charlie, by then Nuclear
Assault bassist Dan Lilker and
Method of Destruction vocalist Billy
Milano. Making their vinyl debut with
an outspoken Lp entitled "Speak
English or Die," SOD charged along
at dizzying speeds belting out thrash
backed by a heavy dose of tongue-
in-cheek, Archie Bunker politics.
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"The major thing I learned from
SOD," says Scott, "is that humor can
be accepted by a heavy metal au-
dience without worrying about it be-
ing misinterpreted. Ninety-nine per-
cent of the kids know what's up and
they understand the humor. It open-
ed up a hundred doors for me in
terms of writing lyrics. Now I know
that kids can take a joke and for the
most part, they are going to laugh
along with us." Before their breakup
early this year, SOD represented a
culmination of hardcore influences
which have served to beef up the An-
thrax sound. "A lot of that stuff could
have been on the Anthrax album,"
reveals Scott. "We were in the studio
during February of '85 and I was just
hanging out, writing songs and
basically getting bored. If we could
have stopped in the middle of the An-
thrax project, we would have record-
ed some of that meterial for the
Anthrax album."
"It was noise with style," jokes
Charlie.
"And we broke up simply because
it was only meant to be a project. An-
thrax had a few months off so it was
simply something that could pass the
time. The music and lyrics were
mine. I know what I can and can't do.
I know I'm going to hear people tell-
ing me that there's an SOD influence
in Anthrax. You can't say that, I'm just
one person and I'm the only person
writing. Look at the difference bet-
ween 'Fist Full of Metal' and the stuff
that we're doing now and you'll see
a difference in the way I'm writing."
In keeping with their rebellious
nature, Anthrax is one of the few
metal outfits to spend large periods
of leisure time careening across Big
Apple sidewalks on skateboards.
"Me and Charlie skate," reveals
Scott.
"And Joey falls down a lot," adds
Dan.
"Of course, I'm a bikerider," says
Joe.
"Anyway" continues Scott, "we
found this company in Minnesota
that makes portable aluminum half-
pipes and next year we'll probably
get one for the van so we can skate
parking lots when we tour. We call
ourselves Spastic Skates-if we fuck
up and fall down, we can just say that
we meant to."
Bon Jovi they're not.
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