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Anthrax: Worship music

30/09/11 || Smalley

Remember how during those post-9/11 Anthrax attacks, Anthrax the band made a point of (rightfully) sticking by their original name when they showed up at a 9/11 benefit concert wearing this, or putting out press releases like this? Well, I do; I remember talking about it with the fam, and them agreeing that Anthrax shouldn’t change their name. My fam is cool like that.

Anyway, that’s my earliest memory of Anthrax, before I had listened to a single song, and it’s really the most interesting one I have; I never really listened to them in high school (the peak years of my initial metal-listening period), and since I got back into metal about four years ago, I still don’t listen to them all that much. It’s one of those cases where I can understand why other people like the band, and I recognize that they’ve made some catchy shit over the years, but for the most part, they’re just too “casual” in style for me, not dark or aggressive-feeling enough; I know they like having a sense of humor about themselves, but I prefer thrash that has some more bite to its attitude, ala Metallica or Slayer. Plus, their career’s been pretty up and down quality-wise, so, yeah.

Still, I’m never adverse to getting new, potentially good metal, and since Anthrax never broke up, but haven’t released anything from the studio for 8 years now, they definitely owed us “Worship music”, though whether they’ve fully payed off their debt remains to be seen. WM starts off with a disposable intro track (redundant thing to say, right?), before we get to its first real song, the idiotically-titled “Earth on hell”. I’m not sure how I feel about “hell”; it really does sound like the band is trying to make a compelling song here, with a lot of energy and the right amount of songwriting change-ups, but the basic riffs just don’t stick with me enough, and the chorus fails to make a real impression. The breakdown in the second half is pretty cool, but not enough to fully salvage “Earth on hell” as a whole.

“The devil you know” is a step up with more intuitive riffing and a catchier chorus, still not quite great, but a step in the right direction nonetheless, and that false ending is cool as hell. From there, the boisterous, trouble-making lead single “Fight ‘em til you can’t” has really grown on me since my first lukewarm impression of it, with its pounding, recurring bridge section and surprisingly melodic chorus, then the strongly melodic “I’m alive” continues the streak of satisfying tracks here, though its chorus comes a little too close to pussy-power ballad territory for me. Still nice stuff, though.

The methodical, epic “In the end” gives me a bit of a “For whom the bell tolls” vibe, plus a Dio-tribute vibe in some of the vocals/lyrics, which are always good things, but then “The giant” kicks in with inadequate chug riffs, which is never a good thing. The decent “Judas Priest” (not a covers medley, sadly) kind of gets “Worship music” back on track with its soaring vocals, but the draggy, droning “Crawl” is then another disappointment, unfortunately, and “The constant” isn’t any better. Closer “Revolution screams” is another decent cut, but I wanted more, especially coming right after those last few let-downs.

Oh yeah, and ignore the two “Hymn” tracks here; I applaud Anthrax for trying something different with the orchestra/marching band instruments, but they’re just too damn short to accomplish anything, and are barely worth anything more than that album intro. If you’re gonna experiment, go all-out with it! Anyway, production-wise, WM has some of that modern thrash-sheen when I would’ve preferred something grittier, especially on the drum sound (especially since Benante has so much energy on his kit here). Not an unacceptable production, but still not optimal… oh well, at least it’s still better than “Persistence of time”‘s sound. Speaking of “Persistence”, “Worship music” has Joey Primadonna back on vocals for the first time since that album, and while his voice has understandably changed some, it hasn’t degenerated like a Hetfield, so we can be happy for that. I don’t have any special affection for his vox, but they continue to fit Anthrax’s music, so yeah.

In closing, despite my mostly-indifferent feelings about Anthrax I told you about earlier, “Worship music” is actually kind of solid, and worth sifting out from among the current wave of new thrashers/the other old-schoolers thrashing again, at least to give it one full listen. There aren’t really any great songs here, but definitely still some satisfying ones; if it weren’t for the useless intro/interludes, and some of the unremarkable cuts here, my score would’ve been a half-point or two higher. Consider that debt 75% paid off then, ‘thrax. I would’ve preferred something more consistent, and a lack of parody-rosary beads in the special edition, but “Worship music” is still a step in the right direction compared to the last album; just don’t take another eight years for the next record, ‘kay Anthrax…?

Information
Released: 2011
Label: Megaforce
Website: http://anthrax.com
Band
Joey Belladonna: vocals
Scott Ian: rhythm guitar, vocals
Charlie Benante: drums
Rob Caggiano: lead guitar
Frank Bello: bass

Tracklist
01. Worship
02. Earth On Hell
03. The Devil You Know
04. Fight ‘Em Til You Can’t
05. I’m Alive
06. Hymn 1
07. In The End
08. The Giant
09. Hymn 2
10. Judas Priest
11. Crawl
12. The Constant
13. Revolution Screams

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