If
thrash metal pioneers ANTHRAX weren't survivors, their career certainly
would not have lasted 13 powerful years. They wouldn't have forged the
speed metal bible Among the Living, created the highly influential metal
ra crossover "I'm the Man" or recorded with Public Enemy. They wouldn't
have lasted through metal's lean years in the '90s and revamped their sound
to lash out anew with the firepower of Sound of White Noise or the criminally
underrated Stomp 442. But it took more than survival instincts to grind
their way through the past two years, and create VOLUME 8: THE THREAT IS
REAL, one of the freshest, most emotional metal albums of the decade. It
took patience, strength and exhaustive determination.
"We
had so much adversity going into this record," says guitarist and songwriter
Scott Ian. "We recorded it without a record deal, and there were all kinds
of personal stuff I went through around the same time that really tore
me apart inside."
"There
was a lot of stuff that hurt us, but in the long run it was probably for
the best," adds drummer and songwriter Charlie Benante. "The material on
this album is so much better than anything we've ever done. It's so pissed
off and real and emotional."
VOLUME
8: THE THREAT IS REAL covers all the bases: "Crush" explodes with thundering
double bass drums and staccato guitar bursts, "Toast" echoes with vulnerable
vocals and alt-country twang, "Inside Out" surges with blowtorch guitar
grooves and "Hog Tied" tumbles with pulsing wah-wah guitar and an anthemic
chorus. The only thing missing from the mix is electronica. "I actually
recorded with Tricky on his new record," says Ian. "But Anthrax is all
about power and volume and intensity. It didn't seem like the place for
drum and bass and techno."
"We
wanted to tackle everything we could musically and put it on this record,"
says Benante. "I always thought it would be cool to take the best elements
of our last three records and put it into one killer album. Also, I was
listening to a lot of '70s stuff like Led Zeppelin and the Who, and I think
that definitely had some sort of impact."
Ian,
Benante, vocalist John Bush and bassist Frank Bello started working on
VOLUME 8: THE THREAT IS REAL after they finished their 1996 tour for Stomp
442. The band had just parted ways with Elektra after two records, and
was looking for a new label. Rather than wait until the red tape stopped
unrolling, ANTHRAX pooled their finances and built their own studio in
Yonkers. By November they started conveying their feelings of betrayal,
disillusionment and rage into new songs, and for the next year, they finessed,
and reshaped the material into different forms, experimenting with style
and tone to find the sonic punch that would impact the hardest. "Having
the luxury of owning our own studio turned out to be both a blessing and
a curse," says Ian. "It enabled us to go back and do things 100 times over.
But sometimes the hardest thing in the world is to stand back and let things
go. From an experimental and creative point, Charlie was able to bring
his Hammond organ in and sit there and fuck with it for three days. Whereas
if we were in a place that was $1,500 a day, you can't do that. So that
was cool. We were able to let the songs grow and evolve into what they
wanted to become, but it was sometimes an agonizing process."
Throughout
VOLUME 8: THE THREAT IS REAL, ANTHRAX toys with thrash, punk, funk, shitkicking
rock and heartstring-tugging balladry, redefining and refining the concept
of '90s metal. "We're still Anthrax, and we have a particular sound, but
I think this record comes across as more of a diverse rock record than
anything else we've done," says Ian. "But if you look at it, our guitars
are heavier than most rock bands, but the songs aren't that far from something
by a group like Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin or the Foo Fighters. A lot of it
was actually inspired by Bob Mould, who wrote brutal music that always
had a poppy hook. This album has so much melody and so many hooks. The
choruses are huge, but that doesn't take away from any of the heaviness."
Aside from the contagious choruses and multifarious flavors, what really
separates VOLUME 8: THE THREAT IS REAL from the morass of metal is its
pulsing, pounding groove. "That's what I love about Pantera," says Ian.
"As heavy as they are, they always have an amazing groove. Led Zeppelin
had the same thing going, and it's something that's been missing from out
past records. But this one is heavy and it swings." Bello adds, "I think
we are a better band than we ever were. We are much stronger and cohesive
as a band musically. Bottom line is we stayed current. Just because the
music around us has changed, we didn't. We always step up to the plate,
and get it done. METAL!!!"
And
for every blowtorch riff or propulsive rhythm, Bush is front and center,
singing in a voice powered by attitude and emotion. Whether howling in
pure defiance or crooning a tuneful melody, his impressionistic voice belies
that of they typical metal crooner. "There was actually a period when we
were working on the record, where I was having a lot of trouble with my
voice," says Bush. "But I kept working on it, and I overcame the difficulties.
These are probably the best vocals I've ever done, and I think I'm singing
better than ever these days. I'm really concentrating on the character
and vibe of my vocals, and I think that's a lot more important than having
a massive range."
In
addition to capturing the musical transformation of ANTHRAX, VOLUME 8:
THE THREAT IS REAL conveys the intense personal struggle the band endured
after being dropped from Elektra. Despite the fact that their album Sound
off White Noise went Gold, Elektra refused to promote the band or support
them on tour. Regardless, the band's last album, Stomp 442, sold over 100,000
copies, an impressive amount considering many fans didn't even know the
record was out. "That whole thing was totally devastating," says Benante.
We put a lot of heart and soul into it and the record label just dropped
the ball. It was like being hit in the face with the wrecking ball on the
record cover." The turmoil that resulted, shook the band up. Ian became
separted from his wife, and members of ANTHRAX embarked on a self - destructive
rampage. The hedonistic revelry hit a peak in August, 1997 when Ian was
arrested in Florida for breaking into the Yankee's Spring training stadium
and stealing the mat for the on-deck-circle. "That's when I hit rock bottom,"
he says. "I've never been so low as I was when I was sitting in jail after
doing that. What happened is really funny, and the press reported it with
a sense of humor, but I really let myself get out of control. It was something
I felt so horrible about doing, and I don't really want to be in that state
of mind again." Recently, ANTHRAX supporter Howard Stern went to bat for
the band and in an on-air broadcast, helped convince Yankee owner George
Steinbrenner to drop the charges against Ian. "Now, I'm just trying to
stay as far away from jail as possible," Ian says.
Like
a member of Alcoholics' Anonymous who talks about addiction in order to
cope with it, Ian has written about his recent personal demons in an attempt
to exorcise them. "Writing about what's going on in my life is really cathartic,"
he says. "Gone are the days of writing about Indians and comic books and
horror movies. I can never write a song like that anymore. I can only write
from personal experience, and I think that makes the feelings in the songs
much more real."
ANTHRAX
are so happy VOLUME 8: THE THREAT IS REAL they're threatening to play the
entire album on their upcoming world tour. Even after 13 years, the band
is still hungry to defy convention and break new ground. "Seriously, there's
not a song on this record that I don't want to play, and I can't say that
about any record we've ever done," says Ian. "If we had to walk away from
all of this after this record, I'd feel happy just knowing that we went
out with a bang."
