Anthrax
Nov 14, 2011
Anthrax was formed in mid-1981 by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker. The band was named after the disease the two saw listed in a biology textbook, using it because it sounded "sufficiently evil". The initial line-up of Anthrax was rounded out by drummer Dave Weiss and bassist Kenny Kushner.
Kushner was soon deemed inadequate for the band's needs and was replaced very early by bassist Paul Kahn, who also was quickly ousted. Lilker chose to take over on bass and Greg Walls joined as lead guitarist. Weiss was replaced by Greg D'Angelo early on as well. The vocalist position was temporarily filled by the band's roadie John Connelly, Scott Ian's younger brother Jason Rosenfeld, and Tommy Wise within a short period of time before the band finally settled on vocalist Neil Turbin in late August 1982. A steady lineup was finally in place. The band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene. When thrash metal began to gain a major following in the mid-to-late 1980s, Anthrax were dubbed one of the "big four" of thrash metal alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer. They were also one of the early thrash metal bands to sign to a major label (Island Records, in 1985).
Worship Music is the band's tenth studio album and is their first album of original material since 2003's We've Come for You All and the first to feature original singer Joey Belladonna since 1990's Persistence of Time. The album was released on September 12 internationally, September 13 in the U.S., and was released in Europe on October 23, 2011. On August 9th the first single off the album "The Devil You Know" was released and is impacting Rock Radio now.
