“Billy Milano is 53. Let that sink in a while. If you grew up worshiping S.O.D. and his later offshoot act, M.O.D., or had the pleasure of being annihilated by him in the mosh pits of L’Amour Brooklyn, it’s almost impossible to imagine the man as anything but the loud mouth, barrel chested bruiser he was back in the 80s and 90s. We all grow up though. We all get older, change and evolve. All except Billy, that is.” Hardcore is a lifestyle choice.
“Growing up in the original thrash era, I loved the big stars of the Bay Area thrash explosion dearly, but as a native New Yorker, I always had a special soft spot for Brooklyn/Queens born Anthrax. Not as evil as Slayer, way less poser killing than Exodus and far less technical than Metallica, Anthrax was the good times thrash band with the New York attitude.” The noise is about to be brougten!
“Occupying the same retro 70s “occult rock” genre as Ghost, Devil, The Devil’s Blood and Occultation, Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats brought a lot of firepower to the retro doom knife fight with their 2011 Blood Lust opus. They showcased the same hooky, memorable song writing chops and appreciation of the past that Ghost featured on their debut, but folded it into a heavier overall sound with big, distorted guitars and a weird serial killer/stalker atmosphere. While I wouldn’t say it bested Opus Eponymous, it was a close second, and way better than the rest of their occult rock ilk.” Can you expect more slamming, jamming doom rock from your creepy Uncle, or did the dreaded Curse of 2013 claim yet another hapless victim.
Wow, the Thrax is finally back! After endless bullshit, drama and ridiculous delays, the revolving door of vocalists that saw John Bush and Joey Belladonna coming, going and coming again is over (for now). In the peculiar saga that saw John Bush depart so Anthrax could record an entire album with unsung voice Dan Nelson, only to scrap it for planned re-dubs with Bush and then later with original singer Joey Belladonna, we finally get the refinished product. Confused? Yeah, me too. So after an eight year wait, is Worship Music worth the metallic soap opera and histrionics fans had to endure? Well, the hype circus is already in full swing, with the band themselves saying its their best material and some early reviews comparing the quality favorably to genre classics like “Heaven and Hell” and “Stargazer.” Well, allow me to take a step back and simply say, NOT! It’s good and definitely interesting, but Steel Druhm shall not be among the throngs of metal press that hail this as some crowning triumph or the best work of their long career. While it isn’t in the same league as their classics, it’s enjoyable and finds them trying new things without completely ditching the classic Thrax sound. Despite a few excellent songs, Worship Music isn’t the release of the year that many (myself included), hoped it would be.
