Anthrax

Ripper – Experiment of Existence Review

By Saunders on March 3, 2016 in Chilean Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Unspeakable Axe Records, Thrash Metal, 19 comments

“I often gripe about the general state of the current thrash scene and how it’s stagnating with a lack of cutting edge innovators and general over reliance on rehashing the past. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, however, more often than not I find myself looking back to the past and grabbing an old favorite to get my thrash fix. Already in 2016 old school thrashers have been grinning from ear to ear with the return to form of Megadeth and Anthrax, along with the enduring space-age proggy thrash of the recent Voivod EP. Fortunately there’s a heap of room for new faces to emerge and make an impact on the current thrash scene and show that young pups can be as equally wily as old dogs.” Ready yourself for the latest in pup thrash!

Anthrax – For All Kings Review

By Steel Druhm on February 16, 2016 in 2016, American Metal, Megaforce Records, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 81 comments

“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!

War Agenda – Night of Disaster Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on October 11, 2015 in 2015, German Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Unsigned Bands, Thrash Metal, 47 comments

“As this year comes ever-closer to its conclusion, I couldn’t help but pull up last year’s picks for Records and Song ‘o the Year. It didn’t quite dawn on me that there isn’t a thrash album to be found on my list. In the grand scheme of things, this is not surprising being with the old-farts producing some real turds and the newbies re-hashing the old-fart’s classics. The year, however, harbors some thrash threatening to invade my end-of-the-year picks.” There is no safe harbor when re-thrash comes to call.

Reign of Fury – Death Be Thy Shepherd Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on March 24, 2015 in 2015, English Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Static Tension Recordings, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 16 comments

“I bet you have that friend that swears they can guess a band’s genre solely from the band name? Well, if your friend is anything like mine, a genre can also be identified by the band’s font style, the album artwork, the attire in the band pic, and the track titles. For those ignoring these words and instead staring drop-jawed at the album cover to the left, you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. However, your friend will mighty upset with themself when they make the assumption that Reign of Fury is just another re-hashing, re-thrashing outfit.” Now THAT’S a cover!

Things You Might Have Missed 2014: Striker – City of Gold

By Diabolus in Muzaka on January 14, 2015 in Canadian Metal, Heavy Metal, Napalm Records, Things You Might Have Missed 2014, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, 17 comments

“I’ll fully admit that I have a soft spot for fun in my metal. After all, a man can only listen to Ulcerate growl about entropy, Triptykon purging Tom G.’s demons, and Kvarforth whining about how long it took him to clean out his bathtub after his fateful promo video (I don’t speak Swedish, so this is conjecture) so much, and even though I greatly enjoy all of those artists and listen to their great work regularly, sometimes a change of pace is needed. Enter Alberta’s Striker, and their excellent third album City of Gold.” For the record, bathtubs are a real pain in the arse to clean.

Kaine – The Waystone Review

By Steel Druhm on July 23, 2014 in 2014, English Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 9 comments

If you thought the once proud battle flag of NWoBHM was laying somewhere gathering dust and regret, the unheralded young guns in Kaine are certainly trying to patch it up and give it a fresh new look. Their sophomore opus The Waystone is loaded with fanboy worship of everything Iron Maiden, Saxon and Grim Reaper stood for in the 80s and features tons of Maiden-esque gallops and vintage metal riffs (mostly from the you-know-who school).” This one really seemed to baffle and befuddle Mr. Steel. We like when that happens because it’s funny.

Indefensible Positions: Steel Druhm Defends Stomp 442

By Steel Druhm on February 5, 2014 in Blog Posts, Indefensible Positions, 20 comments

Every once in a while the metal scene collectively pisses on a band or record and someone needs to step up and defend why they like it. I normally don’t spend a lot of time defending shitty records, but sometimes genuinely interesting or good records get lampooned by an overly conservative heavy metal scene and that calls for a professional contrarian to defend it! If ever there was a professional contrarian, it would be me. So here I am to re-hash a record from my past that I still love that everyone else seems to have soured on (or never liked in the first place). This time it’s Stomp 442 by Anthrax.

’90s Metal Weirdness: Anthrax – Stomp 442

By Dr. Fisting on February 1, 2014 in 90s Metal Weirdness, American Metal, Blog Posts, 24 comments

Cast your minds back to a time when metal music was not cool. Nay, indeed, a time when metal was anathema to all that was considered to be “chic” and “in.” A time when your favorite bands were actually encouraged by the music industry to play slower, cut their hair, and write sensitive lyrics about their childhoods. Yes, this unfortunately really happened. Our semi-irregular feature “90s Metal Weirdness” focuses on albums released between 1992 and 2001 and which we all probably would rather forget. — AMG

Artillery – Legions Review

By Steel Druhm on November 20, 2013 in 2013, Danish Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 3 comments

“I love the first two Artillery albums. I’ve said so often and I’ll continue to trumpet the work those great Danes did until I’m in the cold, hard ground. Since I went on an Angry Metal Tirade about this very topic in my review of Artillery’s 2011 My Blood opus, I’ll digress from further gushing here. Suffice it to say, since those treasured platters, Artillery has had its share of ups and downs, with My Blood being particularly unimpressive and legacy bruising. After some line up tweaks and a new vocalist, they’re B.A.C.K. with Legions and a slightly new approach while still trying to resurrect their former greatness.” The first family of Danish thrash is back again and this time, they don’t make Steel Druhm weep at the grave of their former greatness. That’s good, since we hate seeing the guy cry black tears of wengeance.

Warbringer – IV: Empires Collapse Review

By Steel Druhm on October 30, 2013 in 2013, American Metal, Century Media, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 7 comments

“With Hallow’s Eve in the air and the holiday season just around the corner, I feel safe looking back on 2013 and saying it wasn’t the greatest year for metal. It’s certainly true that the better stuff seems to be coming out on the back-end, but overall, it has been a lean time for top-notch albums. This is especially true for the rethrash/thrash genre, with very few albums jumping out and smacking me in the gob. Keeping true to form, the better stuff is seeping out now, with solid releases from Death Angel and Toxic Holocaust and now, a winner from Warbringer. IV: Empires Collapse sees these California rethrashers take a big step from the effective, but somewhat generic Bay Area Thrash sound exhibited on Worlds Torn Asunder by adding a host of classic metal influences along with punk and blackened twists.” October was a good month for rethrash and it looks like Warbringer wanted to end things on a high note with their latest slice of speed.