In the final stages of recording the follow-up to 2011’s Worship Music, Anthrax – Joey Belladonna/vocals, Frank Bello/bass, Charlie Benante/drums, guitarist Jon Donais, and Scott Ian/rhythm guitar – will hit the road beginning August 28 for a 42-city global trek that will see the band playing three major festivals as well as sharing stages with the likes of Motorhead and their fellow Big Four comrades, Slayer.
Anthrax’s Bello, Benante and Ian started the new album writing process back in late 2013 when they began exchanging suggested riffs and other ideas for the new songs. With producer and “sixth member of the band” Jay Ruston, formal writing sessions started last Fall, culminating with about 20 original songs, almost twice as many as the band had ever brought to the recording studio in the past.
According to Benante, “‘Worship Music’ started a new chapter in our career, and it has served as an inspiration for this new album. ‘Worship’ was made up of a lot of different types of songs, some thrashy, some very mid-90s Anthrax-sounding, but this new one is really thrashy.”
Said Bello, “The thing about Anthrax…we have this heavy, thrashy music and Joey’s powerful and melodic vocals. I love heavy music, but I also love melody, so the challenge is to blend them together so they sound like Anthrax, and I think we’ve done a really good job of that on this new record.”
The Grammy-nominated Worship Music featured the return of “classic era” vocalist Belladonna, and was named one of the best albums of 2011 in numerous media outlets including SPIN, Metal Hammer, Guitar World, and Loudwire, and provided the band with the rock’n’roll comeback story of the year, all adding up to the excitement and anticipation for this new album.
Confirmed dates for Anthrax’s upcoming tour schedule are as follows:
AUGUST
28 Riot Fest & Rodeo, Mile High Stadium, Denver, CO
SEPTEMBER
11 Riot Fest and Carnival, Humboldt Park, Chicago, IL
12 The Fillmore, Detroit, MI*
13 Madison Theatre, Covington, KY (headline)
15 The Dome, Wallingford, CT*
16 Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre, Wantagh, NY*
18 Theatre Olympia, Montreal, QC*
19 Shindig Festival, Carrol Park, Baltimore, MD
20 Food and Truck Festival, Oak Ridge Park, Clark, NJ
22 Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, PA*
23 The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC*
25 House of Blues, Lake Buena Vista, FL*
26 Pompano Beach Amphitheater, Pompano Beach, FL*
September 28 – October 2 – Motorboat 2015 Cruise*
OCTOBER
10 Loud Park 15, Tokyo, Japan
25 Theaters Tilburg, Tilburg, Netherlands**
26 Zenith Paris, Paris, France**
28 La Cooperative De Mai, Clermont-Ferrand, France
30 Santana 27, Bilbao, Spain**
31 Coliseum, La Coruna, Spain**
NOVEMBER
1 La Riviera, Madrid, Spain**
3 Razzmatazz, Barcelona, Spain**
5 Alcatraz, Milano, Italy**
7 Planet.tt Bank Austria Halle Gasometer B, Vienna, Austria**
8 Haus Auersee, Leipzig, Germany**
10 Zenith, die Kulturhalle, Munich, Germany**
12 Columbiahalle, Berlin, Germany**
13 RuhrCongress, Bochum, Germany**
14 MHPArena, Ludwigsburg, Germany
16 Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt, Germany**
17 AB Main Hall, Brussels, Belgium**
19 Rockhal, Esch Sur Alzette, Luxembourg
21 Newport Centre, Newport, UK**
22 Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth, UK**
24 O2 Apollo Manchester, Manchester, UK**
25 O2 Academy Glasgow, Glasgow, UK**
27 O2 Academy Birmingham, Birmingham, UK**
28 O2 Academy Leeds, Leeds, UK**
30 O2 Academy Brixton, Brixton, UK**
DECEMBER
3 Kulturvaerflet, Helsinger, Denmark**
4 Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway**
5 Lisebergshallen, Goteborg, Sweden**
9 Stadium Live, Moscow, Russia**
* w/ Motorhead
** w/ Slayer
FestPop Editorial Team
