Megaforce
2011
1. Worship (Intro)
2. Earth on Hell
3. The Devil You Know
4. Fight 'em til You Can't
5. I'm Alive
6. Hymn 1 (Interlude)
7. In the End
8. The Giant
9. Hymn 2 (Interlude)
10. Judas Priest
11. Crawl
12. The Constant
13. Revolution Screams
There's been so much drama with Anthrax lately that I'd pretty much hit the point of not caring. This is one band who botched their own vocalist situation horribly and involved themselves in a disaster of their own making. How they treated John Bush is unforgivable and the way they handled Dan Nelson wasn't a whole lot better. My opinion of Anthrax as people went way down during this time (as if Scott Ian's VH1 cameos and The Damned Things weren't enough). Well, shit human beings doesn't necessarily equal shit music so let's separate those for a minute and dive into this new album shall we?
The first thing that struck me is that the bulk of the material does sound a lot like the Anthrax of old which should please the 'only Belladonna era is true' crowd. Personally, I've always enjoyed both the Belladonna and Bush eras so this didn't mean a whole lot for me one way or the other. The old school thrashiness is nice, but not exactly necessary to my enjoyment. That being said, I find the music here to be a nice throwback considering the fact Belladonna is in the mix. This has that nice blend of thrash with a touch of traditional/power that made early Anthrax addictive and energetic.
That being said, this does seem to me like a somewhat watered down version of what I've already heard from this band in the past. In large part I get this feeling from the fact the album just doesn't quite live up to the songwriting power of the past and Belladonna's singing. I don't think anyone can honestly deny this man's voice has faded over the years. Some time ago when I saw Anthrax back with Joey Belladonna opening for Judas Priest I left the show thoroughly unimpressed by both bands so I kinda felt this coming. Belladonna just can't wail like he used to and the music loses sound of it's power and aggression as a result. On the positive this music does seem suited to his current vocal range and I can't say these songs aren't enjoyable. They are. There are just times when I can't help but think this band would've been better off sticking with the stronger singer. It's not like I can't listen to this material and hear John Bush singing the songs just like he does with the actual older Anthrax music. There are also some moments in the later half of the album that seem like Bush era hold overs. Crawl in particular sounds more like something John Bush should be a part of.
In the end, this is a nice little nostalgic ride, but it falls a bit short of what the band once was and yes the Bush era material too. Sometimes the past is better left there. This is pretty good, but I'll always miss Bush in the band. Regressing doesn't impress me a whole lot. I'm not going to say this album isn't worth it or it's not an album I'll own, but it does leave me with a certain feeling of shaking my head. Backing away and judging this album on it's own merit it is mid-grade Belladonna Anthrax which still isn't bad and better than a whole lot of other bands. I guess my only other nitpick would be that the highlights are bunched together and the best material hits all at once. I'll own this, I'll spin this... but will I love this as much as old Belladonna Anthrax or Bush era? Probably not.
Highlights: Fight 'Em Till You Can't, I'm Alive, The Devil You Know
Rating - 3.5/5
3. The Devil You Know
4. Fight 'em til You Can't
5. I'm Alive
6. Hymn 1 (Interlude)
7. In the End
8. The Giant
9. Hymn 2 (Interlude)
10. Judas Priest
11. Crawl
12. The Constant
13. Revolution Screams
There's been so much drama with Anthrax lately that I'd pretty much hit the point of not caring. This is one band who botched their own vocalist situation horribly and involved themselves in a disaster of their own making. How they treated John Bush is unforgivable and the way they handled Dan Nelson wasn't a whole lot better. My opinion of Anthrax as people went way down during this time (as if Scott Ian's VH1 cameos and The Damned Things weren't enough). Well, shit human beings doesn't necessarily equal shit music so let's separate those for a minute and dive into this new album shall we?
The first thing that struck me is that the bulk of the material does sound a lot like the Anthrax of old which should please the 'only Belladonna era is true' crowd. Personally, I've always enjoyed both the Belladonna and Bush eras so this didn't mean a whole lot for me one way or the other. The old school thrashiness is nice, but not exactly necessary to my enjoyment. That being said, I find the music here to be a nice throwback considering the fact Belladonna is in the mix. This has that nice blend of thrash with a touch of traditional/power that made early Anthrax addictive and energetic.
That being said, this does seem to me like a somewhat watered down version of what I've already heard from this band in the past. In large part I get this feeling from the fact the album just doesn't quite live up to the songwriting power of the past and Belladonna's singing. I don't think anyone can honestly deny this man's voice has faded over the years. Some time ago when I saw Anthrax back with Joey Belladonna opening for Judas Priest I left the show thoroughly unimpressed by both bands so I kinda felt this coming. Belladonna just can't wail like he used to and the music loses sound of it's power and aggression as a result. On the positive this music does seem suited to his current vocal range and I can't say these songs aren't enjoyable. They are. There are just times when I can't help but think this band would've been better off sticking with the stronger singer. It's not like I can't listen to this material and hear John Bush singing the songs just like he does with the actual older Anthrax music. There are also some moments in the later half of the album that seem like Bush era hold overs. Crawl in particular sounds more like something John Bush should be a part of.
In the end, this is a nice little nostalgic ride, but it falls a bit short of what the band once was and yes the Bush era material too. Sometimes the past is better left there. This is pretty good, but I'll always miss Bush in the band. Regressing doesn't impress me a whole lot. I'm not going to say this album isn't worth it or it's not an album I'll own, but it does leave me with a certain feeling of shaking my head. Backing away and judging this album on it's own merit it is mid-grade Belladonna Anthrax which still isn't bad and better than a whole lot of other bands. I guess my only other nitpick would be that the highlights are bunched together and the best material hits all at once. I'll own this, I'll spin this... but will I love this as much as old Belladonna Anthrax or Bush era? Probably not.
Highlights: Fight 'Em Till You Can't, I'm Alive, The Devil You Know
Rating - 3.5/5
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