The Daily Procrastinator

Not man is crying, guys! Crying!

It’s tough being an Anthrax fan. On July 21 news hit the web that Dan Nelson, newly anointed lead singer of the thrash metal band, had been fired from the gig days before a European festival tour was to begin and three months before their new album “Worship Music”, was to be released (it was in the final stages of production). In a carefully worded press release, the band suggested Nelson was too ill to go on tour, and that the band would soon be auditioning for a new lead singer. Dan Nelson would later release his own press release, saying that the band’s reasoning was bogus and that his legal counsel would take appropriate action.

Well, shit.

This is not the first time Anthrax has had problems with its singer (unfortunately).  For instance, back in ‘05 Scott Ian and Charlie Benante, founding members of the band, decided to tour with their original lead singer, Joey Belladonna and the rest of their “Among the Living” lineup in recognition of their 25th anniversary as a band.  For me, it was a bit of a head scratcher as the band had just released “We’ve Come for You All” to critical acclaim, if not matching sales (if you haven’t heard it, do yourself a favor and grab it).  John Bush, their singer from 1992 until then, felt slighted and left the band, leaving the band frontman-less when Belladonna decided he did not want to continue with the band after the tour.

That situation always seemed to me to be Ian and Benante’s fault – I don’t know that too many fans were clamoring for an “Among the Living” reunion tour and Ian’s reasoning that the death of Dimebag Darrell made him want to see what “might have been” had Joey never left still seemed like a jerk move when considering Bush’s perspective.  And so they burned that bridge with Bush, leading them to pick up Dan Nelson as their singer.  It’s now been 6 years since Anthrax has released a new album.

This time, however, I can’t see how Ian and Benante can be blamed.  Something led them to kick Nelson to the curb before the European tour began, before the first album with Nelson fronting was released.  It apparently wasn’t Nelson’s decision, based on his press release, so Ian and Benante would have to some MAJOR reason to can him.  What was it?  No one’s saying, but there have been some reports of tension between the band members during their Rocklahoma appearance.  I just know that the release of Worship Music is now pushed back until a new lead singer is found, and who knows what the status of those songs will be?  Will we fans of Anthrax ever hear Nelson’s versions?   It’s doubtful.  I guess the bigger question is: will there even be another album?  John Bush is going to join them for a one-off at England’s Sonisphere show – I’m hoping against hope that there might be enough remnants of that bridge to rebuild it.

For me, it’s a bit depressing to think of a future that will be Anthrax-less.  I’ve been banging my head to their thrash for over 20 years now, and have longed to see them get the recognition bands like Metallica and Slayer get (two of the pillars of thrash, along with Megadeth and Anthrax).  I had hoped Worship Music would have announced a triumphant return.  It looks like it might be an unheard swan song.

LAMB OF GOD - WRATH

I am a huge fan of thrash metal.  There is just something about it that grabs you by the throat and won’t let you go.  The best metal of this sort has a “groove”:  riffs to kill for keeping time with hellaciously fast blastbeats, riding cymbals, and a pounding bass.   Back in the mid- to late 80s, there existed a sort of glory days of thrash.  This was exemplified by the four pillars of the genre (Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth, and old Metallica) coupled with the “newcomers” Pantera.  Go ahead and throw in Prong (particularly Beg to Differ) and Testament as a couple of other favorites.

Lamb of God is today’s undisputed leader of the genre and is leading a renaissance of thrash.  Sure, Slayer and Metallica get the Grammys, but that is just a case of  name recognition on the part of the voters.  I was first turned on to LoG after hearing “Laid to Rest” from their album Ashes of the Wake, which was the first album I’d bought in a long time that simply ripped my face off.   And while I was never a huge fan of the “cookie monster”-style of vocal stylings, LoG just made it work for me.   Their follow-up, Sacrament, became a drop-date purchase for me, and it continued to impress.

But both albums have been eclipsed by the triumph that is Wrath.

Where do these guys get all of these wonderful riffs?  Seriously, if you don’t find yourself involuntarily headbanging during the bridge of “Dead Seeds,” you have no metal in your soul.   High points (as if there were low points) include “Set to Fail”, “Contractor” and “Choke Sermon”.    But my personal favorite is the closer, “Reclamation”:  the blues-based lick that provides the structure and, simply put, drive of this song is perfectly pieced together.  It is the juggernaut of the album.

Wrath is now the front-runner for album of the year.  It will be interesting to see what other bands are willing to put out this year in the face of this onslaught.