Veterans of metal lay low
By John Fox
Staff Reporter
jffls3@psu.edu
In 1984, Anthrax burst onto the
thrash metal scene with their
debut album, Fistful of Metal, on
Megaforce Records. Over the
years, they have established
themselves as innovators and
legends backed by a legion of
dedicated fans the worldwide.
In 2004, Anthrax put out two
albums, Music of Mass
Destruction and The Greater
of Two Evils, on Sanctuary
Records that were both compila
tions of familiar songs.
Meanwhile, they were touring in
support of their most recent stu
dio album, We've Come For You
All, released in May 2003, also
on Sanctuary Records. By the
sheer strength of this powerful
new release, Anthrax has been
on tour for the past 18 months
since the album's debut.
Now on break from touring and
doing commentary on various
shows such as VH-I's popular "I
love the 90s" series, guitarist
Scott lan talked about the band,
books, and the possibility of Joey
Vera being a permanent replace
ment for longtime bassist Frank
Bello.
lan said that the band has noth
ing planned this winter other than
playing a few dates starting at
the end of February.
"We stopped touring around
Halloween after being out on tour
for 18 months," said lan. "We're
just on a break now until later this
winter when we get together to
start working on new material."
lan welcomed the success of
We've Come For You All, which
enabled them to be on the road
for such a length of time.
"Everything went really well for
us on tour after us not having a
record out for five years," said
lan. "It definitely brought us back
to a level we hadn't been at in a
long time."
In their 21-year career, Anthrax
has put out 18 albums. lan dis
cussed how the band has grown
over the years.
"We've just grown as musicians
and songwriters," said lan. "It just
all sounds like Anthrax to me. It's
something I don't necessarily
think about, but I definitely think
we have gotten much better. We
just do what we do," he said. He
added that although Fistful of
Metal sounds nothing like
Among the Living, which also
sounds nothing like The Sound
of White Noise, "it's all Anthrax."
lan explained that throughout
the band's career, all of their
albums are significant and he
cannot pin point a certain album
as a personal favorite.
"It's all relevant," said lan. "I
guess I favor the last record only
because it's the most current and
freshest in my mind from all of
our touring."
From the mid-90s into the new
millennium, hip-hop/metal creat
ed a new consciousness in pop
culture. Bands like Korn and
Limp Bizkit were credited as orig
inators of the genre, and just like
every style that comes to the
attention of mainstream America:
it had already been done before.
In 1987, Anthrax put out the
classic EP, I'M The Man, in which
the title track found the band
members taking turns rapping
over their usual thrash guitar
sound. In 1991, Anthrax released
Attack of the Killer B's. For this
one, Anthrax teamed up with rap
super group Public Enemy for
the hugely popular song Bring
the Noise. They also did a new
version of I'M The Man to signify
a bridge to their previous work
and what they were currently
doing with Public Enemy.
Anthrax has never received any
credit for being innovators or
early influences on the hip
hop/metal genre that gained
momentum ten years after the
studio release of I'M The Man.
"I don't care," says lan. "It does
n't mean anything to me. We just
do what we do. It really doesn't
matter. I mean, obviously I think
what we did with Public Enemy
certainly had an influence on that
genre of music that came out
after that, but it doesn't matter to
me whether or not we get credit
for it."
In April 2004, Joey Vera
(Armored Saint, Fates Warning)
began filling in for longtime
bassist Frank Bello. Vera has
been consistently playing with
the band since Bello's departure.
This leads many fans to wonder
if Vera is indeed going to be a
permanent replacement.
"We haven't gone that far yet,"
said lan. "We're just going to
enjoy our time off and take it from
there. Joey's great. He stepped
in when we were in a situation
where we were kind of stuck.
He's filled in for us amazingly
and we couldn't have asked for
anything better."
When pressed to make an offi
cial statement concerning the
departure of Bello, lan stated
clearly that Bello is not necessar-
Entertainment
From left, Anthrax is Rob Caggiano, lead guitar, Charlie Benante, drums and guitar, John Bush, vocals,
Joey Vera, bass, and Scott lan, rhythm guitar and vocals.
ily out of the band.
"It's just a separation that need
ed to happen," said lan. "The
door with Frankie isn't closed.
Maybe it will continue this way,
maybe it won't. It's just some
thing we really don't know yet."
Over the past two years, Scott
lan's face has popped up on sev
eral cable shows in which he
offers up commentary on topics
such as the greatest metal bands
of all time or past and present
pop culture trivia. His most
notable television appearance is
on VH-1 's addictive "I Love the
90s" series.
"Yeah, it's fun," said lan on his
recent barrage of TV spots. "It's
something that's really easy to
do and I kind of enjoy doing it
The Capital Times, February 7, 2005
because I have a really super
head for trivial knowledge. That's
why I always get the phone calls
asking me if I want to come in
and do more."
Aside from metal, lan listed
early punk bands as huge musi
cal influences.
"I am into all kinds of punk," said
lan, "British stuff like The Sex
Pistols, The Clash, Discharge,
The Exploited, and GBH. I was
really into the bands that came
from the New York Hardcore
scene like Agnostic Front, The
Cro Mags, and Murphy's Law."
He also said, "I was a big fan of
the Misfits and we actually got to
tour with them in '96 and '97
when they first reunited."
lan said that he loves to read
Photo courtesy of www.anthrax.com
and counts Stephen King as one
of his all-time favorite authors.
"I read a lot," said lan. "I collect
all of Stephen King's first and
limited editions. I'm also into
Charles Bukowski, Hunter S.
Thompson, and The Lord of the
Ring series."
With no signs of stopping,
Anthrax is planning to put togeth
er new material this spring and
will be playing more dates in the
end of February. Check out any
of VH-1 or MTV's countdowns or
pop culture trivia shows and you
will be sure to see Scott lan. To
find out what the current scoop is
on the band go to
www.anthrax.com.