Among The Kings of Thrash

If getting caught in a mosh, doing the war dance or Judge Dredd mean anything to you, you’re most likely a big fan of Anthrax’s legendary 1987 album, “Among the Living.” The record broke the band with iconic song after iconic song. The title track, “Caught In a Mosh,” “Indians” and “I Am The Law,” to name a few, are all thrashterpieces propelled by meaty riffs, fluid bass lines, precision drumming and commanding vocals.

Now fans can enjoy the band performing “Among the Living” in its entirety live on the new DVD/CD set, “Kings Among Scotland.” The show recorded in Glasgow, Scotland last year celebrated the album’s 30th anniversary. It's a performance full of the vigor, energy and aggression that have kept Anthrax at the top of its game for three decades.

The album is a big reason why the pioneering New York City band is among the Big 4 of thrash metal. Now the band is touring with another member of the Big 4. Anthrax is opening for Slayer on the latter’s farewell tour, which includes local stops on June 2 at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel and July 29 at Jones Beach. The all-star lineup also includes Lamb of God, Behemoth and Testament.

It’s especially cool on “Kings Among Scotland” to hear songs that have rarely or never been played live before like “One World,” “A.D.I./Horror of It All” and “Imitation of Life. “Among the Living” in the 21st century is just as vital as the day the album came out.

The DVD also sees Anthrax performing classics like “A.I.R.” and “Medusa,” a rare live outing of "Be All, End All," and tracks from their latest disc, “For All Kings” (2016), which ranks among their best.

The band includes singer Joey Belladonna, guitarists Scott Ian and Jonathan Donais, bassist Frank Bello and drummer Charlie Benante. We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Frank Bello.

What were your thoughts when you heard this would be Slayer's final tour?

We've been friends with Slayer for a long time and it's always great to tour with them. We thought we would be working on a new album now but when Slayer asked us to tour we couldn't turn it down. It's bittersweet that they're going on a farewell tour but there will always be a Slayer. It's fun to see people react every night. All the opening bands are paying homage to Slayer and showing their support. The tour is going great, to say the least. It's been pretty insane. It's the metal tour of the summer. Absolutely a festival vibe.

How did you determine your setlist for the tour?

We listened to the fans and what they want to hear. Most of this set came about from the fans. We've got 40 minutes every night and we give everything we have. It's pure energy.

Anthrax just released the DVD/CD, "Kings Among Scotland," a 2017 show from Glasgow that features the band performing all of its 1987 classic album, "Among the Living." Why did you choose to record the DVD in Glasgow?

We've been genuinely lucky to have been to a lot of great places around the world and there are always specific shows where we say after, 'we should've recorded that one.' Barrowlands has always been one of those places. The reaction we get and the vibe is so electric it made all the sense in the world to do it there. The feel and filming of the show is amazing. When I started getting edits back and watching I said it feels like you're at the show.

"Among the Living" was a very pivotal album in your career. It was Anthrax’s third album and the second to feature you and singer Joey Belladonna. It felt like Anthrax really found its identity on the record. What do you think of that time period when you reflect on making the album 30 years ago?

It was all momentum. The whole wave of thrash was happening and we felt that vibe. There were a lot of great bands. I'm still psyched to be part of it. Nobody knew how explosive that album would be. In retrospect we're very fortunate with its success, and fortunate to still be doing this at the top of our game.

The first half of the "Kings Among Scotland" set is also a treat. You've got the great new stuff from "For All Kings" like "Evil Twin," "Blood Eagle Wings" and "Breathing Lightning," classics like "Medusa" and "Madhouse," and nuggets like "Be All, End All."

With this whole package we wanted to give the best of both worlds and have two sets. Even our crew said, 'you're going to do this whole thing, two sets?' And they've known us a lot long time. It was great. The little break in the middle between sets really made a difference in keeping our energy up.

What was it like playing the songs from "Among the Living" that you rarely if ever play live, like "A.D.I./Horror of it All," "One World" and "Imitation of Life."

It's always a challenge going back to relearn them. Those are some of the songs that the old school fans want to hear the most. Playing all those songs was certainly fun. We have such a vast catalogue it's hard to fit everything so to have this opportunity was special.

"For All Kings" has been out for two years now and it's one of your best albums to date. How do you feel about it after living with it for two years?

It's a record I can listen to from beginning to end. I love the record. I wish we could play the whole record. I think every song stands up. I'm that proud of it after two years. When you include the writing of the album I've known those songs for almost three years. We took our time on "For All Kings" to get it right. We want to make sure it's the right record. That's why we don't have a record out every year.

Beyond Anthrax, you and Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson have a project called Altitudes & Attitude. You put out an excellent EP. Are there plans for a full album?

We actually just finished it. It's done and we're about to mix it. We're looking to put it out in January of next year. We were going to put it out earlier but Dave and I have been pretty busy with Megadeth and Anthrax. We're really excited about it. If you liked the EP you're going to like it. It's heavy hard rock with melody.

What's next for Anthrax after the Slayer tour?

It doesn’t stop after this summer. We go to Europe with this tour in November. It's pretty non-stop. We wouldn't want to be doing anything else.