There have been a lot of reunions in the hard-rock/heavy-metal world over the past few years. Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Motley Crue are just some of the bands that recently got back on the road with their classic lineups.
Now the pioneering band Anthrax can be added to the list.
Anthrax is celebrating its 20th anniversary by touring with Joey Belladonna, Scott Ian, Frank Bello, Charlie Benante and Dan Spitz for the first time in 13 years.
"It doesn't get much more metal than that," Ian said by phone from a tour stop in Virginia. (Anthrax will open for Judas Priest at the E Center Wednesday.)
From 1985 to 1991 the New York City-based Anthrax was considered a pioneer in both speed metal and combining rap and metal, laying the groundwork for such acts as Rage Against the Machine and Korn. Like Aerosmith joining forces with Run DMC, Anthrax crossed musical genres by recording "Bring Tha Noize" with Public Enemy.
Belladonna parted ways with Anthrax in 1992 and was replaced by former Armored Saint vocalist John Bush. Spitz left the band in 1995.
Ian said there was no heavy negotiating or time spent trying to persuade any band member to jump on board. "It was either going to work or it wasn't. It was not something we were going to force. Either it was going to happen or it's not."
If the reunion didn't happen now it probably never would have, Ian said. But it wasn't something he was going to lose sleep over either. "If it would have taken convincing (any member), we wouldn't have done it."
The idea of reuniting the band was first brought up last summer by drummer Benante while Anthrax was touring in Europe. "He said, 'What do you think about a reunion?' " said Ian, adding that he doesn't know what prompted the idea.
Before the band even got together to rehearse again, each member committed to the reunion project. From a musician's standpoint, it all came together rather easily, Ian said, since Belladonna and most of the others were still performing, and everyone still knew the songs.
If there were any concerns, it would have been for lead guitarist Spitz, who reportedly got rid of many of his guitars after leaving Anthrax and got out of the music business altogether. "We asked him, 'Can you do this?' He said, 'Yes.' He said he had been practicing the songs."
The reunion has also helped band members clean their plates of past issues they might have had, Ian said. "It enabled us to go forward in one way or another. It felt great. It felt like Anthrax. It's the band that was the genesis of the whole thing. It didn't feel strange at all."
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