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Anthrax

For All Kings

Written by: PP on 12/11/2016 12:06:21

"For All Kings" is the eleventh studio album by the thrash metal veterans Anthrax, and once again one where the band's revolving door lineup has changed. Guitarist Rob Caggiano departed the band in 2013 to join Volbeat, replaced by Shadows Fall guitarist Jon Donais on lead guitar. Sound wise, the impact isn't all that great given the iron grip of stylistic control held by founding member Scott Ian on the band, so for those worried, Anthrax in 2016 still sounds like Anthrax sounded like in 2012.

In other words, significant hard rock influence goes hand-in-hand with arena thrash metal Metallica style. In fact, there are multiple segments on "For All Kings" where differences between the two are nearly indistinguishable, with the exception, of course, that Anthrax has never been able to create truly stadium-size thrash metal riffs, keeping their appeal in check mostly with the metal head crowd. But shoving that viewpoint aside, the hard rock influence in songs like "Suzerain" and "Breathing Lightning" results in a couple of monumental choruses by Joey Belladonna, here drawing parallels to the classics in the genre from the late 70s and 80s. Both tracks are signature style Anthrax when it comes to anthemic melody and how catchy they are, so that's all good. Similarly, "Monster At The End" delivers on riffs department with tight thrash metal shredding and another memorable chorus.

So from an Anthrax die-hard's point of view, "For All Kings" is a fairly consistent release in line with expectations. That, however, ignores how dated Anthrax sound in 2016. When you still sound like the late 80s and more than three decades have passed, it's becoming more and more difficult to find the relevance in Anthrax's music. It's a reminder of the classic thrash metal sound, but misses the point on vitality, thus resulting in an album that sounds like another day in the business where innovation hasn't been on the agenda for quite some time now.

Download: Suzerain, Breathing Lightning, Monster At The End
For the fans of: Metallica, Megadeth, Exodus
Listen: Facebook

Release date 26.02.2016
Megaforce Records / Nuclear Blast